Mariya brings over a decade of experience across startups, partnerships, and community building. She co-founded SquareHub, a startup incubator in Sri Lanka, where she led programs for early-stage social impact founders backed by UNDP. She also served as a Techstars Startup Weekend Facilitator and is a Certified UNDP Trainer with formal training in design thinking and facilitation. Alongside that work, she helped grow a fintech startup, pitching the company on international stages including Seedstars in Switzerland and Oslo Innovation Week in Norway.

Mariya is multilingual across five languages and is based in Washington, DC.

In her free time, Mariya can be found playing NYT puzzles, trying out new restaurants around DC, or saying yes to whatever outdoor adventure comes her way.