Damiana Astudillo is the Practice Lead and Senior Director of MCC’s Human and Community Development (HCD) Practice Group. The HCD Practice Group provides technical expertise and human- centered solutions for the design and implementation of programs in areas of Education and Workforce Development, Health, Behavioral Insights, Design Thinking and Results-Based Financing.
From 2021 to 2022 served as a White House Leadership Development Fellow leading the implementation of Executive Order 13985 (Advancing Racial Equity and Support for Underserved Communities through the Federal Government). Prior to her White House Fellowship, Damiana worked for 15 years in the Agriculture, Agribusiness and Rural Development Sector, most recently as Director of Agriculture for Niger’s Climate Resilient Communities Project. Damiana has also served at MCC as Associate Director for Gender and Social Inclusion providing technical and strategic leadership for integration gender and social inclusion principles in MCC’s Compacts in areas of Energy Policy, Environmental and Natural Resource Management and Education.
Before joining MCC, Damiana worked for two years in the Bolivia as a Congressional Hunger Fellow, where she led a program focused on improving nutrition of the local population through re-introduction of native crops, development of appropriate technologies and education.
Damiana has a bachelor’s degree in Government from Smith College, a master’s degree in Public Policy from the School of Public and International Affairs at Princeton University.