Maria Chavez

President, BioCurious Inc.

Maria Chavez is president of BioCurious, a community biotechnology lab where she has volunteered since 2011. Chavez has been the co-organizer of the Global Community Bio Summit for the past six years and is co-organizer of the Bio Summit Leadership Fellows program. Her primary focus includes the creation of more community science spaces and the push to democratize science participation globally. She serves on the board of the Momental Foundation, a grantmaking foundation whose grants support independence in early-career scientific research. She also serves on the board of the Real Vegan Cheese Project, has led two International Genetically Engineered Machine (iGEM) teams, was a member of the Open Insulin Project, and has been in a leadership position for multiple community lab science projects. Chavez has a BS/IT in Programming and Operating Systems and an MBA in Global Management, both from the University of Phoenix.