As Chief Executive Officer of Mercy Corps, Tjada leads a global team of humanitarians who provide immediate relief to help communities forge new paths to prosperity in the face of disaster, conflict, poverty, and the impacts of climate change, reaching tens of millions of people in 40+ countries. Previously, Tjada served as Chief Operating Officer of CARE, where she oversaw the organization’s programming and global operations.

Tjada spent more than a decade working to end world hunger in roles with the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and the U.S. government. During the Obama administration, Tjada served as the Deputy Coordinator of Development for Feed the Future, the U.S. government’s global hunger and food security initiative, and the Assistant to the Administrator of the U.S. Agency for International Development’s Bureau for Food Security in Washington, D.C.

In addition to leading Mercy Corps, Tjada sits on the Climate Migration Council and is a life member of the Council on Foreign Relations. Tjada earned a B.A. from Harvard College and an M.B.A. from Harvard Business School. When she’s not working, Tjada enjoys reading and spending time with her family.