Ms. Tanya Urquieta is the USAID/Nicaragua Mission Director.  She is currently responsible for overseeing USAID's assistance programs in Nicaragua.  Prior to her arrival in Nicaragua, she served as Deputy Mission Director in Guatemala from 2014-2018.

Ms. Urquieta was a Democracy and Governance Office Director in USAID overseas field missions in Nicaragua (2001-2004), Colombia (2005-2008), Afghanistan (2008-2009), Democratic Republic of Congo (2010-2011), and Kosovo (2011-2014). As the Office Director, she was responsible for setting strategic direction, project design, resource allocation and working in several sectors, including rule of law, electoral and political processes, civil society and media, and good governance.

Prior to joining USAID, Ms. Urquieta served as a Project Manager for non-governmental human rights organizations in Bluefields, Nicaragua, and in Croatia.  She also served as a United Nations volunteer with UNICEF in Nicaragua from 1997-1998.

Ms. Urquieta has a Master’s degree in National Security Strategy from the National War College at the National Defense University in Washington, D.C. and a Juris Doctor degree from South Texas College of Law in Houston, Texas. She received a Bachelor's degree, majoring in Spanish, from Rice University in Houston, Texas.