Nancy is a seasoned professional with over two decades of experience in the areas of education, economic development, federal policy, and philanthropy. She served for two terms in the Obama Administration and has been instrumental in the design and execution of key public policy and federal programs. Focused on aligning capital with justice, her leadership skills have been employed across the public and private sectors. 

Nancy currently leads community impact efforts at Ureeka, a platform that seeks to democratize economic opportunity for underrepresented entrepreneurs by providing the community, resources, and tools they need to grow and scale their business. Nancy also founded and manages the PowerUp Fund, a philanthropically sourced investment fund for Latino-led enterprises housed at Hispanics in Philanthropy.

Nancy served in several senior leadership positions as an appointee in the Administration of President Barack Obama including chief of staff for strategic partnerships for former U.S. Secretary of Education Arne  Duncan, and deputy director of the Women’s Bureau at the U.S Department of Labor. Additional White House efforts included serving on President Obama’s White House Task Force on Puerto Rico, the  National Equal Pay Task Force, and various intergovernmental, cross-agency efforts that focused on  economic development and place-based investment strategy. After her time with the Obama Administration, Nancy served as the chief external affairs officer for the Opportunity Finance Network, the leading network of community development financial institutions. 

Nancy’s partnership development experience spans sectors and states. Most well known for her ability to develop and sustain non-traditional partnerships, she has been involved in economic development and recovery activities with partners such as the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, Google.org, and the YWCA USA, among others. She currently serves on the board of Colmena66 , y Parallel 18 in Puerto Rico, and is a board member of the Esperanza Charter School system in Philadelphia. In Puerto Rico, Ms. Santiago continues to spearhead disaster and economic recovery activities with nonprofit and civic leaders.

An inspirational activist and speaker, she has received numerous awards and recognitions including the Aspen Institute España 2018 Programa Cervantes, Aspen Institute’s 2015 Salinas Scholar, the Belfer  Institute’s Seminar in Israel for Latino Policy Leaders; the Diversity Journal’s Women Worth Watching  2015; the Spanish Embassy’s Hispanic Leaders Program in Spain; and, the Woman of Distinction award from El Diario La Prensa, New  York city’s largest Spanish-language newspaper.