Ileana Ortiz

Associate Director, Equity in Schools They/Them

Ileana Ortiz is an Associate Director for the Equity at Work Program. They were born and raised in Miami, FL and attended college in Pensacola, FL. After years of visiting New Orleans, Ileana enrolled as an AmeriCorps member at Project Homecoming and served as a Worksite Manager from 2014-2015. After Project Homecoming, they served as an AmeriCorps Fellow at the Orleans Public Defenders office where they were a Client Advocate/Spanish Interpreter. Prior to joining Beloved, for 5 years, they were a Navigator at EdNavigator, and helped families (primarily migrant/limited English proficiency individuals) navigate the educational system. While at EdNavigator, they were also a founding member of the internal DEI working group and helped ingrain DEI into systems, particularly around language access. They’re the proud child of Cuban refugees, and their lived experience makes the work they do incredibly personal.

Ileana is part of the Innocence Project New Orleans’ Board of Directors as well as the Out Foundation’s New Orleans Chapter Board. Since Aug 2018, they also serve as an advisor to Mayor LaToya Cantrell as a commissioner on the Human Rights and Equity Advisory Committee. In 2020, they were voted LGBTQ Activist of the Year by Flame Magazine. When they’re not at work or at a board meeting, they can be found doing Crossfit at the only trans owned Crossfit gym in the country, listening to copious amounts of podcasts, making some cafecito, or spending time watching reality tv on their couch with their partner, rescue pitbull, and senior tuxedo cat.