Prior to her current position as Director of Operations for the Foundation, Anna managed projects on pesticide MRL regulatory capacity-building and a large portfolio of global MRL activities in Latin America, Asia, and Africa for the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Foreign Agricultural Service (USDA/FAS) for seven years. Her activities at FAS focused on alignment and harmonization of regional MRL regulatory systems, underscored the importance of a science and risk-based approach to MRL regulation, and supported countries in the development of stronger plant health regulatory systems. Prior to USDA/FAS, Anna was the associate director for Foundation Relations at The Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) where she oversaw proposal development and grant management. She has written extensively on the potential benefits of leveraging agricultural technologies to improve food security throughout the developing world, including products such as Golden Rice, drought resistant seed varieties, and GMO crops.

Anna earned her master’s degree in international development from The George Washington University’s Elliott School of International Affairs and a bachelor’s degree from Skidmore College. She is fluent in Spanish, having lived in Peru where she worked on women’s health and nutrition issues. Anna resides in the San Francisco Bay area.