Job Openings

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 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, 2022 James Beard Leadership 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 X (Twitter) and @activistmonicaramirez on Instagram.

Angela (Angie) was born and raised in Fremont, Ohio, and learned at an early age the importance of helping others. Stemming from a family of farmworkers, Angie understood the conditions many migrant farmworkers had to endure and began working every summer at the non-profit ABLE (Advocates for Basic Legal Equality) serving agricultural workers and immigrant families by addressing unfair or discriminatory employment practices and civil rights violations, including racial, and ethnic profiling.

Throughout the course of Angie's career in HR Operations and People Relations, she has recognized the value and importance of partnering with her leadership teams to ensure the voice of the employee is not forgotten. Her advocacy has been continually recognized by her client groups and she is often told, "you really take the time to understand the work we do and listen to what we need which makes our work life better."  As she progressed in her career, her determination to remain a Trusted Advisor and Strategic Leader helped cultivate a culture of meeting the companies' objectives and the needs of their most valuable assets - the people. 

In addition to her HR Leadership roles, Angie is a mother to a young woman named Anaiyah, who she says is “wonderfully gifted and beautiful.”  Angie currently lives in Georgia and has a B.S. in Business Administration from the University of Toledo. 

Argelia (she/her) is from Chicago and a proud descendant of migrant workers from Mexico.  Argelia has a deep desire to make an impact in the food justice space which led her to join the team at Justice for Migrant Women. 

Professionally, Argelia brings  20+ years of experience in communications planning, organizational strategy, and diverse audience engagement. She finds joy in collaborating with teams to be brand architects and execute advertising tactics. Argelia has experience developing SOPS for marketing operations and using tech tools to make more time for creativity. 

As a proud first-gen professional, she is dedicated to creating spaces for BIPOC communities to thrive and mentoring college students. Argelia earned her master’s in Integrated Marketing Communications from Northwestern’s Medill School of Communication and her Bachelor’s degree at DePaul University. She enjoys nature walks with her dog Canela and spending time with family. Her favorite mantra is by Chicagoan Melissa DuPrey, “ I am rooted in culture with an eye towards sustainability.” 

Vanessa Moreno (she/her) is from Puebla, Mexico and happy to call New York home. Her personal experience as a former undocumented immigrant and desire to advance the organization’s mission led her to Justice for Migrant Women. 

Vanessa is a seasoned producer with over 20+ years of experience bringing to life complex concepts and ideas in spaces where she was often the only Latina in the room. Her unique skills as a Showrunner, Director and Producer is a valuable asset when it comes to creating impactful and memorable content and experiences. Vanessa has worked with a wide range of people and personalities in the food, media, music and fashion spaces. She’s developed and nurtured the talent of countless folks in front of and behind the camera while creating long lasting work relationships.

Vanessa is proud of her Mexican-Honduran heritage. When she’s not working, she is spending time with her family and her goldendoodle Charlie.

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. 

Maeve Elder (she/they) 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.

Maeve focused her extracurricular time on the unequal stratification of human and civil 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.

Andrea Gutierrez (she/her) was born in Toledo, raised throughout the Midwest, and has called Fremont, Ohio home for 30 years. She is proud of her Mexican heritage and is a descendant of migrant farmworkers. Andrea is passionate about advancing justice for people who are arriving in the states looking for a better way of life, especially because her husband grew up migrating with his farmworker family as first generation Americans.  

Andrea holds a Bachelor degree in Psychology from the University of Toledo. She began her career as a Mental Health professional for 10 years, guiding people through anxiety to find resources. She has been personally touched by suicide and depression which fueled her desire to challenge the perceived taboo in Mexican culture of not getting help for mental health issues. Her desire to guide youth led her to be a substitute teacher for Fremont City Schools and to help ESL students.

When she isn’t working, Andrea enjoys spending time with her family and her cat Churro. Her personal mantra that guides her daily life. “You should treat others how you would like to be treated.”

Elizabeth was born in Ohio and spent most of her youth living in Mexico. 

When Elizabeth moved back to Ohio at the age of 15 for high school, she did not know what discrimination was or had even heard that word. One day, she saw students bullying a girl and proceeded to stand by her side and help her. From that day forward, Elizabeth knew she wanted -- and needed -- to make a difference bit by bit and to help the migrant workers in her community. 

Elizabeth has spent her professional career in service to those in need.  She spent fourteen years as a family service advocate for an area migrant and seasonal head start program. She also served as a bilingual WIC clerk at a neighborhood health association, a bilingual house manager at a homeless shelter and a teacher’s aid for ESOL students in the local school system.  

Elizabeth loves working to protect and advance the rights of migrant women. Though she claims she may not be able to change the whole world, Elizabeth is always striving to make a difference and make someone smile.