Mónica Acosta (she, her, hers, ella) was born in Durango, Mexico and immigrated to the U.S. at the age of three. She grew up just outside Los Angeles, California and moved to Denver in 1999, which she now calls her home. Monica began organizing as a youth leader with Padres & Jóvenes Unidos (PJU), working to protect bilingual education in Colorado and to transform her high school, which at the time was one of the lowest performing schools in the state. As an undocumented student, Monica was at the forefront of laying the foundation for Colorado’s immigrant youth movement that was instrumental in winning in-state tuition for undocumented students and DACA. Monica graduated from the University of Denver in 2008 with a B.A. in Sociology and Spanish. Moving through the leadership pipeline, she has continued her long trajectory with PJU, the place she refers to as her “political home.” Trained in transformative organizing, she currently serves as PJU’s Organizing Director. In this role, she is responsible for politicizing and training the next generation of community organizers fighting for economic and racial justice in Colorado and beyond. In her free time, Monica enjoys reading, writing, interior home design and spending time with loved ones.
“Creating a space with my fellow peers to reimagine what is possible and what we can achieve if we truly unleash our individual and collective power. And in doing so, gaining the skills and tools critical to advance our long-term vision for movement building necessary to win BIG things for our community.“