Our Team

Mónica Ramírez hails from a farmworker family that settled out of the migrant stream to live year-round in rural Ohio.  She is a long-time advocate, organizer, social entrepreneur and attorney fighting to eliminate gender-based violence and secure gender equity. For over two decades, she has fought for the civil and human rights of women, children, workers, Latinos/as and immigrants. 

In 2003, Mónica created the first legal project in the United States dedicated to addressing gender discrimination against farmworker women, which she scaled to create Esperanza: The Immigrant Women’s Legal Initiative of the Southern Poverty Law Center. 

In addition to founding Justice for Migrant Women, she co-founded Alianza Nacional de Campesinos and served until President of their Board until 2018. In her capacity as Alianza's Board President, Mónica wrote the letter that was published in TIME magazine from farmworker women to women in the entertainment industry. It has been credited with helping to spark the creation of the TIME’S UP movement.  

Mónica is recognized as a thought leader and prominent voice in the Latinx community. She has been awarded numerous awards for her work, including Harvard Kennedy School’s inaugural Gender Equity Changemaker Award, the Feminist Majority’s Global Women’s Rights Award, and inclusion on Forbes Mexico's 2018 list of 100 Powerful Women, among other distinctions. 

Mónica is a graduate of Loyola University Chicago, The Ohio State University's Moritz College of Law and Harvard Kennedy School. 

Follow her @MonicaRamirezOH on Twitter and @activistmonicaramirez on Instagram.

Kelley Bruner is the daughter and granddaughter of small peanut farmers in rural northwest Florida where she became intimately aware of the reality of the rural poor and the harmful impact of the discriminatory policies and practices that impact the people of color and the marginalized in the deep South still today.

It was this personal awareness with some of these injustices that led Kelley to become a civil rights attorney. She was determined to fight for justice and to push for the expansion of rights for those who have been left out or disenfranchised over the years.
Kelley is a seasoned civil rights litigator. She has handled employment cases on behalf of migrant workers, personal injury cases against hate groups who targeted immigrants, as well as cases involving violations by law enforcement and other authorities aimed at depriving individuals of their rights.

Kelley spent the majority of her legal career litigating cases with famed civil rights lawyer, Morris Dees. In addition to this, Kelley is exceptionally skilled with creating common sense systems that help ensure that technology can best meet the needs of lawyers and their clients.

In addition to her legal work, Kelley has managed the large budget of a local PTA, as well as compliance and governance matters related to a non-profit charity. Most recently, Kelley has supported Justice for Migrant Women's policy and campaign work and administrative initiatives. 

Kelley is a graduate of Florida State University and New York University School of Law.

Norma Flores López grew up as a child of a migrant farmworker family from South Texas. She began working in the fields at the age of 12, where she continued working until she graduated from high school.  She has long been an active advocate for migrant farmworker children’s rights and continues to raise awareness on issues affecting the farmworker community.

Norma has had the opportunity to testify before Congress and has appeared on national news outlets, including 60 Minutes, on issues related to child labor in agriculture. She has also been invited by international governments to consult on strategies to reduce child labor abroad.

Norma serves Board of Directors for the National Consumers League and is the chair of the Child Labor Coalition’s Domestic Issues Committee. In 2017, she was selected to serve as the representative for the United States on the Board of Directors for Global March Against Child Labour. Additionally, she was selected to participate in the Pahara Next Generation Fellowship.

Prior to joining Justice for Migrant Women, Norma was the Governance and Development/Collaboration Manager at East Coast Migrant Head Start Project and a co-founder of The Foundation for Farmworkers. Norma previously served on the Board of Directors for the National Migrant and Seasonal Head Start Association and was elected President in 2019. Prior work also includes serving as director of the Children in the Fields Campaign at the Association of Farmworker Opportunity Programs.

Norma is a graduate of the University of Texas Pan-American and the George Mason University’s Schar School of Policy and Government.

Catherine is from North Carolina and first discovered her passion for policy and public service during a Washington, D.C. experience in high school. Moving to D.C. in 2016, she joined the National Hispanic Leadership Agenda where she led digital engagement and supported advocacy on issues including immigration, labor and women's rights. 

