Paul Di Donato has been President and CEO of the Proteus Fund and Proteus Action League since 2016. His over 35 years of social justice efforts and leadership includes work as an activist, advocate, lobbyist, litigator, philanthropic and nonprofit executive, presenter, lecturer, and Board service.

At Proteus Fund, Paul oversees a wide range of dynamic programming—from Donor Collaboratives and Donor Advised Funds to Fiscally Sponsored Projects (FSPs)—aimed at mobilizing and connecting philanthropy to the frontlines of social justice to advance racial, gender, queer, and disability justice as well as an inclusive, fully representative democracy. In the process, Paul has worked to reshape the model of philanthropic intermediaries to attain long-term sustainability and play a partnership-based and robust role in social justice work across the country.

Under Paul’s leadership, Proteus Fund has dramatically increased its annual grantmaking and deepened the focus of the work on the local and state level and advanced its model of true partnership with grantees. During this time, the organization has radically transformed its donor collaborative model to not only provide essential funding, but also create and offer many additional tools, capacities, and networks to further strengthen the impact and sustainability of its grantee partners and build deeper movement infrastructure more generally. Since 2016, Proteus Fund has also doubled the number of Fiscally Sponsored Projects while completely overhauling and deepening its approach to the FSP portfolio to better incubate and nurture these critical, under resourced social-justice initiatives. Today, Proteus is a $50 million progressive philanthropic organization supporting 23 funds and initiatives with a highly skilled and committed staff of over 89 individuals working across 27 states.

Prior to becoming President, Paul served as the Director of Proteus Fund’s Civil Marriage Collaborative (CMC) for eight years. The CMC was a groundbreaking donor collaborative that played a critical role in helping to win the freedom to marry in the United States in 2015. Under Paul's leadership, the CMC created a space for committed donors, visionary activists and advocates, and talented allies from across many sectors to innovate and advance cutting-edge strategies to advance marriage equality.

Prior to his work with Proteus Fund, Paul worked in a variety of capacities in service to social justice movements. As a consultant, Paul specialized in program and organizational development, strategic planning and evaluation, leadership coaching, and governance work for a wide range of philanthropic, other nonprofit, and academic clients.

As Executive Director, Paul evolved the programming of Funders Concerned About AIDS to better educate and mobilize U.S. grantmakers to address the domestic HIV/AIDS crisis. Paul also transformed the organization into a leading international philanthropic actor in the response to the global pandemic. As Federal Affairs Director and Public Policy Director at the San Francisco AIDS Foundation and Public Policy Director at the AIDS Legal Referral Panel, Paul provided key leadership on a wide range of national and California-specific HIV/AIDS legislative and related public policy victories. He also served as both Executive and Legal Director for National Gay Rights Advocates, one of the first national LGBTQ legal rights organizations. In private civil-rights practice, Paul litigated a wide range of cases from prison reform and employment discrimination to voting rights. Upon graduating law school, Paul was the first man to be appointed a Revson Women’s Law & Public Policy Fellow.

Paul graduated with a B.A. from the University of Pennsylvania and received his law degree from Harvard Law School.

Alexandra joined Proteus Fund as Director of Fiscal Sponsorship in June 2023. In her role, Alexandra leads Proteus’ fiscal sponsorship practice, implementing strategy, service coordination, business development, and stewardship for a rich ecosystem of social justice initiatives. She is excited to forge a deep understanding of each project's needs. Specifically, she hopes to provide innovative movement leaders with tailored, holistic, and comprehensive support as they work to transform our communities.

With over a decade of experience, Alexandra has worked in the corporate, nonprofit, and public sectors. However, she has found her true passion in coaching and advising leaders and organizations on how to unlock their highest level of performance, scale operations, and provide strategic support through moments of change. Alexandra has built a career portfolio with a never-ending source of discovery and fulfillment — working at Creative Capital, the City of Atlanta Mayor's Office of Cultural Affairs, the Smithsonian's National Museum of African American History and Culture, Meridian International Center, and Arnold & Porter, LLP.

