Pia Rice Wanek

Pia Rice Wanek is the Vice President of Programs and Operations. She oversees Project HOPE’s global health and humanitarian programs, including the emergency response unit, global supply chain, and security teams. She brings more than two decades of experience in international development, humanitarian crisis management, policy and strategy development, and civil-military engagement.

Throughout her career, Pia has worked across government and nonprofit sectors to strengthen humanitarian and development programs and organization effectiveness. She worked in disaster response at the U.S. Agency for International Development, refugee affairs at the U.S. Department of State, and served in humanitarian and resource development roles at World Vision. At Global Communities, she led the humanitarian department in expanding operations in Syria and Yemen and in Liberia during the 2016 Ebola crisis and then transitioned to become the organization’s first Sr. VP of Global Programs. After serving as CEO for a small peace and security focused non-profit, Pia founded EmpowerAid Consulting, advising companies and non-profits facing complex challenges in disaster response and recovery, safety and security, new business acquisition, and U.S. domestic response. Pia holds a BA in International Studies and Anthropology from Colby College and an MSc in Anthropology and Development from the London School of Economics and Political Science.