Marilia Bezerra

Marilia Bezerra leads the development and implementation of the IKEA Foundation’s global strategy. She is ultimately responsible for the end-to-end grant making process, setting up the foundation’s vision and providing strategic guidance for the organization.

Before IKEA Foundation, she served as co-Executive Director at Synergos, leading the organization's strategy and managing a global community of leading philanthropic families and social investors. Prior to Synergos, she was the founding Managing Partner of CARE Enterprises Inc., a for-profit subsidiary of CARE focused on creating gender justice through impact investment. And before CARE, she founded and lead Aldeia Works, a boutique consulting firm focused on supporting philanthropists, corporations and nonprofits in the creation of meaningful social impact.

One of her earlier career highlights was her time as a member of the leadership team at the Clinton Global Initiative (CGI). During her five years working with President Clinton, she took a central role in building the organization from its start-up phase to the successful catalyst for action and global convening body it became.

Marilia received a master's of science degree (with distinction) in global affairs from New York University in 2007 and her law degree from the Federal University of Ceará (Brazil) in 1996.