Most recently, she served as the Leadership Programs Officer at the Bush Foundation, co-leading the Bush Fellowship and Leadership Ecosystem grant programs and developing the leadership of individuals to think bigger and differently about problem-solving. At the Foundation, she created and led the Bush Fellowship Quarterfinalist Mentorship experience, increased the organization's capacity to coach prospective Bush Fellows, expanded the grant term of general operating support for grant partners, and strengthened the effectiveness of the Bush Fellowship Executive Coaches through strategic planning and rebranding efforts.

Before joining the Bush Foundation, Alexandra worked at Creative Capital, where she supported socially engaged, forward-thinking artists grappling with pressing social issues in media, incarceration, spatial justice, gender politics, and contemporary cultural history. In partnership with the Brooklyn Academy of Music (BAM), she produced an entire season of NYC-based professional development workshops–celebrating the value of over 360 individual artists annually.

She has master's degrees in public relations and international Relations from Syracuse University, certificates of advanced study in Arts Leadership and Conflict Resolution, and a bachelor's degree in political communication from George Washington University. She is currently on the Pollen Midwest board. Additionally, she served on the board of Minnesota Humanities Center and Burnaway, an Atlanta-based digital magazine of contemporary art and criticism from the American South. She enjoys photography, graphic design, and traveling. She is a 2017 Association of Performing Arts Professionals Leadership Fellow and 2020-2021 Boards and Commissions Leadership Institute Fellow.

Alexandra was born in Miami, raised in Haiti, and lives in the state of 10,000 lakes (Minnesota).

"I want to be remembered as a woman … who dared to be a catalyst of change." — Shirley Chisholm
"If you always try to be normal, you will never know how amazing you can be." — Maya Angelou.

Amardeep Singh is a seasoned grassroots activist, attorney, organizational founder, and philanthropy professional. Amar came to Proteus from the Open Society Foundations (OSF) where he served as a senior program officer, issuing $11 million in grants to build the advocacy power of Muslims, Arabs, and South Asians—including successful efforts to repeal the Muslim Ban. Amar has overseen multi-year convenings and grantmaking to strengthen bonds among racial-justice organizations across the United States, and the distribution of nearly $6 million in grants to support youth activism in response to the murder of George Floyd. Prior to beginning his philanthropic work, Amar co-founded the Sikh Coalition in the wake of 9/11—now the largest Sikh civil-rights organization in the United States.

At the Sikh Coalition, Amar played a significant leadership role in several critical social-justice victories:
• Creating the first federal hate-crime tracking category for Sikhs, Hindus, and Arabs
• Ending the U.S. Army’s ban on turbaned Sikh soldiers and the NYPD’s ban on turbaned police officers
• Ensuring airport travel search rules for Sikh, Muslim, and other travelers respect their civil rights

Amar also served for four years on President Barack H. Obama’s Advisory Commission on Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders. He has taught a course at Columbia University on law and ethnic identity. He has received a number of awards for his public-interest work and was recognized as a “Top Lawyer Under 40” by the National Asian Pacific American Bar Association. Amar received his JD degree from Case Western Reserve University School of Law and his BA from Rutgers University.

Prior to joining Proteus Fund in January 2023, Amy Rymer worked in operations and administration for several nonprofits and corporations, helping manage budgets, fundraise, create marketing materials, and run daily accounting activities. She is most passionate about doing this work within the context of an organization committed to social change. And she loves the opportunity at Proteus to help make the business of doing this work easier so that the people on the ground can continue to do the most good.

Earlier in her career, Amy was involved in youth work, developing and facilitating nonviolence curriculum at Starfinder Foundation and the Good Shepherd Mediation Diversion Program in Philadelphia. In addition, she spent a few years living in El Salvador to coordinate programs and facilitate nonviolence and trauma healing workshops in schools, churches, and communities in Central America. Before that, during her time as a journalist, she looked for ways to tell stories about people and perspectives that are often misunderstood or underrepresented. She holds a BA in Business Administration from Principia College and an MA in Journalism from the University of Missouri-Columbia.

