Ana L. Oliveira has been a voice and a force for change in improving the lives of those people in the greatest need for more than 30 years. As President and CEO, she leads The New York Women’s Foundation mission to create an equitable and just future for women and families.

Under Ana’s leadership, The Foundation focuses on funding organizations by and for women of color, having constituted itself as the preeminent funder for gender and racial justice in New York.  The Foundation has increased its presence in philanthropy, increasing its annual grantmaking and working side by side other partners in collaborative funds – the Girls and Young Women of Color Fund and the Justice Fund. The Foundation has also co-founded a very successful and first national collaborative that centers and focuses on young women of color and hosts the National Collaborative of the Young Women’s Initiative, with 17 women foundation members.  Additionally, The Foundation is a pioneer in igniting many cultural justice movements of today, including Me Too and the closing of Rikers Island, and is a member of the President’s Council on Disability Inclusion in Philanthropy.

Ana has led critical cross-sectoral partnerships to advance women’s rights in a variety of appointed positions, such as a former Commissioner of Human Rights for NYC, the New York City HIV Planning Council, and the New York City Young Men’s Initiative.

Before joining The Foundation, Ana’s career focused on issues surrounding substance abuse, HIV/AIDS, and incarceration. Ana has served as Executive Director of the Gay Men’s Health Crisis (GMHC) and Vice President for Programs at the Osborne Association, and has developed the first acupuncture detoxification clinic for methadone and alcohol-involved patients at Kings County Addictive Diseases Hospital.

Ana serves on the board of Point Source Youth and Sanctuary for Families. She is an Advisory Committee member to Women of Color in Fundraising and Philanthropy and is part of the President’s Council on Disability Inclusion in Philanthropy.  Ana has served as a board member for Philanthropy New York and chaired the Women’s Funding Network.

Ana attained her M.A. in Medical Anthropology and holds a Ph.D. (Hon) from the New School for Social Research. She was born in Sao Paulo, Brazil, and resides in New York