Paula Vasquez Alzate joined McKnight in October 2020 as the Vibrant & Equitable Communities and Arts & Culture program team administrator with the Grants & Program Operations department. She currently focuses on supporting the Vibrant & Equitable Communities program. In this role, Paula is responsible for administrative and operations support, including scheduling meetings, supporting meeting and event logistics, and overseeing expense and contract management. She supports the program by improving and simplifying processes, embedding collaboration tools, and building relationships within and across Foundation teams.

During her tenure, Paula has assisted with the Lake Street Alignment project, grantmaking redesign, and the Ford ACT initiative. She has dedicated her career to working with underrepresented communities. Equity is at the core of her work as she strives to support systems change.

Prior to McKnight, Paula worked at The Cowles Center as an education and community engagement coordinator and at Northrop as a development intern (both organizations are McKnight grantees). She supports the dance company Black Label Movement as a board member and is a former company mover.

She holds a bachelor of fine arts degree in dance from the University of Minnesota and is currently pursuing an MBA at Carlson School of Management. Paula was born and raised in Colombia and moved to the United States in 2014. She has lived in New York City and Miami and currently resides in Minneapolis.