I am the Commission: Erika Morillo and her passion to connect with people and help them to improve their lives.
Erika Morillo was born in the Dominican Republic, and moved to New York in 2004. While living in the island, she visited her family in Washington Heights every summer so her move to NYC was not as difficult. Erika got a Bachelor's degree in Clinical Psychology and her Masters in Sociology at the New School for Social Research.
  What do you do at the Commission? What is your typical day of work?
 I am part of the Manos Unidas Program. I am a Capacity Building
Specialist, and what that means, in a nutshell, is that I work jointly
with the Manos Unidas Team to enhance the capacity of organizations and
programs to implement HIV Prevention interventions. A work day at LCOA
for me goes from communicating with different community based
organizations about their current programmatic needs and strategizing
the best way we can assist them, to writing curriculums to provide at
risk communities with most needed knowledge and power.
How did you get involved working with minorities and health disparities
issues?
I don't know exactly, because I have been engaged in different academic
disciplines as well as different fields of employment, but one constant
for me has always been a deep interest in connecting with people and
helping them improve the quality of their lives, either by providing
them with knowledge, support or just words of encouragement. I think is
important to connect with those around you, validate their experiences
and let them know that they are not alone in their circumstances. I
think that is applicable to the work I do and to relationships in
general.
If you could have a conversation with recent elected supreme court judge Sonia Sotomayor, what will you ask her?
I would probably act like a fan and say that I am bursting with Latino
Pride because of her achievements (lol); but I would probably ask her
what is the social cause she is most committed to and what are necessary
steps to get involved in the betterment of this issue.
Do you have any other passion besides your commitment with the Latino Community?
Yes. I have developed a great love for photography, especially for
photographing people and social dynamics. I find it to be another
powerful way to collect information and understand communities more
intimately.
"I am the commission" archive
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