Ali Noorani joined the Barr Foundation as president in December 2025. Previously, Ali led the U.S. Democracy Program at the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation, and he also served for 14 years as president and chief executive officer of the National Immigration Forum. In both roles and in both areas, Ali was recognized for his creative coalition building across political, cultural, and geographic divides, and his work to find common ground, common purpose, and commonsense solutions that help people and communities thrive.
Ali’s arrival at Barr represented a return to the city and region where he spent a decade early in his career. Beginning in 1998 as Director of the Greater Boston Urban Resources Partnership within the City of Boston’s Environment Department, Ali went on to serve for three years as Director of Public Health for Codman Square Health Center and Dorchester House Multi-Service Center, and then, from 2003 until 2008, as Executive Director of the Massachusetts Immigrant and Refugee Advocacy Coalition (MIRA). In this role, Ali led a coalition of organizations across New England dedicated to protecting access to legal rights and opportunities for immigrants and refugees in Massachusetts.
Ali holds a Master of Public Health in Environmental Health and Epidemiology/Biostatistics from Boston University’s School of Public Health, and dual Bachelor of Arts degrees in Economics and Social Welfare from the University of California, Berkeley. He serves as Chair of the Board of Directors for More in Common Global and as a member of the Board of Directors for Welcome.US. Ali is also a member of the Council on Foreign Relations and has held fellowships with the Aspen Institute, Emerson Collective, University of Chicago Center for Effective Government, and Arizona State University’s Social Transformations Lab.
Ali is the author of There Goes the Neighborhood: How Communities Overcome Prejudice and Meet the Challenge of American Immigration; Crossing Borders: The Reconciliation of a Nation of Immigrants. He has been a guest commentator on outlets as varied as CNN, PBS, and Fox News, a TED speaker, and his writings have appeared in varied local, national, and international publications.
