Amparo Hofmann-Pinilla, Director (GWSLP)

Amparo Hofmann-Pinilla, Director (GWSLP)

Amparo Hofmann-Pinilla is the director of the Ghanaian Women’s Social Leadership Program—a leadership development initiative that offers coaching, leadership training and supports the implementation of community based projects for women working in civil society organizations in Ghana.  Amparo worked as Deputy Director of the Research Center for Leadership in Action at NYU's Robert F. Wagner Graduate School of Public Service for over 9 years. In this capacity she oversaw Knowledge Management and Global strategic areas, and directed a diverse range of research, evaluation, action learning and leadership development programs for diverse communities and groups in the USA and globally. Amparo also directed the Research and Documentation component of the Leadership for a Changing World, a Wagner Program, supported by the Ford Foundation, which documented the work of more than 90 grass roots organizations and generated new knowledge about leadership in the USA.

Amparo has provided technical assistance and training on Cooperative Inquiry, Participatory Action Research, Theory of Change, and Leadership Development to support leaders and organizations locally and globally. She has contributed to writing papers on transformative leadership, the use of Participatory Action Research, the study of the role of culture and identity in social change organizations and leadership in immigrant communities.

Prior to joining RCLA/Wagner, Amparo had the opportunity to do research on immigrant organizations as well as squatter movements in Latin America and the United States.  She also directed several community – research programs and public service initiatives in New York City including a four-year research and intervention program on Latino immigrants and the HATS program, a successful comprehensive HIV/AIDS research and social service intervention at the Harlem Hospital of Columbia University’s School of Public Health.

Amparo has worked in Africa, Asia and Latin America. She is originally from Colombia. She has taught as an adjunct lecturer in the Sociology Department of New York University, CUNY’s Hostos Community College Social Studies Division, and the Columbia University Spanish and Portuguese Department. Amparo earned an LLB in Law from Universidad Externado de Colombia (Colombia, SA) and an MA Phil. in Sociology from New York University.  She has also completed training on Coaching and Transformational Leadership.