Yadira Montoya has over fifteen years of experience across multiple sectors, including academia, non-profit, and philanthropy. As a Mexican immigrant raised in the Little Village neighborhood, Yadira’s paid and volunteer work lives at the intersections of public health, racial justice, aging, and immigrant rights. In 2019, she was recognized as a Culture of Health Leader by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.

She currently serves as the Programs Director of the National Alliance for Caregiving (NAC). In this role, she oversees key organizational initiatives that focus on building health, wealth, and equity for the fifty-three million family caregivers living in the US. Prior to joining NAC, Yadira served as a Program Officer at the Lloyd A. Fry Foundation. In this role, she oversaw the Foundation’s health portfolio and worked to increase access to primary care among Chicago’s low-income residents. Prior to Fry, Yadira was a Research Scientist at NORC at the University of Chicago where she led and supported a broad range of research studies focused on aging, public health, and participatory methods for clients in the nonprofit, government, and philanthropic sectors.

Yadira is a founding member of La BROCHA an innovative community arts program for Latinx older adults, especially individuals living with dementia and Parkinson’s disease. She earned her Bachelor’s in Community Health and Master of Science in Public Health from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.