Associate Professor, School of Social Work
Research focus is on the pursuit of social justice through advocacy used by human service organizations, including structure of advocacy, advocacy strategies, and motivators for advocacy behavior. Of special interest is the intersection of advocacy and the intimate partner violence movement; received the START grant (2016-2017) to advance this area of her research. Among her publications are What Drives Advocacy? An exploration of value, mission, and relationships(2016), published in the Journal of Policy Practice and Do Nonprofit Organizations Have Room for Advocacy in their Structure? An Exploratory Study (2014), published in the Human Service Organizations: Management, Leadership & Governance journal. Member of the Latino/Hispanic Faculty Association, the Field Education Advisory Committee in the BSW Program, the Macro Concentration Curriculum Committee at the UMB Graduate School of Social Work, and the UMB Intimate Partner Violence Collaborative.
Marcela is a member of the Inclusion Council of the Office of Equity and Inclusion, the Latino/Hispanic Faculty Association, the Field Education Advisory Committee in the BSW Program, and chair of the BSW program Policy Sequence; also a member of the Faculty Executive Committee, the Macro Concentration Curriculum Committee, and the Intimate Partner Violence Collaborative at the UMB Graduate School of Social Work.