Biography
Dr. Olivia "Oli" Muñoz (she/her/ella) is an interdisciplinary student affairs professional with more than 10 years experience in student support, residential education and social justice programming. She has been the Dean of Students for Community Care and Inclusion at Willamette University's Salem campus since 2022. Prior to that, she served as the Associate Dean of Students at the Pacific Northwest College of Art in Portland, Oregon, and the Director of Residential Life at Mills College in Oakland, California. She has twice served on the Student Life team for the study abroad program Semester at Sea. Her experience includes student activism development, support for undocumented students and first-generation scholars, and community partnerships with arts, immigrant, and Latinx nonprofits.
Dr. Muñoz has presented nationally art activism, women of color in student affairs, and on the use of testimonio as an educational research methodology. She is an alumnus of the Social Justice Training Institute and was selected nationally for the Millennial Leadership Project at Union Theological Seminary in New York City to examine the intersection of spirituality and social justice. She has taught classes on poetry, immigration, human rights
education, and social movements.
Along with her extensive work in higher education, Dr. Muñoz has worked in media and communications, and has championed trust-based philanthropy for nonprofits working with marginalized communities. She has a B.A. in Journalism and Art from Central Michigan University, where she was a first-generation college student. Dr. Muñoz also holds a Master of Fine Arts in Nonfiction Writing from California State University, Fresno, and a doctorate in International and Multicultural Education from the University of San Francisco. A lifelong learner and traveler, Dr. Muñoz's traces her roots and love of education to México. She was born and raised in the Midwest and now calls the Pacific Northwest home.