The Institute for Building Racial Equity in the Americas (REBIA) is a program of the Puerto Rico Community Foundation (FCPR), which seeks to strengthen initiatives and projects that seek grassroots anti-racist solutions for systemic change by impacting public policy and creating a new narrative of inclusion and racial equity.
Strategic axes
Knowledge for action
Generate data to make Afro-descendant and visibly black communities visible.
Narrative change
Empowering communicators to heal and tell a new anti-racist narrative.
Strengthening public policy
Strengthen Afro-descendant leaders to influence public policy.
Equity Fund
Develop a fund for the sustainability of equity-building organizations.
REBIA Origin
Starting from an understanding of the systemic and institutional racism that permeates our society, REBIA was born out of the need to create a network of equity builders to join the anti-racist efforts that are taking shape in the Americas. Our program seeks to facilitate equitable access to resources and opportunities that will allow the eradication of the racism that threatens Afro-Latinx communities.
REBIA Advisory Board
- Palmira M. Rios Gonzalez, Ph.D. Academic researcher and former director of the Graduate School of Public Administration at the University of Puerto Rico, Río Piedras Campus. D. in Sociology from Yale University. In 1992 she was awarded a fellowship Fulbright to teach in the Dominican Republic. He has published extensively on public policy and human rights. He was also a member of the Puerto Rico Civil Rights Commission, which he chaired for four years.
- Aarón Gamaliel Ramos, Ph.D. He teaches Caribbean history at the Center for Advanced Studies of Puerto Rico and the Caribbean in San Juan and is past director of the Institute of Caribbean Studies at the University of Puerto Rico. He is the author of numerous publications related to the culture and politics of Puerto Rico and the Caribbean.
- Carlos E. Severino Valdez, Ph.D. He has been a professor for more than 15 years. He is a professor of Geography in the School of Social Sciences at the University of Puerto Rico, Río Piedras Campus, where he was dean. He was also rector of the Río Piedras Campus of the UPR. He has also served as special commissioner for the sustainable development of Vieques and Culebra.
Director REBIA
Hiram Williams Figueroa, JD
He is the director from Racial Equity Building Institute for the Americas (REBIA), a program of the Puerto Rico Community Foundation, and adjunct professor at the University of Puerto Rico School of Law, where he teaches Intersection of Race, Gender and the Law. Williams Figueroa has been at the helm of REBIA since March 2023 and previously managed renewable energy projects at the PRCF, transforming critical facilities into community resilience centers. Williams, with a J.D. and a B.A. in mathematics from Inter-American University of Puerto Rico, is dedicated to supporting the advancement of racial equity. He is also an avid cellist.
What's new at REBIA
For the second consecutive year, the Puerto Rico Community Foundation (FCPR) and its program Institute for Building Racial Equity in the Americas (REBIA) will hold the meeting Racial Equity Builders Dialogue 2025, February 20-23, in San Juan. The event served as a unique philanthropic space in the Americas, bringing together leaders of foundations, non-profit organizations and associations from the United States, Central America, the Caribbean and South America, focused on building racial equity. The meeting was designed as an active conversation among those who participate, from their respective platforms, in the strengthening of inclusive democracies, in the face of the new political scenario in the Americas. Visit more here.
Puerto Rico participates in United Nations event on racism in Geneva, Switzerland
Puerto Rico was present at the Third Session of the Permanent Forum on People of African Descent of the United Nations Organization (UN), which culminated on Friday, April 19 in Geneva, Switzerland. The forum was held under the motto The Second International Decade for People of African Descent: Combating systemic racism, restorative justice and sustainable development.
Leaders of African descent in U.S. and Caribbean philanthropy meet in Puerto Rico
With the purpose of advancing racial equity in the Americas from the philanthropic sector, leaders of 21 foundations from the United States and the Caribbean gathered February 21-23 in San Juan, Puerto Rico, to celebrate The impact of global racism in the Americas: a racial equity builders dialogue.. The event served as a stage to reflect on racism and create paths for action in the continent.
REBIA is subsidized by:
The Puerto Rico Community Foundation (FCPR) is a philanthropic organization with a history of almost 40 years of collaboration with donors and communities, with the purpose of developing the capacities of the latter through the increase of community capital. It is the first community foundation in the Caribbean and Latin America and the only one of its kind in Puerto Rico. Its programmatic focuses have included access to water, energy, housing and education, and activating economic development, among others. Recently, gender and racial equity were added to the programmatic proposals.