Ashleigh joined Proteus Fund in September 2023 as a senior accountant. Prior to Proteus Fund she was the Finance Manager for a publishing firm specializing in sustainable and WELL practices education where she heavily focused on the development and analysis of financial strategic plans, operational budgets, and the development and analysis of associated performance indicators.

Throughout Ashleigh’s career, she has demonstrated a deep understanding of financial principles and has extensive experience in budgeting, forecasting, financial reporting, and analysis, as well as managing financial systems and processes.

Prior to returning to the United States five years ago, Ashleigh lived overseas for eleven years throughout the Pacific and Southeast Asia regions working as an educator and a volunteer for various NGO’s supporting the rights of refugees and children.

Beery has extensive experience designing effective programs and operational infrastructure for organizations in the philanthropic, nonprofit, and public sectors. She joined Proteus Fund in 2008
as the grants manager and stewarded that function through exponential growth with a focus on aligning processes and resources for maximum impact and efficiency. Over the years, Beery has continued to oversee the grants management team and DAF program, while also leading the development of our fiscal sponsorship practice, creating the operational scaffolding and coordination of supports for a dynamic ecosystem of initiatives. As COO, she provides strategic vision and direction for the organization’s operations particularly around fiscal sponsorship, grants management, information systems, people and culture, and risk management.

Beery started her career in the Baltimore City Mayor’s Office where she launched the City's immigrant outreach program and developed and instituted its language access policy. She also previously worked in the International Trade & Investment Office of the Maryland Department of Business & Economic Development. Beery was a 2014-15 Community Fellow at the Institute for Nonprofit Practice, and has served on various boards and advisory committees. She holds an MA in Latin American Studies from the University of Arizona, and a BA in International Relations and Cultural Anthropology from James Madison University.

Hahna Cho joined Proteus Fund in May 2024 as a Senior Grants Management Associate. In this role, she works in cooperation with Proteus Fund staff to support the process of awarding grants for the organization. Responsibilities include providing administrative, database, compliance, and logistics support for the grants management function and Proteus’ grantmaking programs.

Prior to joining Proteus Fund, Hahna spent more than 4 years working with private foundations to engage philanthropic leaders, manage quarterly grantmaking cycles, plan grantee convenings, create and analyze data reports and assess potential grantee opportunities.

Hahna is eager to contribute her personal and professional experience to Proteus Fund as these efforts align with her belief that liberation is borne from empowering people to create the change they are looking for.

Hahna graduated from the University of Virginia where she graduated with a Bachelor of Arts with high distinction in History and Political and Social Thought.

“Everything in this world can be robbed and stolen, except one thing; this one thing is the love that emanates from a human being towards a solid commitment to a conviction or cause.” — Ghassan Kanafani

James joined Proteus in March of 2022. As Senior IT Associate James brings nearly a decade of experience working with Microsoft products and services to Proteus Fund's ongoing projects and IT directives. Prior to joining Proteus, James worked with organizations across industries such as education, construction, healthcare, and legal services, supporting hundreds of networks with often unique
sets of technology.

James started working in the field of Information Technology at the age of sixteen, working for a development firm in Miami Florida building luxury hotels.

After graduating high school with honors he went on to work in the IT department of the university he attended, before moving on to work for a local managed services provider. Email migrations, cyber-security threat analysis and remediation, network design, implementation and maintenance as well as specialized software support and help desk services are only a few of the responsibilities he was entrusted with. All the while maintaining a focus on providing those in need with white glove service. Working in the field James was also able to continue his education by attaining several industry leading certifications.

Jennifer joined Proteus in 2020. She has several years of human resources experience, spanning the full spectrum of HR functions. Over a career at both for-profit and not-for-profit organizations, her work has included recruiting, HR administration, employee relations, performance management and training, and her specialty, employee benefits.

Her previous experience includes working as the HR Specialist for the Founders Affiliate of the American Heart Association, specializing in employee health and wellness. In that role she was the subject-matter expert on all aspects of the benefit process as well as technical lead for internal HR systems. She holds a bachelor’s degree from the University of Massachusetts, Dartmouth.

