Mónica Ramírez is an American activist, author, civil rights attorney, entrepreneur, and public speaker. She has been engaged in service and advocacy on behalf of farmworkers, Latinas and immigrant women.

Early life and education

Ramírez was born and raised in

Fremont, Ohio Fremont is a city in and the county seat of Sandusky County, Ohio, United States, located along the banks of the Sandusky River. It is about 35 miles from Toledo and 25 miles from Sandusky. It is part of the Toledo metropolitan area. The populat ...

. Ramírez earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in communication from

Loyola University of Chicago Loyola University Chicago (Loyola or LUC) is a private Jesuit research university in Chicago, Illinois. Founded in 1870 by the Society of Jesus, Loyola is one of the largest Catholic universities in the United States. Its namesake is Saint Ign ...

in 1999, a Juris Doctor from the

Ohio State University Moritz College of Law The Michael E. Moritz College of Law is the professional graduate law school of the Ohio State University, a public land-grant research university in Columbus, Ohio. Founded in 1891, the school is located in Drinko Hall on the main campus of the ...

in 2003, and a Master of Public Administration from the

Harvard Kennedy School The Harvard Kennedy School (HKS), officially the John F. Kennedy School of Government, is the school of public policy and government of Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts. The school offers master's degrees in public policy, public ...

in 2015.

Career

Ramírez created the first legal project in the U.S. focused on addressing sexual harassment and other forms of gender discrimination against farmworker women in 2003, which was incubated at the Migrant Justice Project of Florida Legal Services. She later scaled this project and founded "Esperanza: The Immigrant Women's Legal Initiative" within the

Southern Poverty Law Center The Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) is an American 501(c)(3) nonprofit legal advocacy organization specializing in civil rights and public interest litigation. Based in Montgomery, Alabama, it is known for its legal cases against white s ...

in 2006, which she directed for nearly seven years. In addition, she created the award-winning Bandana Project, an art activism project that raises awareness about workplace sexual violence against farmworker women. From 2012 to 2014, Ramírez served as acting deputy director of Centro de los Derechos del Migrante, Inc., the first transnational migrant workers’ rights organization based in Mexico. In 2014, she founded Justice for Migrant Women, a national advocacy and technical assistance project focused on representing female farmworkers and other low-paid migrant workers who are victims of workplace sexual violence. In addition to her work for Justice for Migrant Women, Ramírez acted as the deputy director and director of gender equality for the

Labor Council for Latin American Advancement The Labor Council for Latin American Advancement (LCLAA) is a nonprofit, nonpartisan Latino organization affiliated with the AFL-CIO and the Change to Win federation. It was founded in 1972 to provide Latino trade union members in the United S ...

from 2016 to 2018. While there, she developed a campaign aimed at assisting and empowering Latina workers in the U.S. Ramírez also co-founded Alianza Nacional de Campesinas (the National Farmworker Women's Alliance) with Mily Treviño-Sauceda. In 2019, Ramírez also co-founded The Latinx House, a gathering space to support the Latino community and to celebrate Latino excellence in film and entertainment, with Alex Kondracke and Olga Segura. The Latinx House was launched at the 2020 Sundance Film Festival.

Dear Sisters letter

In November, 2017, while in her role as Alianza’s Board President, Ramírez wrote the "Dear Sisters" letter, published in ''Time''. The letter, written on behalf of Alianza members and lending the support and solidarity of Latina farmworkers, went viral and helped spark the TIME’S UP movement. In 2018, she attended the

75th Golden Globe Awards The 75th Golden Globe Awards honored film and American television of 2017, and was broadcast live on January 7, 2018, from The Beverly Hilton in Beverly Hills, California beginning at 5:00 p.m. PST / 8:00 p.m. EST by NBC. This Golden ...

as a guest of

Laura Dern Laura Elizabeth Dern (born February 10, 1967) is an American actress. She is the recipient of numerous accolades, including an Academy Award, a Primetime Emmy Award, a BAFTA Award, and five Golden Globe Awards. Born to actor Bruce Dern and a ...

Querida Familia letter

In August 2019, Ramírez organized the Querida Familia letter, a letter to the Latino community and allies, with America Ferrera, Diane Guerrero, Eva Longoria, Alex Martinez Kondracke, and Olga Segura, after 22 people were murdered in a mass shooting in El Paso by a white nationalist and following immigration raids in Mississippi. The letter garnered the support of more than 200 Latino leaders who included actors, activists, civil rights and labor leaders, business people and more. The letter was published in English in ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...

''. It was published in Spanish in ''

El Nuevo Herald ''El Nuevo Herald'' is a newspaper published daily in Spanish in Southeast Florida, United States. Its headquarters is in Doral. ''El Nuevo Heralds sister paper is the '' Miami Herald'', also produced by the McClatchy Company. About ''el Nuevo ...

'', '' El Diario'', and ''La Opini''ó''n''. The letter went viral after its publication, and Ramírez, along with the other letter authors and organizers, were presented with the Women and Media Center's 2019 Solidarity Award from WMC founders Gloria Steinem, Jane Fonda and Robin Morgan in October 2019.

The Latinx House

In January 2020, Ramírez announced that she was launching a new initiative called The Latinx House with filmmaker and activist Alexandra Martinez Kondracke, and Mexican actress, producer, entrepreneur and activist Olga Segura. The Latinx House, which is a project within Ramírez's organization Justice for Migrant Women, aims to create gathering spaces to celebrate the best in Latino culture and bring important societal issues to the forefront.

Awards and distinctions

*Casa de Esperanza’s National Latina Transformational Leadership Award *LCLAA Central Florida Trabajadoras’ Award *William Oxley Thompson Award *National Hispanic Council on Aging, Outstanding Community Service Award *Hispanic Heritage Foundation’s Hispanic Heritage Award for Leadership *Women’s Media Center, Solidarity Award *YWCA USA Leadership Award *Smithsonian Ingenuity Award for Social Progress *Jessie de la Cruz Community Activist and Service Award from California Rural Legal Assistance

Personal life

Monica currently resides in her hometown of Fremont, Ohio, and is married to Scott Derome. They have one son.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ramírez, Mónica Living people American women's rights activists American trade unionists of Mexican descent Harvard Kennedy School alumni Loyola University Chicago alumni Ohio State University Moritz College of Law alumni People from Fremont, Ohio Trade unionists from Ohio Year of birth missing (living people) American lawyers American civil rights lawyers American civil rights activists