Ana serves as a Deputy General Manager of the East Bay Regional Park District, the largest regional park system in the United States. She represents the Park District with the state and federal agencies on policy and legislative matters on accelerating the pace, scale, and impact of climate-smart conservation.

California Natural Resources Secretary Wade Crowfoot appointed Dr. Alvarez to the California 30x30 Partnership Planning Committee representing the California Biodiversity Network who serves as a critical partner in the implementation of an audacious environmental agenda. She was appointed to the California Biodiversity Network (CBN) Steering Committee to contribute to the development of the California 30x30 Pathways Appendix D – Conserving California: Advancing Science in Support of 30x30, that identified research priorities including centering equity in the advancement of science. She is a leading Planning Committee member of the Indigenous Co-Stewardship of Public Lands: Lessons for the Future Workshop.

Ana also contributes to the national conversation on the role of public lands today in addressing complex challenges such as managing of natural resources in a changing climate and our relationship with the natural world, as it pertains to a new model of conservation. Concurrently, she serves on the Board of Directors for Hispanic Access Foundation.

She holds a doctoral degree in policy, planning and development from the University of Southern California (USC) and a master's degree in public administration from the California State University, Northridge, with honors and distinction. Her doctoral dissertation focused on establishing climate change resiliency strategies for San Francisco’s Parks, for which Mayor Ed Lee bestowed upon her San Francisco’s Green Pioneer Award.