Dr. Mónica Gutiérrez

About Me

Dra. Mónica Gutiérrez is a community advocate based in the Southwest; she began her journey into storytelling through her family's migration stories from rural Mexico. This sparked a lifelong commitment to preserving community and culture. Her work explores the intersection of urban development, social justice, and testimonios (personal narratives), applying critical race theory to highlight institutional and structural inequities behind gentrification and displacement. She co-collaborates with communities to advocate for policies that protect historically under resourced neighborhoods and communities to preserve inclusive, sustainable communities.

Her work is deeply rooted in her intersecting identities as a Mexicana, raised near the Mexicali-Imperial Valley border, and her experiences growing up in California's Central Coast region. As a first-generation college graduate, she is committed to mentoring other first-generation students. She holds a B.A. in Chicano Studies with a minor in Industrial Design from San Francisco State University, along with an MSW and a Ph.D. in Social Work from Arizona State University. With over a decade of post-social work experience in child welfare, veterans' health, criminal justice, and health promotion, her practical expertise is well-established.

Dr. Gutiérrez has gained recognition for her scholarship, mentorship, and leadership including:

2024 ACOSA Emerging Scholar
2023-2025 Invited Latina/Latino Issues Track Co-Chair for CSWE
2023-2024 Invited Member Health Equity Scholars Program
2023-2025 Elected ACOSA Southwest Regional Representative
2022 Dissertation Completion Funding award from the Office of the Vice President of Research and Economic Affairs and Graduate College at Arizona State University
2022 Society for Social Work and Research (SSWR) Doctoral Fellow Award
2022 Finalist for the American Association of Hispanics in Higher Education (AAHHE) National Outstanding Dissertation Competition
2021 Dissertation Completion Funding award from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation
2018-2022 Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Health Policy Research Scholars Fellowship

ACTIVISM

Critical Race Scholars in Social Work
(pronunciation of CRSSW: CRIS-DUB) is a space for social workers to actively engage in the praxis of Critical Race Theory. The CRSSW collective was formed to provide a space for social work faculty, students, and practitioners to engage in the praxis of Critical Race Theory.

Leadership: Steering Committee Member
Co-Author: Resolution: In Defense of Critical Race Theory in Social Work
Blog Author: An Interview with Critical Race Scholars in Social Work (CRSSW) Founding Members.

Association for Community Organization & Social Action (ACOSA)
a professional membership organization for community organizers, activists, nonprofit administrators, community builders, policy practitioners, students and educators.

Leadership: Regional Representative for the Southwest (AZ, CO, UT, NM, NV, CA, HI)

Research

LatCrit Theory

Drawing from theoretical frameworks such as Critical Race Theory, Latina/o Critical Race Theory, and Ecological Systems Theory, Dr. Gutiérrez examines the interplay of power, politics, and placemaking and the disparate impact on Latinas/os’ experiences in the US.

Race and Place

In the United States, structural and institutional racism contribute to the inequitable allocation of power, land, and resources for Latinas/os. This line of research aspires to elicit and respond to the topics of interest to communities forced to the margins of society.

COMMUNITY Strategies

In 2016, Dr. Gutiérrez established the Community Collab Lab. The Lab enables her to work as a freelance bilingual (English/Spanish) evaluation consultant, providing fee-based and pro bono community-focused strategies and solutions to Brown, Black, and Indigenous communities across the Southwest.

Areas: activism, institutional racism, systemic oppression, community-based social work, mapping, critical theories, evaluation, well-being, policy.

SCHOLARSHIP

Google Scholar Profile

SELECT PUBLICATIONS

Gutiérrez, M., Marroquin, M., Lechuga-Peña, S., Becerra D., Mitchell F. M., Rivera L. A., & Cuevas, N. (2024). Adapting Photovoice for Virtual Engagement: Exploring LatCrit perspectives from a community-based program with Latinx families in the Southwest during COVID-19. Journal of Community Practice. (accepted)
Thurber, A., Krings, A., Sawyer, J., Hamilton, G.A., & Gutiérrez, M. (2024). Contested places: A typology for responding to place-based harms. Journal of Social Work. https://doi.org/10.1177/14680173241240986
Gutiérrez, M. (2023). “Creo que mi meta es ayudar a mi comunidad y ver un cambio”: Latinas/os remaking home through community-engaged mapping, Journal of Community Practice, 31:3-4, 360-382, DOI: 10.1080/10705422.2023.2285329
Gutiérrez, M. (2022). “Me siento seguro aquí. No quiero irme.” Examining the impact of gentrification and displacement on the well-being of the Latina/o community (Dissertation), ProQuest 2672312591.
Gutiérrez, M., & Lechuga-Peña, S. (2022). Latina/o/x Critical Race Theory (LatCrit) in social work praxis: A tool to dismantle racism and build racial equity. Advances in Social Work. 22(2), 605-627. DOI: https://doi.org/10.18060/24996
Gutiérrez, M., Brooks-Hawkins, J., Hassan, K., & Wolfersteig, W. (2022). Relationship of health rating and stigma among people living with HIV/AIDS: A community study. Humanities and Social Science Communications Journal, 9 (98). DOI: https:/doi.org/10.1057/s41599-022-01086-8
Mitchell, F., Lechuga-Peña, S., Poola, C., & Gutiérrez, M. (2021). Incorporating photovoice into a community-based intervention: Practice implications from Your Family, Your Neighborhood. Advances in Social Work. 21(4).
DOI: https://doi.org/10.18060/24385
Cassinat, R. A., Bruening, M., Crespo, N. C., Gutiérrez, M., Chavez, A., Ray, F., & Vega-Lopez, S. (2020). Effects of a community-based pilot intervention on home food availability among U.S. households. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 17(22), 327. DOI:
https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph17228327
Aguilar-Amaya, M., & Gutiérrez, M. (2019). Implementing compassion fatigue prevention for lay employees conducting naloxone training: An example from rural Arizona. Journal of Social Work Practice in the Addictions. 19(3), 314–321. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/1533256X.2019.1640018

