Roberto Sanabria is the Executive Director of Diversity, Equity, & Inclusion at the American Hospital Association, where he leads internal DEI efforts across the organization. Prior to assuming this inaugural role in 2022, Roberto was the director of equal employment opportunity at Northeastern Illinois University (a Hispanic Serving Institution), the director of equal opportunity & access at Northwestern University, and the inaugural Chief Human Resource Officer at The Puerto Rican Cultural Center of Chicago. In a volunteer capacity, Roberto was a regional director of the American Association for Access, Equity, and Diversity, he sat on the community engagement committee of Sounding Board (WBEZ – Chicago’s public radio station), and for six years, served as the chair of the Illinois Governor’s Hispanic Employment Plan Council. Roberto is a co-founder of Vida/SIDA and El Rescate (an alternative health clinic for people living with HIV/AIDS and the Midwest’s first permanent shelter for unhoused LGBTQIA+ youth, respectively).

Roberto holds an Educational Doctorate from National-Louis University, a Master of Science in education from Northern Illinois University, and a Bachelor of Arts in Spanish Language from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.