“You cannot get through a single day without having an impact on the world around you. What you do makes a difference, and you have to decide what kind of difference you want to make.” — Jane Goodall

Jenny Peddycord Boyd is a seasoned talent leader with deep expertise in compensation, recruitment, project management, and strategic planning. She has served as an independent consultant for various non-profit organizations, helping to strengthen HR functions and support impactful team and culture-building experiences.

Jenny’s career began as a middle school science teacher through the Teach For America program. After her classroom experience, she transitioned to the Teach For America staff, where she led recruitment in North Carolina. She later expanded her talent management expertise as the Senior Director of Talent at Leadership for Educational Equity (LEE). Most recently, Jenny served as the Chief People and Equity Officer for New Tech Network (NTN), where she led talent and inclusion efforts for staff across the country.

With over a decade of experience in talent and inclusion work, Jenny is driven by a passion for people and is dedicated to fostering inclusive environments. She is a lifelong learner, having completed the Compensation Studies Certificate program at Cornell University in 2018 and participated in the CORO Leadership NY program in 2020. Jenny holds a MA in Teaching from Johns Hopkins University and a BA in Biology and Communication Studies from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Jenny joined Proteus as Senior Donor Services Associate in June 2022. She has over a decade of nonprofit experience in donor relations, grants management, and major gifts fundraising project
management in the healthcare, higher education, urban planning, and disability justice fields. Jenny works closely at Proteus with the Donor Services Manager and Finance team to manage the funding database and support the Donor Collaboratives, Donor Advised Funds, and Fiscally Sponsored Projects in all grant application, reporting, and income-related needs. She holds a Master of Public Policy from DePaul University where she focused on U.S. and European Union asylum and refugee policy; she also holds a B.A. in Anthropology and Creative Writing from the University of Michigan (Go Blue!). Having made the move from big city Chicago to rural life, she enjoys hiking, floating, gardening, and getting into good trouble in the Ozarks.

“We must always take sides. Neutrality helps the oppressor, never the victim. Silence encourages the tormentor, never the tormented.” — Elie Wiesel

Julia Reticker-Flynn is the director of the Rights, Faith & Democracy Collaborative at Proteus Fund. Julia first joined Proteus Fund as the Program Officer for the right to protest with Piper Fund in 2019. In this role, she mobilized philanthropic resources to support state and local organizations protecting protest rights; convened a national table representing 70 organizations united in defense of the freedom of assembly; and partnered with communications consultants to strengthen the field’s narrative frame and communications infrastructure. During this period, she was also able to help nearly double the grantmaking capacity of the program, increase the support for directly impacted communities, pilot a series of wellness and resilience grants, and expand Piper Fund’s support for litigation efforts to protect protest rights.

Prior to joining Proteus Fund, Julia spent almost a decade at Advocates for Youth, where she worked alongside organizers, policy wonks, and young leaders boldly championing young people’s sexual health and rights. Julia serves on the Board of Directors of the New York Abortion Access Fund and previously served on the Board of Nurses for Reproductive Health for five years. She earned a Masters in Public Administration from George Washington’s Trachtenberg School of Public Policy and Administration and a Bachelor of Science in Foreign Service from Georgetown University.

"We need, in every community, a group of angelic troublemakers." — Bayard Rustin

Kathy is an accomplished, connected leader with over 20 years of nonprofit and philanthropic experience building the space for and power of justice-based collective action—across the United States and globally.

As senior program officer at the Piper Fund, Kathy works to unite groups across traditional divides to unleash the power of common purpose of protecting and advancing judicial integrity. In support of that mission, Kathy has spearheaded specialized trainings, messaging research, and shared-learning forums to expand the impact of individual organizations by drawing them into a larger community of advocates.

Her previous work experience includes serving as the executive director of Citizens for Election Integrity Minnesota, where she focused on advancing and protecting voting rights and election integrity and serving as as an international program administrator at The McKnight Foundation, where she supported grassroots coalitions advocating for land and water rights in Southeast Asia and women’s economic advancement in East Africa.

