Linda Xóchitl Tortolero is the President & CEO of the Latino Policy Forum. Formerly the President & CEO of Mujeres Latinas en Accion (Mujeres), she is a longtime advocate for the Latino community, dedicating much of her professional career to fundraising, building strategic relationships, and organizational and program management in the nonprofit sector.
As President and CEO of Mujeres, the nation’s longest-standing Latina organization, Linda was responsible for carrying out an ambitious programmatic and advocacy strategy to address the immediate needs of Latinas and their families.
Under her leadership, Mujeres strengthened and expanded its mission of empowering Latinas via culturally competent services and advocacy on key issues such as gender-based violence, women’s health and economic security, immigration, and reproductive justice. She was instrumental in the development and execution of ¡Actívate!, a community data-driven strategy for Mujeres’ policy work that was pivotal in securing a historic increase of $12 million for sexual assault and rape crisis centers in the Illinois FY25 budget.
Through fundraising and strategy, Linda led the organization’s annual budget growth to nearly $6.5 million and over 60 employees, the expansion of its second office in North Riverside, and the opening of its third office in Brighton Park with partner Esperanza Health Centers, a Federally Qualified Health Center. During her seven-year tenure, Mujeres became a national Culturally Specific Sexual Assault Center under the Family Violence Prevention and Services Act program of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and today provides training and technical assistance to Latine communities and organizations across the U.S.
Linda holds a B.A. from Brown University and J.D. from Northwestern Pritzker School of Law and serves on the Women’s Advisory Council of the Mayor’s Office for the City of Chicago and on the Board of the National Latina Institute for Reproductive Justice. Linda is the proud daughter of Mexican immigrants.