People Are Key to Our Strategy

Andrea Cristina Mercado is president and chief executive officer of the Equity Funds. She brings over two decades of experience in civic engagement, strategic campaigns, and leadership within multiracial communities, including her extraordinary work on behalf of Florida Rising Together and New Florida Majority Education Fund, where she spearheaded large-scale civic engagement programs that continue to grow the political power of Black, Latinx, and multiracial communities.

Jordan Estevao is a longtime organizer who has led campaigns to advance racial justice, community economic development, affordable housing, community benefit agreements, and immigrant rights. He oversees all of our grantmaking and grantee-facing programs.

Zakiya Lord is a senior leader and seasoned resource mobilizer with over 20 years of experience at the intersection of philanthropy, social justice, and community building. With an emphasis on relationship-building and deep partnerships, she leads high-impact fundraising and strategy efforts across the nonprofit, public, and private sectors, focusing on equity, racial justice, democracy, and community power.

As an organizational steward, Jillian Murphy oversees our strategic direction and day-to-day operations in close partnership with leadership and staff. Since joining the Equity Fund in 2016, she has helped shepherd our partnerships across the country, build and expand our state and national strategies, and lead the development and creation of several of the Funds’ major initiatives.

Elis Ribeiro has over a decade of experience serving as a senior operations leader within the progressive multi-cultural non-profit and electoral space overseeing large-scale multi-entity organizations. As VP of Operations and Culture, she leads the overall infrastructure ensuring day-to-day operations scale and are aligned with the Fund’s values-centered, high-impact culture.

*President, DePass Paulson Advisors

*Publisher and Founder, Noisy Creek

*Program Officer, The William and Flora Hewlett Foundation