“A Winner Against All Odds”

What made Nilda Iris Ruiz uniquely qualified for the President & CEO position of Asociación Puertorriqueños en Marcha is that she came to the role with life experiences and understood the mission right from the start. Being born and raised in Philadelphia, gaining education through a public school system, graduating from Temple University, and having hard-working parents, Nilda personally experienced all the illnesses such as poverty, mental health, and lack of access to resources for the Latino community, a community that her family was part of. This also included language barriers.

Growing up, she was the voice of her parents. “I was born with Cerebral Palsy, which added additional challenges. Taking a strong look at my personal life, it directed me to choose a career that focused on helping others. Having a job in Washington, National Council of La Rasa (NCLR), which is today called Unidos US, provided me the experience and skills to manage and turn the agency around,” says Nilda, who holds strong business relationships building quality with organizations that support the same mission. “From the brink of bankruptcy, I was able to turn the organization around by putting the right financial accountability and control systems in place and hiring the right talent, developing a strategy that resulted in positive outcomes in addition to saving and leading the organization today, which is thriving and growing.”

Nilda inspires and empowers team members to become great leaders of tomorrow by providing opportunities to learn and build on their skills. Never one to dictate what they need to do, Nilda encourages her team to bring in more unique ideas. “I encourage the leaders to speak without judgment. Executive meetings are prepared with a learning point and room for open discussion,” says Nilda, who empowers the leaders to take charge of their expertise, which has shown positive outcomes in moving the organization forward.

In 2005, Nilda became the second president and CEO of Asociación Puertorriqueños en Marcha since its inception in 1970. Under her leadership, the social services organization has become one of the most prominent Latino-founded agencies in the nation. It has received awards for its transformative work helping thousands of families lift themselves out of poverty and bringing over a billion dollars of investments into Eastern North Philadelphia. “Finding success has been my goal at each milestone in my life. For example, graduating from high school and college was a success, especially as this was not common in my era and much less in my family,” elucidates Nilda. “The biggest advice I would give to people is to finish what you start. The easiest thing in the world is to quit. Success is when preparation meets opportunity.”

Nilda has been at the forefront of award-winning projects, including Sheridan Homes, a Gold-LEED certified “green” affordable housing development; national NAEYC accreditation; Pennsylvania Keystone 4-star rated early childhood education centers; and the new APM headquarters. She is a crucial community innovator in Philadelphia, respected for her multicultural leadership, nurturing and protecting children, and education advocacy. She serves on various National and local boards such as: Local Initiative Support Corporation (LISC), National Puerto Rican Agenda (NPRA), the Urban Affairs Coalition, PNC Advisory Committee, and is on the Housing Advisory Committee of the Federal Home Loan Bank (FHLB) of Pittsburg. In addition, she has served in the last two Pennsylvania Governors transition team and Mayor’s transition team. She has been recognized as one of the Top Power 100 in PA by City & State Pennsylvania News and the PA Housing Finance Agency in their annual awards.

With this brilliant mindset, Nilda has brought Asociación Puertorriqueños en Marcha to new heights. The organization’s mission perfectly aligns with her personal mission—the mission motivates her to come to work and love what she does. “When your personal and professional beliefs align with the mission, it makes it easy to help families achieve their greatest potential,” says Nilda.

Asociación Puertorriqueños en Marcha serves 40,000 Philadelphians annually, operates on a combined budget of more than $65 million, employs 400 multilingual, skilled, and dedicated professionals, and offers an extensive range of bilingual and culturally sensitive services at 13 sites throughout North Philadelphia and Montgomery County. The organization's most significant achievement has been to flourish from a grassroots level and fight against all odds to create leaders from the community who are passionate about the same mission. ICX