Martha N. Zhou

Martha N. Zhou serves as an Acquisition Specialist with USAID/Botswana, where she plays a pivotal role in executing procurement strategies that align with the agency’s mission to strengthen health systems and expand public health outcomes across Southern Africa. She manages the full lifecycle of acquisitions for professional and technical services, ensuring compliance with federal regulations and USAID’s development objectives. Her portfolio primarily supports contract actions related to health system strengthening, HIV/AIDS program implementation, and institutional capacity building, often coordinating with technical units to translate program needs into solicitations that attract qualified, mission-aligned vendors. Martha collaborates with a diverse range of contractors specializing in public health consulting, epidemiological analysis, and health infrastructure support. While no single contractor dominates her portfolio, she consistently engages firms with demonstrated expertise in African health contexts, including local and international NGOs, research institutions, and technical service providers with regional presence. Her procurement approach emphasizes performance-based contracting and outcome-driven deliverables, fostering long-term partnerships grounded in transparency and accountability. Martha’s contracting patterns reflect a strong preference for open competition, with 100% of her acquisitions issued without set-aside designations. This underscores her focus on maximizing technical capability and value over socioeconomic categorizations, though she remains attentive to small business participation when it aligns with mission-critical expertise. Her approach prioritizes merit-based selection, ensuring that procurement decisions are driven by technical merit, past performance, and local relevance rather than socioeconomic preferences. Her primary procurement focus lies in NAICS 541990 (All Other Professional, Scientific, and Technical Services) and 541690 (Other Scientific and Technical Consulting Services), reflecting her specialization in health systems strengthening, data analytics, and program evaluation. She also procures specialized medical equipment through NAICS 423610, supporting clinic-level infrastructure. Martha’s expertise centers on designing solicitations that attract high-quality technical service providers capable of delivering sustainable, locally-led health interventions.