Title Director, Global Programs, Secretary’s Office of Global Women’s Issues Company U.S. Department of State Bio Natika Washington is the Director of Global Programs in the Secretary’s Office of Global Women’s Issues (S/GWI) at the U.S. Department of State. In this capacity, she designs, manages, and oversees staff and the implementation of several multi-million dollar programs aimed at empowering women socially, politically, and economically in developing nations. She has conceptualized and developed an innovative evaluation framework to monitor and track program results and regularly works with other U.S. government agencies and State Department bureaus to effectively integrate gender into their programming. Since setting up the groundbreaking program in 2010, Natika and her team have awarded $50 million in grants to local community-based organizations striving to meet the critical needs of women and girls. As the S/GWI lead on public-private partnerships, Natika liaises with other governments and the private sector to build joint initiatives around shared objectives, solidifying women’s entrepreneurship and has formulated strategic agreements with a range of partners, including the Goldman Sachs Foundation, the Walmart Foundation, the Cherie Blair Foundation, and the Aspen Institute among others. Such partnerships resulted in empowering more than 22,000 women entrepreneurs from around the world with the necessary skills to grow their businesses. Advancing the status of women and girls in more than 90 countries, Natika further makes recommendations to the Ambassador-at-Large for Global Women’s Issues on the development and design of new program initiatives. Gender issues are thereby integrated into mainstream State Department policies and programs to facilitate stronger partnerships with government and private sector collaborators. She is currently working toward her WEMBA (World Executives Master of Business Administration) at the George Washington University, with anticipated Graduation of December 2015. Her professional awards include: The Network Journal’s 2014 Top 40 under 40 Achiever; Senior Excellence in Government Fellow, 2013; Superior Honor Award for mainstreaming gender programming within the Department of State, 2012; Franklin Award for Leadership, 2011 and Franklin Award establishing the first-ever gender small grants program within the Department of State, 2010. Natika is a decorated Air Force veteran of two wars, among her numerous Armed Services medals include: Global War on Terrorism Medal, Operation Iraqi Freedom 2004; Aerial Achievement Medal, Air Force Commendation Medal, Bahrain AFB, 2004 and other leadership commendations