Kyra Mungia

A passionate advocate for education in Oakland, Kyra Mungia is committed to changing systems to improve outcomes, particularly for students who are traditionally marginalized. She is an energetic, metric-driven team player with strong organizational skills and experience in leveraging available resources. From a young age, Kyra loved school but she soon learned that not everyone had equal opportunities in their educational experience. Growing up in her hometown Tacoma, Washington, volunteering in Providence, Rhode Island, and teaching in Oakland public schools, Kyra saw firsthand how under-resourced and underserved communities, especially in Oakland, are neglected. It’s no surprise to her that those same marginalized communities are almost always communities of color. Kyra’s vision for education in Oakland is one where our youth thrive in education, regardless of race or other common predictors of disparity, such as citizenship status, home language, and housing security. She believes it’s critical we understand the intersectionality of and address the systems of oppression operating across health, wealth, safety, and housing. This is what drove her to take a more systems-level approach as an Education Project Director in the Office of Oakland Mayor Libby Schaaf where she leads early childhood education, collective impact, and teacher recruitment/retention efforts.

While teaching, Kyra enjoyed dipping her toes into Oakland’s education policy scene with GO Public School’s Teacher Policy Fellowship where she focused her research on new teacher supports. Prior to joining the Mayor’s team, Kyra most recently participated in the Leadership for Educational Equity Public Policy Fellowship. Before that, she was an Urban Leaders Fellow, working on early asset building for the Oakland Promise and curating resources for Educate78’s School Design Lab.

Kyra holds a Bachelor of Arts in Anthropology from Brown University and a Master’s Degree in Urban Education with a focus on Policy and Administration from Loyola Marymount University. She has a passion for kids, their well-being, and their educational opportunities. Kyra always gives 100%, except when donating blood. She enjoys mastering crossword puzzles with a cup of tea, exploring the Bay Area’s beautiful trails, and running into friends at Lake Merritt. Other hobbies include breakfast, lunch, and dinner.