Pia Wanek

Pia Wanek is a leader in international development and humanitarian assistance specializing with 20 years of experience in policy and strategy development, project management and program design, and strategy development in government and in the non-profit sector.    

Ms. Wanek joined DT Institute as CEO in June 2023 following nearly 10 years at Global Communities' directing humanitarian responses and development activities, supporting communities in Syria, Ukraine, Liberia during the West African Ebola epidemic, Gaza, Ethiopia, Guatemala, Kosovo, Honduras, Sri Lanka and Yemen.  Ms. Wanek began her career with USAID’s Office of U.S. Foreign Disaster Assistance (now the Bureau for Humanitarian Assistance) working on East and Central Africa emergency response programs.  Her government service also included support to the civil-military portfolio at the US State Department’s Bureau of Population, Refugees and Migration and in strategic planning and policy development at the Consular Affairs Bureau.    

Early in her career, Ms. Wanek focused on humanitarian and emergency affairs and multi-donor resource planning at World Vision U.S.  While at World Vision, she served as the co-chair of the Protection Working Group at InterAction, the largest membership organization of development, humanitarian and peace non-governmental organizations based in the US.  She spent two years with an Australian strategic consulting firm, Noetic Corporation, and co-led projects that explored the evolution of irregular threat groups, a multi-sector, inter-agency framework for conflict assessment, and the potential implications of game-changing, disruptive technologies from technical, social, political, legal and ethical perspectives.  These studies coupled with scenario-based exercises produced policy and pragmatic operational analyses for senior decision makers.    

Ms. Wanek is adept at bringing together diverse stakeholders and contradictory perspectives around complex topics.  At the center are those who are most affected by crisis or conflict.  Ms. Wanek’s professional work focuses on efforts that require a community-focused approach.  Her background is steeped in principled humanitarian action, a rights-based approach to development, and appreciation for civil-military and peace actors operating side-by-side in complex, conflicted environments.    

Ms. Wanek was born in Australia and raised in the US, Australia, Germany, Hong Kong, and Switzerland. She earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in Anthropology and International Studies from Colby College and holds a Masters’ degree from the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE) in Anthropology and Development.