Aura Cruz Heredia, Project Manager, serves PolicyLink's place-based work spanning Puerto Rico, California, and 25 Sustainable Cities. Driven by abolitionist and anti-colonial praxis, she brings a background in local organizing and advocacy for community-driven solutions to end the criminalization and extenuation of poverty in communities of color. Prior to joining PolicyLink, Aura spent several years in DC's local organizing ecosystem working at the intersection of climate and housing. Before that, they lived a past life as a cognitive neuroscientist studying the neural basis of language as an undergrad at UCLA and doctoral student at the University of Pennsylvania. Aura was born and raised in Mayagüez, Puerto Rico and currently resides in Oakland, CA with her partner and her five guitars.