Misaki Funada is a project administrator in the Office of Race and Equity Research at the Urban Institute. They support cross-functional operations in collaboration with researchers and program staff members across various centers and offices. 

Before joining Urban, Funada helped build several early-stage start-ups in technology and education sectors. Working closely with founders, they took on a wide range of responsibilities, such as product management, marketing, sales, customer success, human resources, and community management.  

Funada holds a BA in anthropology from Hamilton College with minors in psychology and philosophy. They are also a certified facilitator for Immunity to Change, a change management approach designed by Harvard Graduate School of Education researchers to help individuals and organizations overcome their internal resistance to desired changes.