Olga Abinader

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Born in the Dominican Republic, Abinader emigrated with her family to Salem, Massachusetts in the early 1990s.  Her family maintained strong connections to their Caribbean heritage by speaking only Spanish at home. As a fully bilingual English and Spanish speaker, Abinader translated for family and friends who had limited English skills. In 1999, Abinader assumed a leadership role in the “La Union Latina” organization, established in 1987 at Salem High School to celebrate Latin-American culture and traditions.  In 2007, Hispanic Business Inc. recognized Abinader as a Winner’s Circle Scholar at the Hispanic Business’ annual Woman of the Year Awards event.

As the former Director of the Environmental Assessment and Review Division with the NYC Department of City Planning, Abinader led hundreds of active City Environmental Quality Review (CEQR) applications to support transit-oriented growth, housing production and affordability, economic development and resilient and sustainable communities across NYC.  Abinader received her Master of Urban Planning from Harvard University, Graduate School of Design, and holds a Bachelors of Arts in Urban Studies from Brown University.

About Matrix New World Engineering

Matrix New World Engineering is a company of engineering and science experts who focus on some of the nation’s most pressing long-term challenges, including climate change, resiliency, ecological restoration, contamination studies, water supply, disaster response, and urban revitalization. Matrix believes solving environmental challenges through careful planning and engineering is becoming an indispensable measure of success.

Matrix is a growing woman-owned business with offices in New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, Arizona, and Louisiana coupled with project experience throughout the United States and the Caribbean.