About Me
Hello! I’m Sylvia
My understanding of injustice began early. Growing up, I read The Color of Law and The Autobiography of a Slave Girl before I could drive. These books weren’t just powerful—they were paired with daily conversations in my home that made one thing clear: racial inequity in this country is not accidental. It is designed. And if injustice can be designed, so can justice.
That belief has guided every step of my career—from national community development work in the U.S. to international work in South America, in countries like Colombia, where I saw firsthand how disconnected institutional priorities often are from the people they claim to serve. That experience deepened my conviction that institutions must not only serve communities—they must be redesigned with them in mind.
In Cleveland, I spent nearly a decade in senior leadership roles at both the Cleveland Foundation and United Way of Greater Cleveland—including serving as Vice President for Corporate Governance, International Relations, and Government Affairs, and Vice President for Strategic Knowledge and Programs. Across both institutions, I honed my ability to move bold ideas into systems—leveraging relationships, shaping policy, navigating corporate culture, and facilitating the “how” between innovation and infrastructure. I cultivated emerging leaders, built cross-sector partnerships, and helped organizations align operational processes with values-driven strategy.
During this time, I was also appointed as the Cleveland Foundation’s loaned executive to the city’s Community Police Commission, established under a federal consent decree following the killing of 12-year-old Tamir Rice. I applied my skills to one of the most urgent civic efforts of my career—until now. I led the buildout of governance structures, operational workflows, and citywide relationships that could carry forward the work of community-led oversight and accountability.
Later, I made an intentional decision to lead in the corporate space—joining the Hispanic Association on Corporate Responsibility (HACR) as Executive Vice President and COO at a time when the murder of George Floyd had awakened new urgency across the private sector. I worked with Fortune 100 and 500 companies to move from statements to strategies—embedding equity into leadership development, corporate governance, operations, and systems of accountability. It was a deliberate effort to meet institutions in a moment of reckoning—and challenge them to rise to it.
I’ve never been a community organizer—but I believe deeply in the power of collective action. I know that movements are what push systems to change. My work exists in complement: aligning organizations with the calls of community, building structures that are responsive to people power, and ensuring the internal mechanics of institutions are as just as the missions they claim to serve.
Today, as Chief Innovation Officer at the Latino Community Foundation, I lead cross-functional teams across grantmaking, advocacy, communications, and organizational strategy. I center people by transforming the institutions meant to serve them.
I believe systems shape lives. My work is about redesigning them to serve equity.
