Herminia Palacio

Herminia Palacio is an American nonprofit executive who was formerly CEO of the Guttmacher Institute. She formerly served as Deputy Mayor of New York City for Health and Human Services under Bill de Blasio from 2016 to 2019.

Biography Palacio grew up in The Bronx, daughter of a Subway clerk and bus driver who came to the United States from Cuba. Her mother suffered a psychiatric break, which inspired her to become a doctor. Palacio worked in the city's HIV clinics and received her master's degree from the UC Berkeley School of Public Health, where she focused on the problem of HIV among women. She was also Senior Policy Advisor for the San Francisco Department of Public Health.

She spent three years directing health leadership programs at the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation before being appointed to Deputy Mayor of New York City under Bill de Blasio in 2016. She became CEO in August 2019.

Palacio was elected a trustee of the City University of New York in 2021.

Personal life and family Palacio lives in Manhattan.