Elsa Rios

Elsa Rios is the founder of the consulting firm Strategies for Social Change, LLC, and works primarily with BIPOC-led, movement anchor organizations. Her areas of practice include: strategic planning, change management, leadership transition planning. and leadership coaching. She is also co-founder of Leadership Reimagined and was formerly co-director of RoadMap in its early years. She also co-authored with her daughter, Surei Quintana, “Love Notes to Our Social Justice Leaders: A Workbook to Support Your Reflective Leadership Practice”.  She has more than 30 years of nonprofit experience in program design, grant writing, community organizing, public policy analysis, management, and writing.  Before becoming a consultant, Elsa was the Chief of Staff for the Puerto Rican Legal Defense and Education Fund, Founding Director of the Violence Intervention Program, and under Mayor Dinkins was Senior Policy Analyst for the Mayor’s Office on Health Policy. Elsa graduated from New York University School of Law with a Juris Doctor degree and from Columbia University with a Masters of Science degree in Social Work. She was a recipient of the Root-Tilden-Snow Scholar Award for public service from New York University School of Law, and graduated from Columbia University’s Institute for Not-for-Profit Management.