2026 40 Under 40 Honoree: Zena Ruiz (39)
“Sometimes leadership means asking better questions, connecting people who aren’t talking to one another, or being willing to challenge the way something has always been done.”
PHOTO BY LAURA PETRILLA
Zena Ruiz
Steam Program Director, YMCA Homewood-Brushton
Zena Ruiz has a passion for art, education, gardening and herbalism, youth development, nonprofit leadership, local government and community organizing. Although these interests might look unrelated, Ruiz sees a clear connection: “I kept being drawn to work that cultivated spaces for people [to] learn, create, connect and have more agency in their communities,” they say.
From 2021 to 2025, Ruiz served as an elected council member for North Braddock, where they focused on data-driven community revitalization, violence prevention and modernization of local governance initiatives. Today, Ruiz works as the STEAM program director at the Homewood-Brushton YMCA. They helped develop the Verizon-funded Digital Inclusion Center, coordinating construction, curriculum implementation and compliance efforts.
For Ruiz, STEAM is about more than teaching someone how to use a 3D printer or grow a plant; it’s empowering people to believe that they can figure things out or create something tangible.
