Celina Barrios-Millner is co-vice president of the Office of Race and Equity Research at the Urban Institute, where she manages the Office's support for equity-oriented research and practice across Urban.
Barrios-Millner brings 20 years of experience advancing transformational equity and inclusion strategies through the public sector. She served as senior advisor to Boston Mayor Michelle Wu and as the city’s chief of equity and inclusion under Acting Mayor Kim Janey. In that role, Barrios-Millner was charged with embedding equity and racial justice into all city planning and operations and provided the equity guidance to ensure over $500 million in federal recovery funds were allocated to communities and sectors disproportionately affected by the pandemic. She previously established the city’s first Supplier Diversity program, oversaw the city’s local hire policy, and helped design the city’s Immigrant Advancement Agenda.
Previously, she was the northeast regional director for the National Immigration Forum, led partnership development for the Massachusetts Supplier Diversity Office, and has advocated for social justice causes as a community organizer.
Barrios-Millner is a graduate of American University and holds a master's degree in public policy from the Harvard Kennedy School.
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