Mónica Ramírez (activist) facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Mónica Ramírez
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| Born | August 19, 1977 Fremont, Ohio, U.S.
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| Education | Loyola University of Chicago (BA) Ohio State University (JD) Harvard University (MPA) |
| Spouse(s) | Scott Derome |
| Children | 1 |
Mónica Ramírez is an American lawyer, writer, and activist. She is known for her work helping farmworkers, Latinas, and immigrant women. She fights for their rights and works to make sure they are treated fairly.
Contents
Early Life and Schooling
Ramírez was born and grew up in Fremont, Ohio. Her family has roots in farming, which inspired her to help farmworkers.
For her education, she went to three different universities. She earned a bachelor's degree from Loyola University of Chicago in 1999. Then, she got a law degree from the Ohio State University Moritz College of Law in 2003. Later, in 2015, she received a master's degree in public administration from Harvard University. This degree helped her learn more about how governments work.
Career Fighting for Others
Mónica Ramírez has spent her career creating organizations and projects to help people in need, especially women workers.
Helping Farmworker Women
In 2003, Ramírez started the first legal project in the United States just for farmworker women. It focused on protecting them from unfair treatment and mistreatment at work. She later expanded this project in 2006 by founding "Esperanza: The Immigrant Women's Legal Initiative" at the Southern Poverty Law Center. She led this group for almost seven years.
She also created the Bandana Project. This is an art project where people decorate bandanas to show support for farmworker women and raise awareness about the problems they face at work.
Working Across Borders
From 2012 to 2014, Ramírez worked for an organization called Centro de los Derechos del Migrante, Inc. This group is based in Mexico and was the first of its kind to help protect the rights of migrant workers across borders.
In 2014, she founded Justice for Migrant Women. This organization helps female farmworkers and other low-paid migrant women who have faced mistreatment at their jobs. She also co-founded the Alianza Nacional de Campesinas (The National Farmworker Women's Alliance) with Mily Treviño-Sauceda.
From 2016 to 2018, she worked for the Labor Council for Latin American Advancement. There, she created a campaign to support and empower Latina workers across the United States.
Important Letters and Movements
The "Dear Sisters" Letter
In November 2017, Ramírez wrote a powerful letter called "Dear Sisters." She wrote it on behalf of the Alianza Nacional de Campesinas. The letter was published in Time magazine and showed support from farmworker women for women in the entertainment industry who were speaking out about mistreatment. The letter went viral online and helped start the famous TIME’S UP movement.
In 2018, actress Laura Dern invited Ramírez to be her guest at the 75th Golden Globe Awards because of her important work.
The "Querida Familia" Letter
In August 2019, after a tragic shooting in El Paso, Texas, and immigration raids in Mississippi, Ramírez helped organize another letter. It was called "Querida Familia," which means "Dear Family" in Spanish.
The letter was a message of support to the Latino community. It was signed by over 200 famous Latino actors, activists, and leaders. It was published in major newspapers like The New York Times and became very popular. For this work, Ramírez and the other organizers won a Solidarity Award.
The Latinx House
In 2019, Ramírez co-founded The Latinx House with Alex Kondracke and Olga Segura. It is a project of her organization, Justice for Migrant Women. The Latinx House creates spaces, like at the Sundance Film Festival, to celebrate Latino culture and talent, especially in movies and entertainment. It also provides a place to discuss important issues facing the community.
Awards and Honors
Mónica Ramírez has received many awards for her work, including:
- National Latina Transformational Leadership Award
- William Oxley Thompson Award
- Hispanic Heritage Award for Leadership
- Women’s Media Center, Solidarity Award
- Smithsonian Ingenuity Award for Social Progress
- Jessie de la Cruz Community Activist and Service Award
Personal Life
Mónica lives in her hometown of Fremont, Ohio, with her husband, Scott Derome, and their son.
See Also
- Cesar Chavez
- Dolores Huerta
- Philip Vera Cruz
