Mónica Ramírez has focused her work on ending gender-based violence in the workplace and achieving gender equity. She has served farmworker, Latina and immigrant women as an organizer and advocate for more than two decades. She has also represented individuals as a civil rights and gender justice attorney since 2004. Mónica also has a long history promoting women’s leadership and political power, including helping women secure public leadership positions. She previously directed LatinasRepresent, a national project aimed at increasing the number of Latinas in elected and appointed positions.
Mónica is the founder of several major initiatives, organizations and projects, including Esperanza: The Immigrant Women’s Legal Initiative of the Southern Poverty Law Center, The Bandana Project, and The Latina Impact Fund. In addition, she leads National Latina Equal Pay campaign for the EqualPayToday! Coalition, which reached 274 million people on social media alone in 2017. Mónica is the co-founder and President of Alianza Nacional de Campesinas. In November 2017, she authored a letter on behalf of Alianza members that was published in TIME magazine. The letter went viral and helped spark the TIME’S UP movement. TIME’S UP is a global movement that promotes gender equity and safety across industries.
Mónica holds a Juris Doctorate from the Ohio State University Moritz College of Law and a Master’s in Public Administration from the Harvard Kennedy School. She received her undergraduate degree from Loyola University Chicago. In March 2018, Mónica delivered the keynote address at the United Nation’s International Women’s Celebration. She has won numerous awards and recognitions for her contributions, including Harvard Kennedy School’s first Gender Equity Changemaker Award, the Feminist Majority’s Global Women’s Rights Award, and Forbes Mexico included her on its 2018 list of 100 Mujeres Poderosas (Powerful Women), among others. She has been interviewed by media in the US and different parts of the world. Mónica resides in Montgomery County, Maryland with her husband and her son where she serves as a Commissioner for the Montgomery County Commission for Women.
