Grace Bonilla, president and CEO of United Way of New York City and a graduate of Brooklyn Law School, has been appointed to Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani’s transition team, a group of five women charged with shaping the incoming administration and guiding the city through a historic change in leadership.
Bonilla, a lifelong New Yorker who began her public service career under the Bloomberg administration, brings more than two decades of experience in social services and nonprofit leadership. She previously served as the city’s human resources administration administrator, overseeing programs that supported more than three million residents. She later led New York’s first Task Force on Racial Equity and Inclusion at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Her appointment signals Mamdani’s intention to combine progressive ideals with institutional experience. As one of the few members of the transition team with deep roots in city government, Bonilla is expected to play a key role in shaping policies around poverty, housing and access to social services, areas where she has long focused her work.
At United Way, Bonilla had emphasized equity and neighborhood-level collaboration, partnering with community groups to expand food access, health care and education programs across the five boroughs. Her leadership helped distribute 15 million pounds of food to families in need and provided hundreds of thousands of public school students with supplies and reading materials.
Bonilla earned her law degree from Brooklyn Law School, where she received the César Perales Community Advocate Award in 2015. Before that, she studied political science at St. John’s University and began her career addressing child support reform and immigrant access issues in city agencies.
In recent years, she has been recognized by City & State as one of New York’s most influential nonprofit leaders and was inducted into the City Limits Hall of Fame. Her career, spanning city hall, community advocacy and global humanitarian work, shows a consistent focus on equity and opportunity — principles likely to guide her work on Mamdani’s team.
“I am thrilled to join the Race Equity Advisory Board,” Bonilla said earlier this year. “This is a true opportunity to build a more just and equitable city where every New Yorker can see themselves in the fabric of the city.”
Mamdani, 34, who became New York’s youngest mayor in more than a century, campaigned on affordability, child care and expanded public services. His decision to appoint Bonilla and four other women to lead his transition, including former Deputy Mayors Maria Torres-Springer and Melanie Hartzog and former FTC Chair Lina Khan, shows his promise to bring experienced, equity-driven leadership into City Hall.
