Maria Gracia Asayag

Maria Gracia Asayag is the Director of Recruitment and Admissions at Girls Who Invest. In this role, she oversees the recruitment and admissions process and strategy for the Summer Intensive and Online Intensive Programs. Maria brings over 12 years of experience in recruiting and selecting students for highly selective admissions programs. Previously, Maria was the Director of Multicultural Recruitment at Columbia University where she led strategic initiatives to recruit, select, and enroll students who are historically underrepresented within higher education.

Maria oversaw key strategic partnerships with nonprofits and community-based organizations aimed at creating pipelines for underrepresented students. She believes strongly in college access and opportunity and led the admissions process for Columbia's Opportunity Programs including the National Opportunity Program and the Arthur O. Eve Higher Education Program (HEOP) Program for New York State residents.

As an immigrant from Lima, Peru, Maria is fiercely passionate about providing impacted communities with opportunities for social mobility. She earned her Bachelor of Arts degree from Muhlenberg College and her Masters in Educational Leadership from Lehigh University.