Mariana Cernea

Mariana Cernea serves as a key procurement professional within USAID/Moldova, supporting the agency’s mission to advance democratic governance, economic resilience, and sustainable development through strategic contracting. She manages the acquisition of professional, scientific, and technical services critical to institutional capacity building, public financial management reform, and energy sector modernization. Her work ensures that technical assistance and advisory services align with U.S. foreign policy objectives and Moldova’s national development priorities, facilitating the delivery of high-impact, results-driven programs through compliant and transparent procurement processes. Cernea collaborates with a diverse array of international and local service providers, including consulting firms, think tanks, and technical implementation partners with expertise in governance, energy systems, and digital transformation. While no single contractor dominates her portfolio, her contracting patterns reflect a preference for experienced, mission-aligned vendors capable of delivering adaptive, context-sensitive solutions in complex institutional environments. Her relationships are characterized by long-term engagement, performance-based contract management, and a focus on local partner capacity development. Cernea’s procurement activity is entirely non-set-aside, with 100% of awards issued under full and open competition. This reflects a strategic emphasis on selecting the most qualified technical experts regardless of socioeconomic status, prioritizing technical merit and programmatic impact over socioeconomic preferences. While small business participation is not formally incentivized through set-asides, her approach remains inclusive, allowing qualified small and medium-sized enterprises to compete on an equal footing based on technical capability and value. Her primary focus is on NAICS 541990—All Other Professional, Scientific, and Technical Services—encompassing governance advisory, public administration reform, energy security analysis, digital infrastructure support, and anti-corruption technical assistance. She procures high-level consulting services, monitoring and evaluation frameworks, and institutional strengthening interventions, demonstrating deep expertise in development economics and public sector modernization.