Ericka Muñoz is a Research Associate for WestEd’s Justice and Prevention Research Center. She works on a wide array of projects, including SAUSD’s Conexiones program funded by Proposition 47. She is also a Lead Research Consultant working on Proposition 47 efforts with the Los Angeles County Office of Diversion and Reentry’s Skills and Experience for the Careers of Tomorrow (SECTOR) program. Muñoz’s roles across both projects include conducting interviews, developing focus group protocols, facilitating focus groups with service providers and/or service recipients, quantitative and qualitative analysis, assisting with report writing, and developing infographics including ArcGIS maps.
Previously, Muñoz was a Lead Data Analyst on Proposition 47-funded efforts at Project Kinship, a re-entry nonprofit. In her role as Lead Data Analyst, she worked in collaboration with the Adult and Older Adult Behavioral Health Services division at the Orange County Health Care Agency and in collaboration with SAUSD to develop the data infrastructure of two behavioral health programs, Safe Haven and Conexiones, for adults and youth experiencing substance use and/or MH issues with the goal of decreasing recidivism.
Muñoz’s passion for social justice and criminal justice reform stems from her experience as a first-generation Mexican-American system-impacted individual.