A Filipina feminist and activist researcher, Mary Ann Manahan is currently a doctoral assistant with the Conflict Research Group of the Department of Conflict and Development Studies at Ghent University in Belgium. Since 2020, she has also been the co-coordinator of the Global Working Group Beyond Development. Formerly, Manahan was  a Senior Program Officer with the Asian-based Focus on the Global South NGO, and coordinator of the IFI Advisory Board of the US-based grassroots grant-making organisation, Global Greengrants Fund. Her recent research focuses on the intersections of indigenous people's struggles for self-determination, forest conservation and alternatives to development.