Natika Washington

Natika is responsible for leading the organization's corporate engagement and development team, designing, and providing oversight of initiatives that lead to organizational sustainability; specifically, increasing Polaris’ global footprint and financial goals over the next five to ten years. Ms. Washington also provides oversight to the CEO regarding Polaris’ external and internal communications strategy. Natika had a 20-year career in government. As the previous Director of Global Programs and Gender Integration at the US Department of States, Office of Global Women’s Issues, Natika designed, managed, and oversaw staff and the implementation of several multi-million-dollar program initiatives aimed at empowering women and girls socially, politically, and economically in over 90 developing nations. In this capacity, she also liaised with foreign governments and private sector partners to build joint women’s empowerment public-private-partnership initiatives with the Goldman Sachs Foundation and the Government of Denmark among others. Natika is a decorated war veteran of Operation Iraqi Freedom having served for ten years in the US Air Force.