Mateo Ventura Bruer

Executive Director

Mateo Ventura Bruer (he/they, él/elle) is a proud to be AQUA Foundation for Women’s first transgender Executive Director, and AQUA’s first male Executive Director.

A dedicated champion of positive social change, Mateo approaches his work with expertise gained from his nonprofit management experience, his academic inquiry, and his lived experience as a queer, transmasculine, nonbinary latiné of color.

Mateo received his MA in Social Justice & Human Rights from Arizona State University in 2022, where his Graduate Capstone project, “Ni de aquí, ni de allá,” won an Honorable Mention for “Outstanding Graduate Capstone.” Mateo’s research focuses on the intersection of nonbinary / transgender identity and being mixed-race in the context of the United States, and proposes queerness as the “solution” to our marginalization and a mechanism through which we can create space and healing for ourselves.

Mateo has an extensive history of fighting for diversity, equity, inclusion & justice in both the for-profit and non-profit industries: While he was a General Manager at AMC Theatres, Mateo also was a founding member of the DEI Collective and spearheaded the name change of the Latino Caucus to the Latinx Caucus. Mateo was previously the Director of Racial & Gender Equity Advancement where he helped more than double the budget of the department through various grants, partnerships and fundraising campaigns.