
Mission-Driven and
Philanthropic Leader
Advancing philanthropic equity for communities of color.
Aixa is a dedicated community leader who has been involved with many nonprofit and community organizations focused on philanthropy and Latino children, youth, and families.
When destruction hit Puerto Rico after Hurricane Maria, Aixa collaborated with the Latino Equity Fund co-chair and other committee members, the Boston Foundation, Boston Mayor Martin J. Walsh, and Massachusetts Governor Charlie Baker to mobilize resources and create the Massachusetts United for Puerto Rico Fund. The Fund raised $4 million dedicated to grassroots relief and recovery efforts in Puerto Rico and the support of Puerto Ricans arriving in Boston and the Commonwealth.
Aixa is also a founding board member of Boston Children’s Hospital Trust Milagros para Niño, an initiative that raises funds and advocates for the care of children in local communities and all Spanish- and Portuguese-speaking countries. Since 2009, Milagros para Niño has raised more than $10 million benefitting community health programs, groundbreaking research, and life-saving patient care across the hospital, including $4.1 million that directly impacts local and international Latino patient families.
Aixa is a member of Latinos for Education, which develops, places, and connects Latino leaders in the education sector, with the goal of building an ecosystem of Latino advocates. She also serves on Governor Baker’s Latino Commission, composed of civic leaders tasked with advising the Administration on issues relating to the economic prosperity and well-being of the Commonwealth’s Latino community. She previously served on the Boards of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts Workforce Development Board, which advises the Governor on building a strong workforce development system aligned with state education policies and economic development goals; the Base, a nonprofit that combines sports and educational opportunities to help reimagine pathways to success for urban youth; Hispanics in Philanthropy, which bridges the gap between funders and Latino nonprofits across the Americas by strengthening Latino equity, leadership, and voice; and the YMCA of Waltham.
In 2018, Aixa, along with her husband Thomas, served as co-chairs for Inquilinos Boricuas en Accion’s (IBA) 50th Anniversary Gala, which celebrated the largest Latino-led nonprofit in Greater Boston that empowers and engages individuals and families to improve their lives through high-quality affordable housing, education, and arts programs. In 2019, she served as a co-chair of MIRA’s (Massachusetts Refugee and Immigrant Association) 2019 Give Liberty a Hand Gala, an annual fundraiser for the largest coalition in New England promoting the rights and integration of immigrants and refugees. Aixa is currently serving as the Gala co-chair for the Boston Foundation’s 2020 Annual Campaign for Civic Leadership, which supports the Foundation’s research, convenings and policy work on issues of critical importance to Boston and the region.
To give back to their communities, Aixa and her husband have established the Melendez Beauchamp Family Fund at the Boston Foundation, which supports education and health initiatives that help to improve outcomes for Latino children, youth, and families.