Maria Cownan

Maria Cownan serves as a Grants Analyst for the Bay Area Urban Areas Security Initiative (UASI). In this role, she processes reimbursement claims for subrecipient jurisdictions, helping ensure that grant funds are documented, allowable, and administered in compliance with federal and state program requirements. She also supports UASI program management work, contributing wherever the team’s projects and priorities need her.

Maria brings more than a decade of experience in public safety and city government to UASI. She spent twelve years in forensic DNA science at the San Francisco Police Department Crime Laboratory. There she worked in a highly regulated, quality-driven environment, served as a CODIS administrator, testified as an expert in local, federal, and military courts, and held DOJ grants certification. She later moved into project management for SFPD, applying her technical background to organizing teams, processes, and deliverables for citywide, legislatively mandated projects and budgetary planning. Most recently, Maria worked as a researcher in the Spudich Lab at Stanford University School of Medicine.

Maria holds a Lean Six Sigma Green Belt and is trained as an FBI Quality Assurance Standards (QAS) auditor, reflecting a long-standing focus on process improvement, accountability, and compliance. She earned her Bachelor of Science in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology from UC Davis and a Master of Science in Pharmaceutical Sciences from the University of Florida. A native San Franciscan, Maria is delighted to be serving the Bay Area’s four UASI hubs.