Elena Ateva

Americares Director of Climate and Disaster Resilience Elena Ateva, J.D., leads efforts to develop innovative programs that prevent or address the health impacts of climate change in Asia, Eurasia, the Middle East and Africa. She oversees the design, implementation and evaluation of Americares climate and disaster resilience programming in these regions, ensuring interventions are evidence-based, community-informed and aligned with the organization’s global priorities. Her work includes leading the development of a climate toolkit for health providers, patients, community members and facility administrators in the Philippines. Ateva also supports country teams with tools, training and technical expertise to ensure effective implementation and long-term impact on community health.

Since joining Americares in 2023, Ateva has helped shape and expand the organization’s global climate resilience and preparedness portfolio. She played a key role in the expansion of the Climate Resilience for Frontline Clinics Toolkit and the development of the Climate Health Equity for Community Clinics Program—both created in collaboration with the Center for Climate, Health, and the Global Environment at Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health (Harvard Chan C-CHANGE). Prior to joining Americares, Ateva served as deputy director of heat, health and gender at the Atlantic Council’s Adrienne Arsht-Rockefeller Foundation Resilience Center, which focuses on individual and community climate resilience. During her tenure, she successfully developed an organization-wide strategy integrating gender and health into the center’s climate adaptation work and oversaw its implementation globally.

Ateva also previously worked for the White Ribbon Alliance for seven years, where she held a number of leadership roles including senior advocacy and communications manager, and maternal health advisor for the USAID Health Policy Plus project, among others. During this time, Ateva developed a new portfolio for the organization focused on the impact of climate change on reproductive, maternal, newborn and child health. She also worked to position the impact of climate change on women’s health in influential global forums and fostered collaborative partnerships with diverse stakeholders in the nonprofit and humanitarian aid sector. Ateva also worked as an advocate for respectful maternity care and researched gender-based violence as a consultant for the American Refugee Committee. Ateva earned her bachelor’s degree in political science and German from Luther College in Iowa and her Juris Doctor from Hamline University’s School of Law. She speaks English, German, Russian and French, in addition to her native Bulgarian.