Adriana is a philanthro-phile and critic, philanthropist and fundraiser, and citizen scholar. At Emerging Practitioners in Philanthropy (EPIP), she leads all fund development efforts, building connections and infrastructure to move towards community-based and -centered fundraising culture. To do this, she serves as the lead resource mobilizer and network weaver, cross-pollinating between movements and communities working for a more just and equitable present and future.

While living in NYC, DC, San Diego, and Mexico City, Adriana has raised funds for community health, human rights, civil rights, and decolonizing museum collections. In her previous position, she focused on raising funds for a global women’s empowerment program that helped some of the poorest women form savings and lending groups. This work led Adriana to discover giving circles around the world as a form of collective philanthropy in service of the groups’ well being, particularly for women. It led her back to school and to focus her research on people powered philanthropic movements. She regularly speaks on how to support the giving within communities of color and how to use collective philanthropy to build civic power.

Adriana has an M.A. in human rights studies from Columbia University and presented her thesis at the Women’s Symposium at the University of Oxford (UK) on maternal activism in Latin America. She is defending her doctoral dissertation for her PhD in leadership studies from the University of San Diego. Her dissertation uses critical race theory, emancipatory research design principles to center a Latinx definition of philanthropy, rather than center a predominately white one. Throughout her studies, research, and writing, Adriana focused on social movements, particularly of women who are marginalized from formal power structures and, yet, are able to catalyze change in previously unthinkable ways.

Adriana serves on the board of directors of the Women’s Funding Network, the United Philanthropy Forum, and is a representative of EPIP within the CHANGE Philanthropy and WINGS philanthropy networks.