Martha Bowen is currently the Acting Vice President for the Department of Policy and Evaluation at the Millennium Challenge Corporation, which provides data-driven analysis and evidence to inform the decision-making that guides the agency’s investments – from country selection to project design to evaluation – across our global portfolio.
Prior to joining the Department of Policy and Evaluation as the Deputy Vice President for Policy, Ms. Bowen served as the Country Director for Indonesia in the Department of Compact Operations at MCC. In this role, she led the development of the Indonesia Infrastructure and Finance Compact, a $650 million program focused on improving the financing of infrastructure—particularly transport and logistics infrastructure—and increasing access to finance for small, growing firms in Indonesia.
From 2014-2018, she was the Jakarta-based Deputy Resident Country Director for MCC’s first compact with Indonesia, overseeing $470 million of investments in renewable energy and natural resource management, modernization of the country’s public procurement system and maternal and child health. During her time at MCC, Ms. Bowen also worked on the development of a community-driven development project in the Philippines as well as health programming in Lesotho, Timor-Leste and Kosovo.
Earlier in her career, Ms. Bowen worked in monitoring and evaluation for international development projects, focused primarily on microfinance and public health. Her earliest work was in the domestic non-profit world, working in the labor movement and for the Independent Press Association - a membership organization that provided technical assistance and business services to hundreds of independent, ethnic and community periodicals.
Ms. Bowen holds an MPA in Public and Nonprofit Management for International Development from New York University and a bachelor's degree in Commonwealth Arts from Exeter University.