Irene Valdés Wochinger

Irene Valdés Wochinger serves as Senior Director of Data, Learning, and Impact at Sobrato Philanthropies, where she leads efforts to strengthen how impact is measured, understood, and applied across The Sobrato Organization (TSO). Trained as an anthropologist, Irene brings a distinctly human-centered lens to her work — one that has guided her across decades of leadership at some of the world’s most influential mission-driven organizations.

Prior to joining Sobrato, Irene served as Director of Strategy, Planning, and Management and Chief of Staff at the Gates Foundation, and as Senior Director of Global Impact, Strategy, and Operations at Planned Parenthood Federation of America. These roles deepened her expertise at the intersection of impact measurement, enterprise strategy, strategic communications, grants and investment management, and organizational operations — always with people and equity at the center.

At Sobrato, Irene partners closely with the Thriving Communities team and its network of collaborators to advance shared goals and deepen impact. She is also co-designing TSO’s enterprise-wide approach to data, learning, and impact — building systems that support strategic decision-making and continuous improvement across philanthropy, real estate, and capital. Her work is grounded in a commitment to aligning data and learning with strategy, ensuring that insights drive action and contribute to more effective, equitable outcomes.

Irene holds a Master of Science in Applied Anthropology from the State University of New York at Albany, where she was a Carr Fellow, and a bachelor’s degree in anthropology from the University of Puerto Rico, both earned summa cum laude. She is a Fulbright Research Scholar, a Social Impact Strategy Fellow at the University of Pennsylvania, and a UC Berkeley Haas executive education alumna.

Born and raised in San Juan, Puerto Rico, Irene remains deeply committed to her home island, serving on the board of Fundación de Mujeres en Puerto Rico to advance gender and racial equity. She also serves on the board of Vital Arts, a grassroots nonprofit dedicated to securing safe, affordable spaces for artists, musicians, and cultural bearers to live, work, and perform in the San Francisco Bay Area. Outside of work, Irene enjoys paddleboarding, cycling, traveling, and spending time at the beach with her husband and son.