Fatima Shama
Bloomberg Philanthropies
Fatima manages Global City Leadership Initiatives for the Government Innovation program at Bloomberg Philanthropies. Working with cities and their leaders, the portfolio invests in training, support, and technical assistance to help city leadership solve the biggest problems they face with proven, innovative, replicable strategies.
Fatima's multi-sector career has focused on the intersection of policies, programs, and opportunities that invest in, advance and support people and communities. She has over three decades of work across health care access, education policy, youth development, community and workforce development, and advocating for and supporting immigrants and communities of color.
Prior to Bloomberg Philanthropies, Fatima served as the Americas Head of Diversity and Inclusion at Bloomberg LP, where she and her team advised businesses across the firm on integrating and elevating inclusive and equitable practices to enhance culture, the workplace, and overall business excellence and outcomes. Prior to joining Bloomberg LP, Fatima was the CEO and executive director of The Fresh Air Fund, the 140+ year old youth development organization that provides free summer experiences to thousands of New York City children from low-income communities.
Fatima served in Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg’s administration as the commissioner of the NYC Mayor’s Office of Immigrant Affairs from 2009 through 2013. From 2007 through 2009, she served as the Mayor’s senior advisor on education policy, and in late 2005 after joining Mayor Bloomberg’s office she worked as a policy advisor on health care access. Fatima has served on the senior team at Maimonides Medical Center in Brooklyn, New York, and served as the Executive Director of the Greater Brooklyn Health Coalition. She has worked for a number of NYC’s great community-based providers like CAMBA, WhedCo, and the Arab-American Family Support Center-where she started her career over thirty years ago.
Fatima is honored to serve as a Trustee for the Pinkerton Foundation and serves on the boards of the New York Immigration Coalition, Coro Leadership New York, New City Parks, and the National Summer Learning Association. She previously served as Trustee and Chair of the Board for the New York Foundation.
Fatima has served as an adjunct professor at Hunter College, and led seminar courses at NYU’s Wagner School of Public Service and Columbia University’s School of International and Public Affairs. She is a graduate of Binghamton University and earned her Executive Master of Public Administration from Baruch College’s School of Public and International Affairs.
She is a proud hyphenated-American who was born and raised in the Bronx to immigrant parents. Today she lives in Westchester County with her husband and three sons.
