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Maura O'Neill

'''Maura O'Neill''' (born September 6, 1956) served as the First Chief of Innovation and was a Senior Counselor to the Administrator in January 2009 at the United States Agency for International Development. She is currently a Distinguished Teaching Fellow in the Lester Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation at the University of California, Berkeley, Haas School of Business.

While at USAID, O'Neill co-led USAID Forward, the global initiative to reform foreign assistance. She adapted venture capital and drug discovery methods to drive faster, cheaper, and more sustainable solutions to global governance, health, food security, and economic growth. Co-creating the Development Innovation Ventures (DIV), it attracted partnerships with the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, the Skoll Foundation and later its offshoot, the Global Innovation Fund, with UK, Sweden, and Australia AID agencies, and Omidyar Network. She also co-created Development Innovation Ventures, now the Global Innovation Fund, which has received 6,000 applicants since 2010.

Before USAID, she served as the Senior Advisor of Energy and Climate and Chief of Staff for the Under Secretary at the United States Department of Agriculture. There, she authored President Obama's Biofuels Strategy. Between 2008 and 2009, she served as the Chief of Staff for United States Senator Maria Cantwell. Provided by Wikipedia