Maria Belen is a social policy professional with 13 years of experience in the federal government, and is currently working on Indigenous affairs and reconciliation at the Privy Council Office. Maria has worked in various departments, including casualty support of Canadian soldiers who returned from Afghanistan (Department of National Defence); issues management in real property (Public Service and Procurement Canada); settlement and integration of immigrants and refugees (Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada); advancing a ‘seniors lens’ in federal programming (Employment and Social Development Canada); strategic policy, multiculturalism and anti-racism (Canadian Heritage); and most recently working on gender equality and anti-racism files (Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat). An innovation enthusiast, Maria helped launch the #iGive/#jeDonne campaign for the 2014 GCWCC, and the monthly #LeadersGC Twitter Chat in 2016.  She was a national board member of the Institute of Public Administration of Canada from 2015-2017, where she helped champion policy innovation, and the recruitment and retention of new public servants at all orders of government.  Maria loves hiking and going to monthly dinner clubs.  She was born in Camaligan, Camarines Sur in the Philippines, raised in Toronto, and proudly calls Ottawa her home.