Maria Cote is a management and organizational development consultant with more than 20 years of experience helping organizations strengthen operations, scale effectively, and build thriving workplace cultures.

Maria partners with executives, boards, and leadership teams to navigate periods of growth, organizational change, and operational complexity. Her expertise spans organizational strategy, human resources, leadership development, operational excellence, change management, governance, and culture-building. She is known for helping organizations translate ambitious visions into sustainable systems, structures, and practices that support long-term impact.

Throughout her career, Maria has served on the leadership teams of innovative, high-performing nonprofit organizations, including World Savvy, College Possible, Teach For America–Twin Cities, and Summit Academy OIC. At Feeding America, she led nationwide initiatives supporting food bank executives and board leaders as they responded to unprecedented operational and workforce challenges during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Maria’s commitment to equity and opportunity is deeply personal. Growing up in low-income communities in St. Louis and Chicago, she witnessed firsthand the inequities that shape access to opportunity. Those experiences continue to inform her passion for helping organizations create systems, cultures, and strategies that expand impact and advance meaningful change.

Maria holds a Bachelor of Arts in Cultural Studies & Comparative Literature and a Master of Public Affairs from the University of Minnesota–Twin Cities, a Mini-MBA in Nonprofit Management from the University of St. Thomas, and a Senior Professional in Human Resources (SPHR) certification through HRCI.

Outside of her work, Maria enjoys travel, time on the water, reading, writing, music, performance art, and spending time with family.