With two decades of experience across advocacy, policy, and philanthropy, Ana has been a leading force in bipartisan justice reform in the United States. She began at the California Appellate Project and spent over a decade at the ACLU of Northern California, where she led campaigns on sentencing reform, the death penalty, wrongful convictions, and prosecutorial accountability. She later served as Director of Criminal Justice Reform at the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative, managing a $143 million portfolio. She now leads The Just Trust, a philanthropic platform dedicated to transforming the U.S. justice system into a driver of safety, belonging, and shared prosperity. Through a strategic national network of grantee organizations, The Just Trust invests in solutions that strengthen communities and expand opportunity—working across ideological lines to support policy change, narrative change, and innovation at the local, state, and national levels. Since 2021, it has deployed over $200 million to leaders and initiatives driving change nationwide. Ana Zamora’s work has always been grounded in a core belief: criminal justice is not a narrow issue, but foundational civic infrastructure that shapes who belongs, who has opportunity, and whose lives are valued in the United States. Ana hosts When It Clicked, a podcast where leaders across sectors and ideologies revisit the moments that reshaped their views on justice and public safety. She was recognized as TIME Person of the Week for her leadership in justice reform and philanthropic innovation. Ana and her team also recently launched a new national effort called Justice & The Next 250, a forward-looking initiative examining what the next chapter of justice in America can and should look like.
Industry: Criminal justice reform, public safety, philanthropy, and social impact. I focus on reimagining how philanthropy, advocacy, policy, and culture can work together to create safer communities and a more effective, equitable justice system.
Why I’m excited to be part of WIN Awards: I’m excited to be part of the WIN Awards because innovation isn’t limited to technology or business—it’s also about reimagining the systems and institutions that shape our lives in visible and invisible ways.
Where others might see American justice as too sprawling, too entrenched, and too broken to fix, I see one of the most underinvested in and untapped pieces of public infrastructure, just sitting there waiting for creativity and transformation.
I’m deeply energized by the idea of leaving behind a justice system that isn’t just known for how well it punishes people, but for being a new global gold standard in transparency, humane practices, safety and rehabilitation outcomes, keeping families and loved ones connected, and genuinely contributing to stronger communities.
I’m also excited to be part of a community of women who are challenging conventional thinking and creating meaningful change across industries.
