Cecilia Muñoz (born July 27, 1962) is an American political advisor who served as Director of the

White House The White House is the official residence and workplace of the president of the United States. It is located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW in Washington, D.C., and has been the residence of every U.S. president since John Adams in ...

Domestic Policy Council The Domestic Policy Council (DPC) is the principal forum used by the president of the United States for the consideration of domestic policy matters and senior policymaking, Cabinet, and White House officials. The Council is part of the Office ...

under

President Obama Barack Hussein Obama II ( ; born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who served as the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, Obama was the first African-American president of the ...

, a position she held for five years. Prior to that, she served as the White House Director of Intergovernmental Affairs for three years. Before working for the White House, she was Senior Vice President for the Office of Research, Advocacy and Legislation at the

National Council of La Raza UnidosUS, formerly National Council of La Raza (NCLR) (La Raza), is the United States's largest Latino nonprofit advocacy organization. It advocates in favor of progressive public policy changes including immigration reform, a path to citizen ...

(NCLR), the largest Latino advocacy organization in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

. At NCLR, she supervised all legislative and advocacy activities conducted by NCLR policy staff. She was also the Chair of the Board of the Center for Community Change and served on the U.S. Programs Board of the

Open Society Institute Open Society Foundations (OSF), formerly the Open Society Institute, is a grantmaking network founded and chaired by business magnate George Soros. Open Society Foundations financially supports civil society groups around the world, with a st ...

and on the boards of directors of the Atlantic Philanthropies and the National Immigration Forum. In 2000, she was named a

MacArthur Fellow The MacArthur Fellows Program, also known as the MacArthur Fellowship and commonly but unofficially known as the "Genius Grant", is a prize awarded annually by the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation typically to between 20 and 30 indi ...

for her work on civil rights and immigration. She was featured in several episodes of the documentary series '' How Democracy Works Now: Twelve Stories,'' and she contributed a chapter to ''West Wingers: Stories from the Dream Chasers, Change Makers, and Hope Creators Inside the Obama White House'' discussing her experiences in the Obama White House.

Early life and education

Muñoz was born in

Detroit Detroit ( , ; , ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is also the largest U.S. city on the United States–Canada border, and the seat of government of Wayne County. The City of Detroit had a population of 639,111 at t ...

Michigan Michigan () is a U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest, upper Midwestern United States. With a population of nearly 10.12 million and an area of nearly , Michigan is the List of U.S. states and ...

the youngest of four children. Her parents had moved to the

from

La Paz, Bolivia La Paz (), officially known as Nuestra Señora de La Paz (Spanish pronunciation: ), is the seat of government of the Plurinational State of Bolivia. With an estimated 816,044 residents as of 2020, La Paz is the third-most populous city in Bol ...

, so that her father, an automotive engineer, could attend the

University of Michigan , mottoeng = "Arts, Knowledge, Truth" , former_names = Catholepistemiad, or University of Michigania (1817–1821) , budget = $10.3 billion (2021) , endowment = $17 billion (2021)As o ...

. When she was three, the family moved to Livonia, Michigan, a Detroit suburb. Muñoz attended the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor. As a volunteer, she tutored Hispanic American inmates at the

state prison This is a list of U.S. state prisons (2010) (not including federal prisons or county jails in the United States or prisons in U.S. territories): * Alabama * Alaska * Arizona * Arkansas * California * Colorado * Connecticut * Delaware ...

in nearby Jackson, Michigan. She earned undergraduate degrees in English and Latin American studies in 1984. Following graduation, Muñoz continued her education at the

University of California at Berkeley The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California) is a public land-grant research university in Berkeley, California. Established in 1868 as the University of California, it is the state's first land-grant uni ...

, where she earned a master's degree, also in Latin American studies.

Career

As Director of Intergovernmental Affairs, Muñoz was the Obama Administration's main liaison with state, local and tribal governments, including the Big Seven organizations that represent most state and local officials, including the Council of State Governments, the

National Governors Association The National Governors Association (NGA) is an American political organization founded in 1908. The association's members are the governors of the 55 states, territories and commonwealths. Members come to the association from across the politica ...

and the

National Conference of State Legislatures The National Conference of State Legislatures (NCSL), established in 1975, is a "nonpartisan public officials’ association composed of sitting state legislators" from the states, territories and commonwealths of the United States. Background ...

. She co-chaired the White House Task Force on Puerto Rico's Political Status, where her work prompted several politicians from both sides to celebrate her designation as head of the Domestic Policy Council. She was featured in the documentary film ''Last Best Chance'', story twelve of the series ''

How Democracy Works Now ''How Democracy Works Now: Twelve Stories'' is a 12-part documentary film series that examines the American political system through the lens of immigration reform during 2001–2007. The films were directed and produced by award-winning filmmaki ...

'', from filmmakers Shari Robertson and

Michael Camerini Michael Camerini is a British-born American film director, producer and cinematographer. His filmmaking credits include ''FRONTLINE: Immigration BattleNiger:Tales of Resilience'' '' Twelve Stories: How Democracy Works Now'', ''Well-Founded Fea ...

. A cut of the film premiered on HBO in March 2010, under the title ''The Senator's Bargain.'' Muñoz appeared in ''Mountains and Clouds,'' story two in the series ''

'', where she and

Frank Sharry Frank Sharry is the founder and executive director of America's Voice, a liberal immigration reform group. Early life He was raised in West Hartford, Connecticut, by an Italian-American mother and an Irish-American father. He graduated from ...

discuss being at a potential "watershed moment" for comprehensive immigration reform, in 2001. Additionally, she was featured in ''Ain't the AFL for Nothin','' story seven in the series where she is shown working on a proposal for immigration, in 2003. In 2020, Muñoz authored ''More than Ready,'' an autobiography about her life and tenure in the

. Muñoz works at New America, a think tank based in

Washington, D.C. ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...

In November 2020, Muñoz was announced as a member of Joe Biden's transition staff.

Personal life

Muñoz is married to Amit Pandya, a human rights lawyer. They have two daughters.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Munoz, Cecilia 1962 births American people of Bolivian descent Living people MacArthur Fellows Michigan Democrats Obama administration personnel Politicians from Detroit University of California, Berkeley alumni University of Michigan alumni

Early life and education

Career

Personal life

See also

References

Further reading

External links