Erika was the 2018 Chairwoman of the San Antonio Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, having served on its Executive Board for six years. A former board member of Say Si Youth Arts, The San Antonio Economic Development Foundation and SACRD.org, she now sits on the Girls Scouts of Southwest Texas Board and the Methodist Healthcare Ministries Board, and is part of the advisory Board for iEmpower, The Madrina Project, Common Sense USA, and the SA Area Foundation’s Press Forward Task Force. Erika was also the 2019 San Antonio Business Journal’s Woman of the Year, 2019 Governor’s Yellow Rose of Texas honoree, the 2016 H-E-B David Ashworth Community Service Corporate Winner and the 2021 H-E-B Linda D. Jimenez Diversity and Inclusion Corporate Awardee. Her proudest honor, however, was receiving the 2010 Association of Migrant Educators of Texas’ Migrant Alumni Award.

As a co-founder and 2016 Chair of the Latina Leadership Institute and, much of Erika's passion revolves around efforts to help improve quality of life among underserved populations through girls & women empowerment, education, and literacy. In 2018, she launched the Raising and Inspiring Successful Entrepreneurs (R.I.S.E.) program, a bilingual workbook aimed at helping elementary school-aged children develop entrepreneurial mindsets.  Erika has led the creation of multiple education and women’s economic development white papers with Rai$ing Texas and the SABER Institute. Since 2022, she has also been appointed as a regional Panelist for the prestigious White House Fellows Program, to include more diverse points of view in National Civics programming. Erika became a Dame De Escoffier in 2023, and that year also received the Ohtli Award from the Mexican government, the highest honor given to a non-citizen.  Erika and her husband, former San Antonio Mayor, Ron Nirenberg, have one son named Jonah.