Edgar Villanueva

Edgar Villanueva, BSPH, MHA, was elected to the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Board of Trustees in October 2021, effective January 2022.

Villanueva is a noted author, activist, and expert on social justice philanthropy. He is founder and principal of the Decolonizing Wealth Project (DWP) and author of Decolonizing Wealth. The 2018 bestselling book, now in its second edition, calls for a modernization of philanthropic practice to address daunting racial wealth gaps and inequality in the nation. The book led him to establish DWP and its accompanying fund, Liberated Capital, to increase unrestricted resources to Black, Indigenous, and other people-of-color communities.

Villanueva advises organizations ranging from Fortune 500 companies to global and national philanthropies and nonprofits on advancing racial equity and healing. He holds a bachelor’s degree in health policy and administration and a master’s in healthcare administration from the University of North Carolina Chapel Hill and is an enrolled member of the Lumbee Tribe of North Carolina.