Santiago co-leads Living Cities’ business ownership portfolio and spearheads equitable ecosystem building efforts in Albuquerque, Austin, Minneapolis, Memphis, Saint Paul and Rochester. Prior to this role, Santiago managed the Builders & Benefactors network, a community of principally Black fund managers and investors, led learning and impact for Living Cities investment team and managed Start Up, Stay Up, Scale Up, a Surdna and Rockefeller-funded strategy focused on strengthening ecosystems of support for high-growth entrepreneurs of color in San Francisco, Albuquerque and New Orleans.

Before moving to New York City, Santiago led the implementation of a national income generation strategy for displaced and vulnerable groups in rural Colombia. As part of the project, Santiago helped capitalize and facilitated access to technical assistance for more than 2,000 businesses owned by formerly displaced populations located throughout the Colombian territory. Prior to his work on income generation, Santiago supported a USAID-funded initiative to form the Afro Colombian Congressional Caucus and help prioritize their legislative agenda.

Santiago holds a Bachelor’s degree in Government and International Affairs from Universidad Externado de Colombia and a Masters in Urban Planning from New York University.