Amar Mukunda

Amar Mukunda serves as Assistant Director of Roca Baltimore. His role is to co-lead Roca's intervention with program participants. Amar started at Roca as an educator focused on conducting street outreach to help participants learn and apply mindfulness and cognitive behavioral theory lessons (CBT). Whether it is dealing with intimate partner conflict, street violence, challenges in GED class or at work, CBT practices help participants get out of traumatic reactions to difficult situations, slow down, and find more productive ways to respond. In his role as Assistant Director Amar focuses on managing a team of educators and outreach workers as well as managing Roca's transitional employment program which is dedicated to applying these same principles specifically around assisting participants with accessing employment and training. 

Roca is a violence prevention and street outreach program. Roca serves 16–24-year-old men in the city of Baltimore who have been direct victims and perpetrators of gun violence. At Roca we recognize that overcoming trauma, changing behavior, and accessing new opportunities take time and always come with setbacks. That's why Roca is built around relentlessly reaching out to program participants even when they don’t see the possibility for change. We constantly work to build trust and show participants that they matter. As our relationships with participants strengthen, we focus on using mindfulness and cognitive behavioral theory to help participants overcome trauma. By breaking behavior patterns that are rooted in fear and fight-or-flight reactions Roca participants are able to break the cycle of violence and access the wrap-around opportunities that Roca provides: employment, training, education, housing, and whatever other possibilities participants want to pursue.