Mónica Ramírez is an activist, author, civil rights attorney, social entrepreneur and speaker. She has been specifically engaged in direct service and advocacy on behalf of farmworkers, Latinas and immigrant women. Mónica employs a holistic, victim-centered approach to her work and she is an ardent supporter of worker-led movements. She also has a long history of promoting women’s leadership and political power.

Mónica created the first legal project in the US 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 of the Southern Poverty Law Center 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, Mónica served as Acting Deputy Director for 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 immigrant women who are victims of workplace sexual violence. In addition to her work for Justice for Migrant Women, Mónica acted as the Deputy Director / Director of Gender Equality for the Labor Council for Latin American Advancement from 2016 to 2018. While there, she developed a strategic plan for a campaign aimed at assisting and empowering Latina workers in the U.S. Ramirez is also one of the co-founders of Alianza Nacional de Campesinas. In 2019, Mónica also co-founded The Latinx House – a gathering space to support the Latinx community and to celebrate Latinx excellence in film and entertainment – with Alex Kondracke and Olga Segura. The House is set to launch at the 2020 Sundance Film Festival.