Maria Kisumbi

Maria is Director, Policy & Government Relations at Humanity United. She co-leads our Policy and Government Relations team that is responsible for influencing governments and multilateral institutions in pursuit of policy change and regulatory action that cultivate the conditions for enduring peace and freedom.

Prior to joining HU, Maria was the Senior Human Rights and Governance Technical Advisor to the Uganda National Planning Authority at the German Development Cooperation (GIZ) in Uganda. At GIZ, she provided technical advice on how to integrate a human rights-based approach in national development planning.

Previously, Maria was the Coordinator for the Law and Advocacy for Women in Uganda (LAW-Uganda), a nonprofit whose mission is to use the law to protect and promote women’s rights. As the Coordinator at LAW-Uganda, Maria played a key role in achieving the Constitutional Court ruling declaring Female Genital Mutilation null and void in Uganda, enactment of the Uganda Prevention of Trafficking in Persons Act 2009, enactment of the Uganda Prohibition of Female Genital Mutilation Act 2010 and establishment of the Uganda Coalition against Trafficking in Persons.

Maria is an alumna of the Law and Advocacy for Women in Africa Program and the Women in Law and Public Policy Fellowship Program (WLPPFP) at Georgetown University Law Center. She has a master’s degree in global health law from Georgetown University Law Center, a bachelor of laws degree from Makerere University in Uganda, and a post-graduate diploma in legal practice from the Law Development Center in Uganda.