Most recently, Catherine managed state government affairs at the American Planning Association, working with community planners to elevate their community's priorities in state capitols across the country. 

Knowing her neighbors and building relationships is important to Catherine, so she prioritizes that in all aspects of life. 

Catherine holds a Bachelors of Arts in Political Science and in Spanish from Furman University.

Mary Alice Espiritu was born into a family of migrant farmworkers. Over the years, her family began to settle in Ohio as they found work opportunities outside of field work, and eventually, they left the migrant stream altogether.  

In 2008, Mary Alice was hired as a bus aide for the local migrant and seasonal Head Start program. Through hard work and determination, Mary Alice worked her way up through various positions in the program until becoming the supervisor of the Head Start center. Mary Alice’s personal background made her keenly aware of the difficulties migrant farmworker families face and proudly helped meet their needs while ensuring their children received the highest quality early childhood education. 

Her career in education inspired her to work to create a community in which all children can thrive through public service. Mary Alice was elected to be a member of the Board of Education for Fremont City (OH) Schools. She is also a co-founder and board member of the educational organization, La Voz de la Comunidad, and volunteers regularly in support of her church.

Mary Alice is a first-generation college graduate. She received her Bachelor's Degree in Human Service Management from the University of Phoenix. 

Andrea Ruedas comes from a long line of farmworkers who would make the journey to the United States on a daily basis by crossing the Mexico-United States border. When she was 7, she immigrated to the United States with her family and witnessed the social barriers that migrant women and their families face in their everyday lives. These experiences have shaped her desire to advocate for social equity within immigrant communities, especially (im)migrant women of color, as it relates to their economic, bodily, and political authority. 

Throughout her college career, Andrea focused on educational and professional experiences that elevated her knowledge about feminisms of color, racial justice, gender equity, and community-led activism. In the past, she worked with Boulder Housing Partners on their residential services, the Eviction Defense Collaborative on housing protections for low-income communities, and the Flora Family Foundation with a focus on women's reproductive rights and health. 

In the future, she hopes to become a civil and human rights attorney practicing in the reproductive justice field. 

Andrea is  a graduate of Stanford University, summa cum laude, with a major in Sociology.

Maeve Elder was born and raised in Fremont, Ohio, a small historic town that thrives upon the success of its agricultural industry, and is the home of Justice for Migrant Women’s headquarters. 

Throughout her adolescence, young adult and present adult-life, Maeve continued to enrich her education on the advocacy for fair treatment of minorities with an emphasis on women’s rights. This life of political involvement instilled Maeve with a priority for policy and challenging its impact on marginalized groups.

This passion followed Maeve as she pursued higher education and inspired her to study the impact of policy, both domestic and foreign, on women’s rights in Middle Eastern countries. Maeve focused her extracurricular time on the unequal stratification of human rights within the city of Akron, Ohio. She found political opportunities within various local, statewide, and national partisan campaigns and organizations, and helped spearhead the creation of a local grassroots campaign. Maeve also used her voice to create panel discussions around topics such as women’s rights and immigrant rights. 

Maeve concluded her student-career at the University of Akron graduating cum laude with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Political Science. She still remains deeply connected to her hometown and hopes to see a progression in the agricultural industry toward the fair treatment of migrant workers throughout the midwest.

Laura was born and raised in Puerto Rico and is passionate about history, education, and community organizing. From a young age, Laura volunteered for diverse non-profit organizations, including Just World International, Fundación Stefano Steenbakers Betancourt, and The Golden Shoes Project. More recently, she fundraised to assist fellow Puerto Ricans affected by Hurricane María. 

She became passionate about supporting migrant women while working as a tenant advocate in Cincinnati, Ohio. Laura leveraged her cultural background and Spanish language skills to help Hispanic immigrants secure affordable and safe housing.  She is also experienced in developing youth educational programs and field events for history museums. 

Laura holds a Bachelor of Arts in History from Cornell University.

Justice for Migrant Women's Advisory Board is an informal group of advisors comprised of women who work and/or worked as migrant workers. This group of women provide feedback on Justice for Migrant Women's strategy and plans as well as other insight. The purpose of the Board is to ensure that Justice for Migrant Women's work remains grounded in the historical experience of migrant women workers while creating a more just and equitable future.