Maria is a founding partner of Helia Advisors and counsels family offices, nonprofit and for-profit organizations on social impact and philanthropy including strategic planning, communications, stakeholder engagement and outcome measurement. Her experience, over the past decades, has focused in the areas of environmental sustainability, climate solutions and education. Maria’s career has spanned roles at the United Nations and in U.S. foreign policy, opinion research in support for political campaigning around the world, and advising corporate and nonprofit clients in strategic communications. Prior to founding Helia Advisors, Maria was a Partner at Brunswick Group, a global critical issues and financial situations advisory firm, where she led multiple practice areas and was also head of the firm’s New York office. She has worked with a range of nonprofit and corporate clients including: Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Bloomberg Philanthropies, Columbia University, Mars, PepsiCo and WWF. Her involvement with TPF dates to it’s earliest days and she has served as a board member and also Vice Chair. Maria is a graduate of the Harvard Kennedy School and Tufts University. She and her husband founded, Double Knot rug gallery, dedicated to the art of kilims, carpets and textiles.