Building smarter systems for public good.

As a senior partnership executive for the City of New York, I bring government, philanthropy, business, nonprofits, academia, technology, and community together around complex human-services challenges.

My perspective is both professional and personal. I came to this country as a young Dominican immigrant and found work on a factory floor in Newark, New Jersey, where I watched undocumented women absorb harassment and mistreatment in silence because poverty, language, and fear had stripped them of any real recourse. A single act of care from someone who saw me—and helped me find my way to community college—changed the direction of my life. That experience shaped how I lead: community first, evidence from the beginning, and dignity in every decision.

My career has taken me from direct service and nonprofit leadership to workforce development, organizational transformation, program design, and cross-sector partnership strategy. Across these roles, I have helped institutions integrate teams, redesign programs around the realities communities face, use evidence to challenge assumptions, and build partnerships that expand access and opportunity. This breadth of experience allows me to work at both the human and systems levels—connecting community insight with institutional authority, resources, and action to create change that can endure.

I approach strategic partnerships as more than vehicles for funding. I use them to align institutions around a clearly defined community need, test new approaches, mobilize resources, build evidence, and create solutions capable of lasting beyond a single program, funding cycle, or administration. The goal is not simply to launch something new. It is to change what institutions are able to do—and how effectively they do it together.

I am also developing a practice-based perspective on AI governance and public good. I am interested in how institutions can use AI to improve decisions, strengthen services, and expand organizational capacity while protecting equity, privacy, accountability, public trust, and human judgment. I believe responsible adoption must also address workforce impact: how roles will change, what employees need to work effectively with AI, and how leaders can ensure that technology strengthens rather than diminishes human capability.

In 2018, I survived a ruptured brain aneurysm and spent 20 days in a neurological intensive care unit. Recovery deepened my understanding of resilience, leadership capacity, and the human cost of systems that depend on depleted people. It also reinforced my belief that sustainable impact requires both strong institutions and leaders who can contribute without sacrificing their humanity.

I hold a Master of Public Administration from Columbia University’s School of International and Public Affairs and a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology from CUNY York College, where I graduated magna cum laude. I serve as Vice Chair of the Columbia University SIPA Alumni Association and am the author of Embody Joy: A Woman’s Journey of Reconnection with Her Body.

Across every dimension of my work, I remain guided by four principles: community need as the anchor, trust as the currency, evidence as the discipline, and durable systems change as the goal.

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