Alexa Avilés

I am delighted to introduce Ms. Alexa Avilés, who joined the Scherman Foundation as our one and only Program Officer on March 1, 2011.

Alexa will manage the work of the Reproductive Rights & Services Program, as well as co-manage grantmaking in the Social Welfare and Arts areas. She is excited and promises to bring new energy and vigor to our staff and partners in the field. Prior to her arrival at Scherman, she consulted with funders and nonprofit organizations on criminal and juvenile justice issues. Some of her most recent clients included the New York Juvenile Justice Initiative, Prospect Hill Foundation, Criminal Justice Funders Network, Coalition For Juvenile Justice, New York Foundation and Open Society Foundations. Prior to that, Alexa was a Program Manager with the JEHT Foundation where she managed a national grantmaking portfolio focused on advancing policy and practice changes to reduce youth contact with the justice system and improving outcomes for justice-involved youth. While at the Fund of the Four Directions, Alexa worked as part of a team to provide seed funding to grassroots efforts addressing a wide range of social justice issues including: environmental justice, reproductive health, racial justice and the revitalization of Native American languages and cultures. She received her B.A. from Columbia College of Columbia University and an M.P.A. from Baruch College’s School of Public Affairs in public administration/non-profit management. She a board member of Strategies For Youth, a national organization focused on improving police/youth interactions and ending disparate treatment of youth of color in the juvenile justice system.

Mike Pratt
President