She Helps Alexandria Students Find Their Way. Now D.C. United Is Honoring Her.
Ana Bonilla-Galdamez, a 2025 Living Legend of Alexandria, joins D.C. United’s Starting XI for her work helping young people find opportunity and belonging.
ALEXANDRIA, VA — For nearly three decades, Ana Bonilla-Galdamez has helped Alexandria students see possibilities beyond the obstacles in front of them. This week, that work earned the Alexandria City High School social worker a place in a different kind of starting lineup.
Bonilla-Galdamez was honored Nov. 4 as one of the 2026 D.C. United Raise a Toast Starting XI, according to ACPS’s Nov. 6 announcement. The D.C. United Foundation and presenting partner Giant selected 11 community leaders whose work expands opportunities for families across the Washington region.
Already recognized among the 2025 Living Legends of Alexandria, Bonilla-Galdamez has focused her career on helping immigrant and multilingual students and young people facing difficult circumstances build stronger connections to school, their families and their futures.
Her Youth in Progress program gives young men opportunities to develop leadership, strengthen relationships and explore college and careers. ACPS describes her approach as helping students recognize their strengths and overcome barriers through programs responsive to their cultures and experiences.
The recognition carries a chance to give back again. Under the Raise a Toast program, each honoree directs a $1,000 donation to a local nonprofit of their choice. The announcements do not identify Bonilla-Galdamez’s selected recipient.
A belief in belonging
Her approach has deep roots. In Zebra’s 2015 coverage of her National Social Worker of the Year honor, Bonilla-Galdamez described arriving in the United States from El Salvador at age 12 without speaking English and later drawing on that experience to connect with students.
At the time, she had developed Latino Youth for Excellence at the former T.C. Williams High School’s Minnie Howard Campus and a mentoring partnership at Charles Barrett Elementary School.
“The key is that everybody has a place and everybody belongs,” she said in that 2015 account.
Today, D.C. United’s description of her work includes support for parents, elementary students and young people affected by trauma, alongside Youth in Progress. The new honor recognizes a career spent helping Alexandria children and families find that place.