Kathy is a University of Minnesota Humphrey Policy Fellow (2012-2013) and holds a Master of Business Administration from the University of St. Thomas. Her volunteer experience includes serving as an election observer in numerous countries with the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe and serving as a United States Peace Corps Volunteer in Sri Lanka and Nepal.

Rev. Kenyetta Chinwe is the Rights, Faith & Democracy Collaborative’s first program officer. Kenyetta brings faith-based leadership, arts, and management skills to their new role at RFDC. For the last four years, they have strived to advance the work of reproductive justice and LGBTQ freedom as the faith advocacy coordinator for SisterSong, the national, women of color reproductive justice collective. At SisterSong, Kenyetta led successful work to organize faith voices in support of reproduction justice and trans rights. In 2020, they became a founding member of the Spiritual Alliance of Communities for Reproductive Dignity(SACReD) that works to shift culture through congregation and community education on reproductive dignity and serves as co-chair of the Interim Steering Committee.

As a Black, queer, genderfluid woman and the descendant of generations of Pentecostal Christian ministers, Kenyetta has been immersed in a faith community since birth. Previously a youth minister in the apostolic church, they became an ordained minister in the Madonna Interfaith Ministries in 2006. Their background and experience as an organizer informs their work at RFDC, supporting faith-based reproductive justice and LGBTQ organizations.

“We are the ones we have been waiting for.” — June Jordan

Laila is the Senior Contracts & Operations Associate at Proteus Fund and brings over a decade of experience in sponsored project management, operations oversight and grantmaking – both domestic and globally. At Proteus, she oversees contract management, provides operational support for fiscally sponsored projects, and works in partnership with staff and consultants for a more just and equitable society.

Marcus is a proud native of Springfield, MA. To pursue a possible career in television broadcasting, Marcus chose to attend the New York Institute of Technology, where he completed his freshman year. There, he landed an AT&T commercial and was personally selected by "Rush Hour" director Brett Ratner to play an extra in motion picture "New York, I Love You". Marcus transferred to Boston College, where he obtained his BA in Communications. Marcus then dove into the world of politics after returning home.

Marcus was elected to the City Council and elected by Ward 5 residents to serve four consecutive terms. Before retiring from politics, Marcus was elected as President of the Council twice by members of the body. His people-centered accomplishments include regulating the mobile food truck industry to help aspiring entrepreneurs, drafting the ordinance which ushered in the City's first Chief Diversity Officer, and making the Women's Commission a standing committee of the City Council to further promote women's and girls' access to opportunity.

Marcus has also served as the Grants and Contracts Coordinator for the YWCA of Western MA and the Grant Writer for Way Finders, Inc. Marcus has also been recognized as a "40 under 40" recipient by BusinessWest and currently resides in Atlanta, GA.

Maya joined Proteus as Administrative Assistant in August of 2023. She has extensive experience with philanthropic and non-profit organizations supporting leadership and programs for interconnected social justice, promoting human rights, racial and gender equity, democracy and peace building, public health and environmental sustainability. Prior to joining Proteus, she worked with leadership at the Population Council, Ms. Foundation for Women, and Auburn Seminary.

Maya’s international experience includes six years in Ecuador supporting social justice and educational projects with the Andean University where she also enjoyed volunteer work with the Intercultural Workshop, building community and a shared vision for equity in rural areas. She is a trained facilitator with the Alternatives to Violence Project, working in U.S. prisons.

“Unity implies the coming together of elements which are, to begin with, varied and diverse in their particular natures.” — Audre Lorde

Osarenoma “Noma” Iyamu is a technology strategist and data analyst with 5+ years of experience in data integration and information management. She has a track record of success in project management, database design and implementation, Structured Query Language (SQL), data analytics and reporting.

Noma joined Proteus in August 2024 as a Senior Associate on the Information Services (IS) Team. In her role, Noma partners with the Information Services team to provide a range of IS related support for the Proteus Fund core staff. Much of her work is focused on data integration. Prior to her work at Proteus Fund, Noma held various roles focused on data analysis, most recently in the ed-tech space.