INVITED BOOK CHAPTERS

Gutiérrez, M., & Becerra, D. “Muéstrame tus papeles”: A LatCrit discourse for understanding the well-being of Latinas and their resistance to anti-immigration politics. (2024). In Nakaoka, S., Ortiz, L., & Vasquez, N. (Eds.), Critical Race Theory in Social Work (accepted).

IMPACT WORK

Gutiérrez, M. (2023). Community-Engaged Teaching. [Media: DU CCESL Public Good Impact blog]. Retrieved from https://tinyurl.com/57y5fdcu.
Gutiérrez, M., et. al. (2023). Resolution: In Defense of Critical Race Theory in Social Work, Critical Race Scholars in Social Work Network. Co-collaborators: Faculty from ten social work schools in the U.S. [Media: Organization Statement]. Retrieved from https://tinyurl.com/z2wp2cwd.
Rent hikes, downtown boom spur gentrification of older Tucson neighborhoods. Cronkite News. (2022). [Media: Expert Interview]. Retrieved from https://tinyurl.com/45vca4tf.
Gutiérrez, M. (2022). Experience: Scholar Perspectives #HPRSCOREOFMYSTORY. Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. [Media: Interview]. Retrieved from https://tinyurl.com/bde8ttf2.
Gutiérrez, M., Martinez, R.A., Staley, B. (March 6, 2021). Introducing the student presenters at the 2021 RacismLab symposium: Brittney Butler & Alana Keller. Interdisciplinary Association for Population Health Science Blog, http://ow.ly/KXNo50G55Pv.
Gutiérrez, M., Martinez, R.A., Staley, B. (March 13, 2021). Introducing the next generation of racism scholars, part 2: Rebekah Israel Cross. Interdisciplinary Association for Population Health Science Blog, http://ow.ly/lRkP50G55NJ.
Gutiérrez, M. (May 23, 2020). In spite of the darkness, COVID-19 has propelled social work into the 21st century. The New Social Worker, Op-Ed, http://ow.ly/XJd150G55VO.

FUNDING

U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), Office of Minority Health (OMH) Community Level Innovations for Improving Health Outcomes Grant, Casa PALS: Promotores Amplificando La Sabidura. 2024-2027 ($600,000) [PI: Diliana De Jesús, Casa Esperanza, Inc. and Co-PI: M. Gutiérrez, University of Denver]
University of Denver Interdisciplinary Research Institute for the Study of (In)Equality (IRISE), Postdoctoral Research Fellow Trainee. 2024 ($108,000) [PI: L. Martinez].
University of Denver Research and Sponsored Projects, PROF Grant. Safety Beyond Surveillance: Evaluating the Role of SROs in Fostering Safe Learning Environments. 2024-2025 ($48,000) [PI: M. Gutiérrez].
DU Center for Community Engagement to Advance Scholarship and Learning (CCESL), Community-Engaged Fellow to support PROF Grant. Fall 2024/Spring 2025 ($4,600). [PI: M. Gutierrez]
DU Center for Immigration Policy & Research (CIPR). “Mapeando Mi Comunidad/Mapping My Community.” 2022 ($2,500) [PI: M. Gutiérrez]
University of Denver Latinx Center. 2022 ($5,000; indirect costs waived) [PI: M. Gutiérrez]
University of Denver Interdisciplinary Research Institute for the Study of (In)Equality. 2022 ($3,000) [PI: M. Gutiérrez]
Writing and Publication Funding. Latinx Center. 2023 ($5,000) [PI: M. Gutiérrez]
Early and Mid-Career Professional Development Funds for Latinx and Indigenous Scholars. DULCCES. 2022 ($1,200) [PI: M. Gutiérrez]
Center for Community Engagement to Advance Scholarship and Learning. Activist Academic Community of Practice, 2022 ($1,000) [PI: M. Gutiérrez]
Center for Community Engagement to Advance Scholarship and Learning. Advancing Community-Engaged (ACE) Student Mentee Stipend. [Trainee: Jenna Wyatt]. 2022 ($400) [PI: M. Gutiérrez]

MEDIA

Op-Ed: In Spite of the Darkness, Op-ed: COVID-19 Has Propelled Social Work Into the 21st Century

Introducing the Next Generation of Racism Scholars, Blo Post Feature: Part 3: Tongtan (Bert) Chantarat and Mónica Gutiérrez

Experience: Scholar Perspectives #HPRSCOREOFMYSTORY

Interview: Rent hikes, Downtown Boom Spur Gentrification of Older Tucson Neighborhoods. Cronkite News Interview, Tucson, Arizona.

Podcast Interview: Season 1 Episode 4: Challenging Place and Power.

Injustice by Design w/ Mónica Gutiérrez.

Twitter

I utilize community-engaged practices to examine policies that lead to neighborhood displacement and gentrification and how these policies impact the well-being of Latinas/os.