Grace Bonilla

(She/Her/Ella)

President & CEO – The United Way of New York City

“I am thrilled to join the Race Equity Advisory Board,” said Grace Bonilla, President & CEO of United Way of New York City, “This is a true opportunity to build a more just and equitable city where every New Yorker can see themselves in the fabric of the city, know the belong and that the barriers that could rob them of their agency are acknowledged and they are being dismantled.” 

Grace C. Bonilla, Esq. has a wealth of knowledge and experience in the nonprofit and public sectors. She joined United Way of New York City as President and CEO in July of 2022.

Previously, she served as Senior Vice President for Latin America at Covenant House International (CHI) where her portfolio included services to homeless children in Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico and Nicaragua, tackling the root causes of homelessness: poverty, human trafficking, substance use, unstable political environments and the consequences of children migrating among these countries and the US.

Before joining CHI, Grace worked in the social services space focused in New York City. At the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, on March 2020, Grace was appointed by Mayor Bill de Blasio to serve as the first Executive Director of the Task force on Racial Equity and Inclusion, where she led a cross section of 80 city leaders and made over 100 recommendations, many of which are currently implemented. Grace was also appointed by Mayor Bill de Blasio in February 2017 as Administrator of the Human Resources Administration (HRA). In this capacity, she is responsible for working alongside the Commissioner of the Department of Social Services in leading the largest local social services agency in the country; HRA serves over 3 million New Yorkers through the administration of major public assistance programs and strives to combat poverty and income inequality in New York City.

Grace served as the President and Chief Executive Officer of The Committee for Hispanic Children & Families, Inc. (CHCF). Since 1982, The Committee for Hispanic Children and Families has combined education and advocacy to expand opportunities for children and families and strengthen the voice of the Latino community and provides a number of services through Youth Development programs, an Early Care & Education Institute, and policy and advocacy initiatives.

From 2004-2014, Grace worked for the Bloomberg Administration where she took on different leadership roles within HRA. She served as the Deputy Commissioner overseeing the Office of Community Affairs and Immigrant Services. In this capacity, she worked on issues regarding language access, immigrant eligibility, disability rights, and community engagement.

Grace also served as Assistant Deputy Commissioner with the Office of Constituent Services where she made it her priority to find innovative solutions to better serve the needs of constituents who contacted the agency for assistance. In her time in this capacity, she also established quality control mechanisms that improved the reporting capabilities between the Office and other program areas.

In 2009, she was Director of Legislation and Policy at the Office of Child Support Enforcement and managed the first statewide project that assisted in establishing child support orders administratively and through mediation for low-income communities. Before becoming Director, Grace also served as a Senior Legislative Analyst in which she collaborated with community-based organizations and stakeholders towards advocating for the passage of a law that would suspend child support collections for low-income fathers in prison.

In February 2019 Grace was accepted into The Annie E. Casey Foundation Children and Family Class 11 Fellowship. The Annie E. Casey Foundation hosts a biennial fellowship which helps to train a generation of thought leaders to advance the field of social welfare. AECF is dedicated to addressing the issue of children at risk – focusing on community building and strengthening families through its multiple annual grants and training initiatives

Grace is a life-long New Yorker and a committed public servant who has dedicated her career to shape key policies that serve to alleviate equitable challenges in New York City. She received her BA in Political Science from St. John's University, and her JD from Brooklyn Law School, where in 2015 she was awarded the Cesar Perales Community Advocate Award. She lives in Queens with her husband and three sons.