The Center for Popular Democracy (CPD) is delighted to announce that Ana María Archila will be joining CPD as Co-Executive Director on October 15, 2013.

Ana María comes to CPD from our sister organization, Make the Road New York (MRNY) where she has served as Co-Executive Director since its formation in 2007. Before that, Ana María was the Executive Director of the Latin American Integration Center (LAIC), which merged with Make the Road by Walking to create Make the Road New York.

Ana María emigrated to the U.S. from Colombia at the age of 17 and has become a leading advocate for civil rights, health care access, education equity, and immigrant rights in New York State, and nationally. She was awarded a Coro fellowship in 2004, the year after she became Executive Director of LAIC. Under her leadership, LAIC tripled in size and strengthened adult literacy, youth development and health access services to immigrants in Queens and Staten Island. Ana Maria helped LAIC to successfully increase immigrant political participation and power-building through voter mobilization, popular education and community organizing.

Ana María is driven by a deep, passionate commitment to build the strength and resiliency of our nation’s immigrant and working-class communities. In 2007, when LAIC merged with Make the Road by Walking to become Make the Road New York, Ana María became Co-Executive Director with co-founders Andrew Friedman and Oona Chatterjee. Under their leadership, MRNY grew to be the largest membership-led immigrant organization in New York State with over 12,000 members. Under the leadership of Ana Maria, Javier Valdes and Deborah Axt, MRNY has continued to grow – opening new offices in Staten Island and now approaching 14,000 members.

During Ana María's 13 years at MRNY, she has focused on shaping MRNY’s electoral vision, its organizing model, its expansion into Long Island and its LGBTQ organizing work. Ana María also co-directs the Make the Road Action Fund.

“Ana María brings a powerfully loving soul, a quick and intense intelligence and a profound commitment to justice and opportunity to the Center for Popular Democracy and to its allies.  While we will miss her sorely at MRNY, we are thrilled that she will be helping to lead CPD’s efforts to significantly strengthen and support rooted, democratic organizations nationwide, and to use that strength to aggressively pursue racial and economic justice,” said Javier H. Valdés, Chair of CPD’s Board of Directors.