Luis Ubiñas
Luis Antonio Ubiñas | |
|---|---|
| Born | 1963 New York City, U.S. |
| Occupation(s) | Entrepreneur, investor, nonprofit leader |
| Years active | 1980s–present |
| Known for | President of the Ford Foundation (2008–2013), Chair of the Statue of Liberty-Ellis Island Foundation |
Luis Antonio Ubiñas (born 1963) is a prominent American entrepreneur, investor, and leader in the nonprofit arena. He currently chairs the Statue of Liberty-Ellis Island Foundation, an organization dedicated to safeguarding the heritage of American immigration. Between 2008 and 2013, Ubiñas held the position of president at the Ford Foundation, following an 18-year tenure as a senior partner at McKinsey & Company. In the corporate realm, he serves on boards for various public and private enterprises, including Electronic Arts (where he acts as Lead Director and chairs the Nominating and Governance Committee), AT&T, and Tanger. Additionally, he provides strategic guidance to private companies like Ebsco, a provider of digital information services. Within the nonprofit sector, he led as president of the Board of Trustees for the Pan American Development Foundation from 2015 to 2019 and is a member of the United Nations Fund for International Partnership Advisory Committee.
Early life
Raised in New York City’s South Bronx, Ubiñas grew up in a family with Puerto Rican roots; his mother worked as a seamstress, while his father passed away during Ubiñas’s early years along with his four siblings. He was supported by A Better Chance, an organization dedicated to assisting talented young people of color in gaining access to prestigious secondary schools. Ubiñas graduated magna cum laude from Harvard University in 1985 with a degree in government, where he was honored as a Truman Scholar and shared college housing with Conan O'Brien. He later earned an MBA from Harvard Business School in 1989 as a Baker Scholar, graduating with highest distinction.
Career
Luis Ubiñas has held influential roles spanning business leadership, philanthropy, nonprofit governance, and public service. His career includes serving as Senior Partner at McKinsey & Company, leading the Ford Foundation as president, and participating on AT&T’s board. Presently, his focus lies in investment activities and entrepreneurial ventures.
McKinsey & Company
During an eighteen-year period at McKinsey & Company, Ubiñas was a Senior Partner concentrating on telecommunications, media, and technology sectors. He played a pivotal role in establishing McKinsey’s Media Practice on the West Coast and was instrumental in advancing internet-related technologies across both wired and wireless platforms.
Ford Foundation
Ubiñas led the Ford Foundation as president from 2008 until 2013, overseeing a significant reorganization that streamlined program areas from over 200 to 35 while emphasizing eight primary priorities such as education access, economic empowerment, and human rights advocacy. He shifted greater attention toward social justice initiatives and strategically reinvested more than 80% of the foundation’s endowment, elevating its performance from the lower quartile to among the top quartile for endowments exceeding $3 billion. Furthermore, he modernized global offices and operational systems while achieving a 33% reduction in operating expenses.
Amidst the financial crisis of 2008–2009, Ford implemented $36 million in budgetary reductions through office closures and workforce downsizing, redirecting these savings to grantee programs supporting social justice organizations.
Pan American Development Foundation
From 2015 through 2019, Ubiñas served as president of the Board of Trustees for the Pan American Development Foundation, which collaborates with governments, nonprofit entities, and businesses to finance development initiatives throughout Central America, South America, and the Caribbean.
Other engagements
Ubiñas holds the position of Chairman at the Statue of Liberty-Ellis Island Foundation and sits on the Board of the New York Public Library, where he leads the Finance Committee and participates as a member of the Executive Committee. He contributes to the United Nations Fund for International Partnerships as an Advisory Committee Member, managing UN collaborations with NGOs, currently serving his sixth term following appointments by two different Secretaries General. His governmental appointments include roles on the Advisory Committees for Trade Policy and Negotiation and the Export-Import Bank of the United States, along with acting as Northwest Regional Chair for White House Fellows. Additionally, he has possessed top-secret national security clearance.
Within the corporate sphere, Ubiñas functions as Lead Director at Electronic Arts and holds board memberships at AT&T and Tanger, a real estate investment trust. He is also a Trustee for Mercer Funds. His governance experience encompasses private enterprises such as GFR Media, Puerto Rico's largest media organization; Shorelight Education, which emphasizes international student access; and CommerceHub, a cloud-based platform for e-commerce. Presently, he provides advisory support to the board of EBSCO Industries, a prominent supplier of academic resources to libraries and universities.
Personal life
His spouse, Deborah Tolman, is recognized as a developmental psychologist and feminist academic. Together, they have two sons: Max, who serves in the Biden White House administration, and Ben, an actor with extensive film and theater credits.