Ramona Handel-Bajema is a consultant, educator, and social impact strategist whose work sits at the intersection of philanthropy, global partnerships, and institutional leadership. She works with senior leaders across nonprofit, philanthropic, and corporate sectors to shape strategy, strengthen partnerships, and clarify how organizations communicate their purpose and value.

Her career bridges analysis and practice. She has worked extensively on international programs related to social impact, disaster response, and recovery, including several years living in northeastern Japan following the 2011 earthquake, tsunami, and nuclear disaster. That experience continues to inform her work on how institutions respond to crisis, deploy resources, and engage communities with humility and effectiveness.

Alongside her consulting work, Ramona teaches at Columbia University and New York University, where her courses explore power, culture, social movements, and political economy.

She is also an experienced public speaker and facilitator, known for bringing clarity, intellectual rigor, and candor to conversations about philanthropy, social impact, disaster, and global inequality. Her work consistently focuses on helping institutions think more carefully about their role in the world—and act more responsibly within it.

Ramona holds a Ph.D. from Columbia University, an M.A. from Johns Hopkins SAIS, and a B.A. from UC Berkeley.