Yanira serves as the Philanthropy Lead for Caring for Colorado’s Youth Health and Well-being funding priority. In this role, she oversees trust-based grantmaking, builds relationships with grantees and community partners, elevates the voices of young people and community members, and influences systems and policies that advance health equity for young people and their families.

Before working at Caring for Colorado, Yanira was a youth development and engagement program manager at the Denver Mayor’s Office of Children’s Affairs (OCA), where she organized and executed professional development and learning opportunities for youth-serving professionals in the out-of-school-time field and collaborated with the Mayor’s Office to support youth employment and skill growth opportunities. While at OCA, she also held the Healthy Food for Denver’s Kids Program and Grant Manager role, where she managed a grant-funded initiative that improved and expanded food access and nutrition for Denver youth. Previously, Yanira managed three citywide initiatives at the Denver Public Library: the Summer of Adventure program, snack program expansion, and food box distribution—serving youth and their families across 28 branch locations.

Yanira is passionate about providing access to services, resources, and information to underrepresented and underserved communities and fostering equity-driven solutions that address systemic barriers.

Outside of work, you can catch Yanira at a concert, enjoying time with family and friends, and traveling.

Yanira holds a bachelor’s degree in sociology from the University of Los Angeles with a minor in labor and workplace studies. She was also a fellow of the UCLA Law Fellows program.