She chooses to work in philanthropy because it allows her to use her professional experiences in technology to enable work in support of causes aligned with her personal values. She is especially excited by Proteus Fund’s commitment to promoting inclusive democracy and justice for marginalized communities.

Noma holds a dual Bachelor of Arts degree in Psychology and Education from Hunter College of New York. Outside of Proteus Fund, she enjoys personal fitness, travel and reading.

Patti joined Proteus Fund in September 2018 as Controller. She manages the organization’s financial operations, ensures that financials are prepared and distributed to our funders and programs, and works closely with our Donor Collaboratives and Fiscally Sponsored Project partners to provide financial management support.

Prior to joining the Proteus team, Patti worked as Controller for Highland Valley Elder Services and has many years of financial management experience in hospitality, manufacturing, government and social services organizations. She holds a BS in Mathematics (magna cum laude) from Westfield State University and an MBA from the Isenberg School of Management at the University of Massachusetts. Patti currently resides with her family in Sturbridge, Massachusetts where she was CEO of S.C.I. Management for many years and opened the Fieldstone Tavern, a local dining and entertainment venue. She is an avid traveler, musician, and sports enthusiast, enjoying volleyball, mountain biking and obstacle races. She has served on the Massachusetts Lodging Association Board of Directors, Sturbridge Finance Committee, TRSD Curriculum Committee and was instrumental in designing and lobbying local legislation for tourism funds. She is passionate about education, social justice and small business believing that change is only possible through education, diligence and collaboration.

“Life is 10% of what happens to us and 90% of how we react to it” — John Maxwell

“I have no special talent, I am only passionately curious.” — Albert Einstein

Rana joined Proteus Fund as the Program Director for the RISE Together Fund having devoted her career to storytelling, and activism. Through grantmaking, capacity building, funder organizing and partnerships, Rana and the RTF team work alongside Black, African, Middle Eastern, Muslim and South Asian movements to build a just, inclusive and multiracial democracy where BAMEMSA communities can live freely, lead fully and participate joyously. Prior to RTF, Rana spent nearly 16 years as a member of the ACLU of Michigan’s senior leadership starting as Communications Director, then Deputy Director and finally Interim Executive Director. As a former journalist, Rana is first and foremost a storyteller who deeply believes in the power of personal narrative as a driver of authentic, ethical and servant community leadership. Her experiences as a Muslim immigrant who left Lebanon with her family during the civil war shape her activism, and vision for philanthropy.

Ryan Chavez joined Proteus Fund as Chief Financial Officer in 2019. His career spans across organizations at various stages of growth, from small grassroots organizations to more established ones. As Managing Director of Finance and Administration at Drug Policy Alliance and its 501(c)(4) sister organization, Drug Policy Action, he managed the organization’s growth from an annual operating budget of $9 million to over $20 million.

Ryan has experience working with people in broad and diverse communities on issues of racial and social justice, from working with AIDS service organizations, to developing supportive housing programs, to serving as Chief Operating Officer of a national advocacy organization. Ryan has also served in a variety of volunteer non-profit board rules, including as Board Treasurer of the Paul Rapoport Foundation.

Terrance Pitts joins Proteus Fund with over 20 years of experience supporting communities build impactful, resilient, and intersectional movements for racial justice. Terrance is excited to work at Proteus Fund given the organization’s approach to philanthropy, which prioritizes grassroots decision-making, relationship-building, shared learning, and solidarity as a strategy to build power.

Terrance first became inspired to support intersectional movements for racial justice as a project director at the National Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty early in his career as he built solidarity with activists globally as an organizer in the preparatory process for the U.N. World Conference Against Racism. Since that period, Terrance has developed and led impactful grantmaking investment strategies aimed at shrinking the carceral footprint and advancing racial justice.

