Maria Fernandes-Dominique

Maria Fernandes-Dominique (she/ela) is an anti-racism educator, facilitator, grassroots leadership coach, and nonprofit consultant with deep ties and connections in the Greater Boston area.

Born on Praia, Cabo Verde and raised in Brockton, Massachusetts, she brings to this work her experience as a Black immigrant raised by a single mother, a community organizer and grassroots leader with a passion for housing, education, health and wellness, as well as her skill as a creative and effective facilitator and advisor on race and racism.

Maria works with organizations and leaders who are ready to build anti-racist organizations in a collaborative and non-exploitative way that centers the marginalized, shifts power to stakeholders, and transforms organizations and outcomes, especially for Black and brown staff, families, and local residents. Her work includes delivering Belonging, Equity, Inclusion, and Diversity (BEID) training, leading nonprofit leaders through strategic and succession planning processes, coaching grassroots leaders, and facilitating communities of practice. As a movement builder, Maria works with her clients on engagements that ensure the creation of sustainable infrastructure for racial justice.

She is a graduate of Clark University and also earned an M.P.A from Suffolk University. Additionally, she has worked for Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts, NeighborWorks, Boston Children’s Hospital and the Mel King Institute and holds certificates in Coaching and DEI from Howard University and in Nonprofit Management from Tufts University.