As an undergraduate, Claudia double majored in International Development Studies and Latin American Studies, with a minor in Women's Studies, at the University of California, Los Angeles. Following a Fulbright Scholar Research Grant in Colombia, she earned her M.A. in Latin American and Iberian Studies at the University of California, Santa Barbara. She has conducted research on changing gender roles in rural Yucatán, racial identity construction in Cuba and Colombia, and African/Indigenous reproductive health practices in Cuba. Claudia is returning to graduate school after a career in college/career pathways and community college administration. Her current research is on the effects of systemic racism on communities of color, particularly the policing of families through social welfare systems.