As a program officer at OSF, Terrance developed the foundation’s first U.S.-based police reform grantmaking strategy. As a senior advisor and temporary program officer at the Ford Foundation, Terrance led the Foundation’s $7 million annual grantmaking strategy to shrink the carceral system. As a consultant and grantmaking strategist, Terrance has supported the development of new donor collaboratives that have granted millions of dollars to grassroots organizations on the frontlines of intersectional organizing for racial justice. Before joining Proteus Fund, Terrance developed innovative capacity building resources at the Center on Race, Inequality, & the Law at NYU School of Law to support advocates working to disrupt the racial justice and privacy harms stemming from bias-prone law enforcement technology.

Terrance received a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science with distinction from Stanford University, a Master of Arts in Law & Diplomacy from The Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University, and a J.D. from Northwestern University School of Law.

Tiffany joined Proteus Fund in 2022 as a Program Officer for Piper Fund. She has worked for over a decade on all sides of campaign and movement building work, centering racial justice at each stage. During her time at Moxie Media, Tiffany was a lead consultant for Washington Won’t Discriminate and the Transform Washington narratives project which resulted in successfully defeating multiple anti-transgender ballot efforts. As a co-founder of Inclusive Solutions, an equity policy and campaign strategy firm, Tiffany provided strategic direction to Front and Centered, a statewide coalition of 60+ community of color-led organizations working on environmental justice. While there, Tiffany created an iterative community engagement model to inform policy development centering those overburdened by pollution and climate change. This resulted in the passage of the HEAL Act which commits state agencies to environmental justice practices. Most recently, Tiffany was the Political Director to Progress Alliance, where she provided political analysis, identified key strategic opportunities to align donors and provided technical and capacity support to grantees.

“If you have come here to help me you are wasting your time, but if you have come because your liberation is bound up with mine, then let us work together.” — Lilla Watson

Vina brings to her role at Piper Fund a career committed to racial justice organizing and movement building. Prior to joining Proteus Fund, she served as Vice President of Movement Capacity Building at Race Forward, which works at the national level to build awareness, solutions, and leadership for racial justice. Vina was Executive Director at Voices for Racial Justice, working to support a healthy ecosystem of racial justice organizing in Minnesota through training and leadership development, culturally rooted policy tools and research practices, and convening and network building. The child of immigrant parents from Thailand, Vina was raised in Omaha and is a graduate of Carleton College and the University of Minnesota Law School.

Zulma Miranda is an accomplished human rights attorney, philanthropy advisor, and passionate advocate for social justice and peace with over two decades of expertise in global partnership development. Throughout her career, she has spearheaded strategic initiatives that bridge leaders and movements across various sectors.

In her role as Strategic Partnerships Director, Zulma serves as a senior strategist for partnerships with Donor Collaboratives at Proteus Fund. She mentors development-focused staff and contributes to the organization's commitment to advancing social justice by fostering dynamic relationships among philanthropists, movement leaders, and allies. Zulma champions effective philanthropy grounded in genuine collaboration, active listening to grassroots activists' evolving needs, and a willingness to step out of comfort zones to better support movement leaders.

Zulma's career journey has been marked by her remarkable ability to build organizational resilience, cultivate trust-based partnerships, and champion community-centered projects. Her expertise in responsive philanthropy strategies and intersectional solidarity for racial, gender, and ethnic justice has generated significant impact across diverse sectors, raising over $100 million for key initiatives through trust-based relationships with philanthropic entities.

As a legal expert, Zulma's proficiency spans a wide spectrum of issues, including international law and development, conflict resolution, transitional justice, and the women, peace, and security agenda. She has led international programs across Asia, EMEA, LATAM, and North America, collaborating with grassroots activists and leaders to develop legal strategies and provide technical expertise on international and regional human rights frameworks, agreements, and instruments.

Zulma holds a Juris Doctor from CUNY Law School and a Master’s Degree in International Law and Diplomacy from St. John's University. She is also the founder and Principal Mediator and Circle Practitioner at Co.Create, a platform dedicated to bringing people together across diverse backgrounds to build a more inclusive world. Born in Colombia of Lebanese heritage.