Guisela Marroquín

At the forefront of Guisela's identity are her Latine roots as an immigrant from Guatemala. From a young age, she became a natural advocate as a result of the adversities she and her family encountered. Her culture and the traditions her family maintained instilled in her a strong sense of community and taught her about the resilient spirit and creativity of those viewed and treated as “others” within society. Guisela's educational journey was also marked with adversity as she navigated being first generation and moving away from family for the first time. However, it allowed her to witness different settings and models which helped her gain a deeper understanding of systems and how different disciplines and sectors intersect and impact one another in support of, or to the detriment of, social justice.

The path less traveled led Guisela to community organizing as a means of empowerment and transformative change. She has many years of experience in the non-profit sector, serving in roles as a direct service provider, advocate and crisis manager, and pursuing legislative advocacy and litigation efforts at the New York Civil Liberties Union. She served as Director of Training and Engagement at the Advocacy Institute, developing and presenting curriculum for advocates and organizers, strengthening a network of experts to push legislative changes through bilingual tools and training spaces across New York State. Guisela has worked on campaigns that address education, immigrant justice, criminal justice, police accountability and reproductive justice—in particular the intersectionality of all these issues.

Guisela's engagement with philanthropy began as a founding member of the Hudson Valley Community Funding Committee at North Star Fund, which she served on for seven years. She then joined the New York Women’s Foundation as a Program Officer and moved up to the role of Senior Director of Programs at the New York Women’s Foundation, overseeing grantmaking and community engagement efforts across the Foundation’s investment strategies. Guisela's role included the oversight of the Foundation’s two collaborative funds, the Justice Fund and the NYC Fund for Girls and Young Women of Color, both seven-year initiatives in partnership with other funders to maximize investments in the criminal justice space and investments to girls, young women, and gender-expansive youth with a racial justice lens. In 2020, Guisela joined the Board of the Pretrial Justice Institute and served as Board Chair from 2022 to 2024, when she joined the staff as Executive Director.

Guisela has a Bachelor’s degree in Behavioral Sciences and a Master’s in Social Work with a concentration in Community Organizing, Planning and Development. She lives in New York State with her husband and their dog child, Harlee, for Harlem, a birthplace for renaissance and artistry.