Colmena Fund is strengthening our commitment to building the world we deserve by significantly investing in the power of people.
To support our long-term impact, institutional strength, and strategic growth, the Colmena Fund is proud to announce the expansion of our executive leadership team with two key appointments:
- Sumaiya Islam has been appointed as Vice President/Chief Operations Officer.
- Ostalinda Maya has been appointed as Director of Programs.
Both leaders have deep, long-standing ties to the Colmena Fund.
Sumaiya Islam brings extensive experience in advancing cross-sector strategies at the intersection of philanthropy, public systems, human rights, and community-based change. Her background includes leading complex social justice and human rights programs, as well as building the crucial infrastructure required for movements to achieve success, sustain gains, and scale impact. Sumaiya was previously a dedicated member of the Colmena Fund’s Steering Committee. Her role is designed to deepen integration across our organizational strategy, programs, learning and impact while positioning the Colmena Fund for long-term success by ensuring rigorous risk management and regulatory compliance, growing our capital investments, leading organisational change and driving innovation.
Ostalinda Maya is a recognized thought leader in racial justice, equity, and women’s leadership, with nearly 20 years of experience across national, European, and international organizations and a proven track record of helping institutions align strategic vision, execution, and external influence. As the former Program Lead for the Colmena Fund, she developed and implemented its transformative grant-making strategy. In her new role as Director of Programs, she will build upon this strong foundation to provide strategic leadership for our global program portfolio, deepening human connections between our strategic allies/ partners and leading a high performing team focused on producing cutting-edge analysis of the changing political landscape across the global majority.
These leadership transitions are timely, occurring as women political leaders and women’s movements globally face overlapping crises -from climate change and attacks on at-risk communities to threats to democracy and deepening conflicts- often with limited resources. The Colmena Fund is committed to addressing this challenge by investing in the leadership and infrastructure needed to strengthen women’s political power and influence, mobilize greater resources by aligning more funders, and scale up the impact of women political leaders championing democratic and human rights values.
As the President, I am proud to share that these leadership appointments signify a crucial investment in organizational capacity and a deep commitment to shaping the next era of philanthropy through deep human connections, innovations and transformative political intelligence. This future is built on trust, coordination, and sustained partnerships with women rights organizations, women political leaders, strategic allies and fellow funders.
We anticipate your continued partnership and engagement as we collectively work towards reimagining our future.
