MIAMI – The Miami Marlins today announced the appointment of Raquel “Rocky” Egusquiza as the Executive Director of the Miami Marlins Foundation. She will report to Miami Marlins Chief Executive Officer Derek Jeter.

In her role, Egusquiza (pronounced egg-oo-skee-zah) will lead the Miami Marlins Foundation, with a focus on building strong partnership and engagement with the South Florida community. She will act as a liaison to the organization’s public affairs and community relations divisions as she creates, implements, and brings to market initiatives across the Foundation’s focus areas.

The Miami Marlins Foundation aims to impact South Florida’s youth by creating opportunities to stay active, achieve academic success, and build leadership skills through wellness and empowerment. Leveraging the skills learned through baseball and softball, the Foundation will provide character development, build community, provide safe places for children to play, and aim to increase the social and emotional intelligence of our area’s youth. All funds raised by the Miami Marlins Foundation will be invested directly back into the South Florida community through a variety of programs focused on enhancing the lives of our future leaders.

“Rocky is a well-known figure in South Florida for her leadership, extensive outreach, and community involvement,” said Jeter. “She has a proven track record of creating and implementing programs that have a meaningful impact on the very community where she was born and raised in with a deep passion for the game of baseball. Her expertise in the local not-for-profit sector, combined with her inherent love of the game and experience gained from working with some of the nation’s top brands, will help elevate the Miami Marlins Foundation’s efforts as we continue to re-engage our partners and establish extensive roots in the South Florida community.”

A talented corporate social responsibility, diversity, and business strategist, Egusquiza combines her political, business, non-profit, and media industry expertise to drive results. Egusquiza joins the Marlins having most recently served as Vice President of Community Affairs for NBCUniversal Telemundo Enterprises, where she oversaw corporate social responsibility, community engagement, and partnerships. Egusquiza created and implemented Telemundo’s award-winning corporate social responsibility platform “El Poder En Ti” (The Power in You) and worked closely with NBCU and Comcast’s external relations team to manage external community sponsorships.

She was previously with AARP as the Vice President of Multicultural Markets, creating and executing an organization-wide multicultural strategy to increase member awareness, engagement, retention, and acquisition across all AARP business units. Egusquiza was responsible for driving multicultural growth and also served as external spokesperson and an association representative for AARP's Hispanic initiatives in the community.

From 2001 to 2009, Egusquiza worked with Ford Motor Company, rising to Director of Community Development and International Strategy for the company’s fund. In her role, she managed corporate relations and philanthropic initiatives, and also developed international giving strategies for more than 200 organizations and programs. She also spent time with AT&T as Director of Government Relations for South Florida and then Vice President of Legislative Affairs, where she tracked key telecommunications business-related legislation and served as a registered lobbyist with local, state legislative, and executive branches of government. 

A native of Miami, Egusquiza earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in Political Science from the University of Miami and an Associate of Arts degree from Miami Dade College. Her experience also includes time as Executive Director for the Dade County Legislative Delegation and as a Legislative Assistant in the Florida Senate. She has served on the board of numerous nonprofits, currently as a Chair of the South Florida for Progress Foundation, Secretary of the Florida Education Foundation, a member of the Cuban American National Council, and the Kennedy Center Latino Advisory Board. Egusquiza has received numerous accolades for her work in the community, and is a former member of the board of the Girl Scouts of the USA and the Smithsonian Latino Center.