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

Research

Dr. Gutiérrez is a community-based scholar who excels in social work research, scholarly analysis, policy and practice writing, convening and leading community collaborations, and public speaking. As a recognized Critical Race and Latinx Critical Race social work theorist, her credentials and experience—encompassing her educational background, professional training, practice experience, and teaching—prepare her for excellence in research. This foundation informs her scholarly contributions to understanding gentrification, displacement, and health equity issues.

Critical Theories

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

Institutional and structural policies continue to limit Latina/o communities' sense of belonging. Existing research often overlooks their lived experiences and resistance strategies. This line of research utilizes oral histories, critical ethnography, and policy analysis to examine how place-based belonging shapes Latina/o communities.

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.

Research: social work research, school resource officer research, school safety studies, marginalized student experiences, racial equity in education, policy research for social workers, community displacement research, gentrification and well-being, research on Latine communities, social justice data analysis, advocacy research in social work, social work evidence-based practice, educational equity research, community-engaged research methods.

Research Content: “school safety research” “SRO impact on marginalized students” “Latine community displacement research” “Social work research on urban development” “Community-driven policy research”

SCHOLARSHIP

Google Scholar Profile

SELECT PUBLICATIONS

Gutiérrez, M., Marroquin, M., Lechuga-Peña, S., Becerra D., Mitchell F. M., Rivera L. A., & Cuevas, N. (2024). Virtual Photovoice and Social Work: Unveiling CRT and LatCrit Insights into Latinx Communities in the Southwest During COVID-19. Journal of Community Practice, 32(4), 417-441. https://doi.org/10.1080/10705422.2024.2431876
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/10.1177/146801732412409
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. https://doi.org/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. 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). 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). 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. 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. 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 ($325,000) [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]

Teaching Philosophy

The teacher is of course an artist, but being an artist does not mean that he or she can make the profile, can shape the students. What the educator does in teaching is to make it possible for the students to become themselves.” ― Paulo Freire

GSSW Courses Currently Teaching:

SOWK 4435 Grassroots Organizing for Social Justice
SOWK 4232 Critical Race Theory Praxis and Social Work
SOWK 4120: Social Policy Analysis, Advocacy, and Practice

My teaching philosophy emphasizes cultural awareness and equity in social work through inclusive classroom environments that engage diverse perspectives and current issues.

Drawing from critical theorists (Anzaldúa, 1987; Bernal, 2002; Crenshaw, 1995; Freire, 1970; hooks, 1994; Tuck, 2009), I prepare students for advocacy by connecting theory to practice in addressing systemic inequities.

Incorporating Kolb's Experiential Learning Model (Kolb, 1984) I integrate hands-on learning into social work education. This approach is intended to enable students to understand policy impacts on marginalized communities while developing advocacy skills. I cultivate brave spaces for critical dialogue, incorporate diverse readings, link content to current social issues, and model social work principles through active engagement.

The Experiential Learning Cycle (Kolb, 1984).

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.

I research how structural policies drive displacement and affect Latino/a communities' sense of belonging, using community-based approaches to amplify residents' voices for spatial justice.