Maria Mkandawire

Maria is the Technical lead for the Expanding  HIV/AIDS Prevention with Local Organizations Working for an Effective Epidemic Response  ( EMPOWER ). She  has passion  working with key and vulnerable populations and possess skills in strategic design, planning, coordination, implementation, monitoring and evaluation of optimal Public Health interventions including applying combination prevention approaches to HIV Prevention as a means of strategically reaching out to key and priority populations including Adolescent Girls and Young women ( AGYW). Maria first   implemented the   DREAMS   partnership under the FHI360 Key Population program Linkages (from 2015 to 2020)   which eventually transitioned to EPIC in 2019. She previously worked with the National AIDS Commission in advocacy and community mobilization for 12 years  where she was  key in  providing leadership and oversight in  key population and AGYW programming  and worked as Public Health Specialist under the Oxfam Malawi Food Crisis Response Programme, intergrated nutrition  water, and sanitation program.