Erica serves as Interim Director for the Equity, Arts and Culture team. Born in Argentina, raised in Los Angeles - Erica combines her years organizing within the immigrant rights movement, her training in alternative medicine and her life-long creative practice together for programming, consulting and healing work that is unique, rooted and versatile. Prior to joining SCG, Erica served as Director of Youth Programming at the Miguel Contreras Foundation (MCF) where she led social justice programming for immigrant communities. A leading voice in bridging healing and social justice work, Erica has been invited for speaking, teaching and consulting engagements with California Immigrant Youth Justice Alliance, Chuco's Justice Center, MCF, SHIFT, LA-USC Wellness Center, InnerWayLa, Peace Over Violence, California Conference for Equity and Justice, Southern California University of Health Sciences, and The African American Policy Forum. Since 2018, Erica has been commissioned each year by UCLA’s Wesley Foundation to create and teach a Healing+Justice Series for UCLA students. In 2019, Erica was awarded the UMC grant to create No Estan Solos, a multidisciplinary healing and advocacy program for Latinx undocumented and refugee youth. Erica also served as Ayurvedic Practitioner and Counselor at WeSpark Cancer Support, making her the youngest woman to ever serve as lead Ayurvedic Practitioner in an integrative health center for cancer patients and survivors. In 2019, Erica founded the Women’s Healing Course, a series inspired by the intersection of race, gender and healing that has been offered all throughout California and, due to national recognition, is now being offered virtually to global audiences.
Erica is informed by her background as a seasoned writer and performer. She is a founding member of the Dancing Diaspora Collective, a collective of POC artists and healers dedicated to honoring, sharing, and reimagining practices of the Latin & African diasporas in dialogue with local and global histories of cultural resistance. Most recently, her solo work “I am my Mother’s Daughter” about mothers and migration has been performed for over 8,000 people at UCLA’s historic Pauley Pavilion and has been selected for KPCC’s Unheard LA live series.
Erica holds a BA in World Arts and Cultures from UCLA and an AWP (Ayurvedic Wellness Practitioner) certification from Southern California University of Health Sciences.