Ana Zamora

Philanthropist, Social entrepreneur

Ana Zamora is the founder and CEO of The Just Trust, a philanthropic platform dedicated to transforming the U.S. justice system into a driver of safety, belonging, and shared prosperity. She leads a national effort to mobilize philanthropic capital to advance systems-level change in justice and public safety. Through a strategically curated network of organizations across the country, The Just Trust invests in solutions that strengthen communities, reduce incarceration, and expand opportunity—working across ideological lines to support reforms at the local, state, and national levels. Since its launch in 2021, the organization has deployed over $200 million in funding to leaders and initiatives in all 50 states. Ana’s work is grounded in a clear belief: justice is not a narrow issue, but foundational civic infrastructure that shapes who belongs, who has access to opportunity, and whose lives are valued. Under her leadership, The Just Trust is helping reframe justice reform as essential to economic mobility, community safety, and democratic resilience—while building the long-term partnerships needed to sustain change. With nearly two decades of experience spanning advocacy, policy, and philanthropy, Ana has been a leading force in bipartisan justice reform. She began her career 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 national portfolio. Ana is also the host of When It Clicked, a podcast exploring how people across sectors and ideologies come to rethink justice and public safety and spoke at TEDx Fluvanna Correctional Center for Women where she explored how humanity is central to safety and justice.

I’m passionate about building systems that expand who belongs. My relationship to the justice system is not just professional, it’s personal. As a little girl and throughout my career, I saw firsthand how the system can shape the trajectory of individuals, families, and entire communities. That experience has stayed with me. It’s why I’ve spent my career working across advocacy, policy, and philanthropy, trying to answer a question that still feels urgent: what would it look like to design a system that actually works for humans—for safety, for accountability, for the people moving through it, and for all of us who depend on it for justice. I believe systems are not fixed, they are designed. And if they were designed, they can be redesigned. I’m especially interested in the space where unlikely partners come together: where philanthropy meets policy, where lived experience meets capital, and where people across ideological lines decide that progress matters more than being right. Some of the most meaningful change I’ve seen hasn’t started on a stage or in a headline. It’s started in quieter spaces—around tables, in conversations, in moments where people are willing to question assumptions and imagine something better together. At its core, my work is about helping shift how we think about justice: from a system people cycle through and languish in, to one that can become a dignified, effective engine of safety, belonging, and shared prosperity. And I’m always looking to connect with people who are curious about how we build that future together.

Justice is often treated as a narrow response to harm, something that begins after something has gone wrong. But that framing is far too small for the role it actually plays in our lives. Justice is infrastructure. It is the system that determines who belongs, who has access to opportunity, and whose lives are considered worthy of investment. It shapes whether communities experience safety or instability, whether families stay intact or are fractured, and whether people are able to contribute and thrive or are pushed to the margins. When justice fails, the consequences ripple outward: survivors without support, fractured families, weakened economies, and diminished trust in institutions. But when it works, justice can become an engine of safety, accountability, and shared prosperity for everyone it touches. Right now, millions of people move through our justice system every year. The infrastructure exists. The public desire for safety and accountability exists. The opportunity for change exists. What’s missing is not awareness, it’s a broader understanding of what justice is actually for, and the will to design it accordingly. If we begin to see justice not just as punishment, but as a foundational system that is as essential as education, public health, or economic infrastructure, we unlock new possibilities. We can design for safety that is meaningful to survivors. We can invest in firm consequences and accountability that helps people find purpose and contribute. We can strengthen all communities by building systems that support healing and repair while also preventing future harm. The question is no longer whether change is possible. It’s whether we are willing to reimagine justice as the architecture of a society where more people can belong and thrive.

Bipartisan Advocacy, Criminal justice reform, Criminal justice system, Philanthropy, Systems Change

Making people feel at ease in a room. Listening. Remembering people's stories. Brining unlikely people together to find common ground. Loving my enemies.