Henry A.J. Ramos

Henry A. J. Ramos is an author, artist, and social investment expert. He is currently a senior fellow at The New School Institute on Race, Power and Political Economy, an international center for the study and application of new economic models for a changing world, based in New York City. He is the former chief executive officer of the Oakland, CA-based Insight Center for Community Economic Development, a leading research, technical assistance, and policy advocacy group focused on expanding economic opportunity for disadvantaged populations across the U.S.

He is also a past author, editor and project consultant at Arte Público Press, based at the University of Houston. His published works there include, Democracy & The Next American Economy: Where Prosperity Meets Justice (with a Foreword by ACLU National Director Anthony D. Romero) (2019); The History of Barrios Unidos: Healing Community Violence (a volume including contributions from Harry Belafonte, Dolores Huerta, and the late Tom Hayden) (2007); Nuevos Senderos: Reflections on Hispanics and Philanthropy (1999); and In Pursuit of the Dream: The History of the American GI Forum, 1948-83 (1998).

During 2006-2009, Ramos led the Diversity in Philanthropy Project, a multi-year initiative of leading foundation executives and trustees committed to expanding diversity and inclusion in philanthropic appointments, grantmaking and procurement. During the late 1980s, Ramos served as a leading board member and Acting Executive Director of Hispanics in Philanthropy. Over the years, he has worked on the program staffs of the Ford Foundation, the James Irvine Foundation, and the Levi Strauss Foundation; and he has served as a leading member of various public interest governing and advisory boards, including those of the Nonprofit Finance Fund (which he served as Board Chair during 2019-2022), the University of California at Berkeley College of Letters and Sciences, the Harvard Journal of Hispanic Policy (of which he is the Founding Editor), the Women’s Foundation of California, the Romare Bearden Foundation, and the statewide Board of Governors of the California Community Colleges System (2009- 2015).

Ramos received a BA in Political Economy from the University of California at Berkeley, an MPA from the Harvard John F. Kennedy School of Government, and a JD from UC Berkeley Law School.