Born and raised in Oakland, California, Monica left the Bay Area to pursue her bachelor’s degree in Marketing and Economics at Loyola University Chicago. What was meant to be a temporary adventure turned into more than a decade in the Windy City, where she braved sub-zero winters and built a career rooted in education and impact.
Monica began her professional journey as a marketing specialist in the mortgage lending and automotive industries before joining World Book Inc., a legacy publisher specializing in non-fiction print and digital content for K–12 schools and public libraries worldwide. There, she spent over five years managing the international sales division, expanding educational resources across the globe. Her volunteer work as a mentor in Chicago’s public school system deepened her commitment to creating pathways to higher education for students from low-income communities – a mission that ultimately led her to Greenhouse Scholars.
In 2023, Monica returned to her home state, settling in Los Angeles to help lead Greenhouse’s Whole Person College Program from the west coast. Today, she combines her marketing expertise, global perspective, and passion for education to help identify and support the next generation of change makers.
Outside of work, she enjoys traveling to explore world cultures, reading novels, singing along to Broadway musicals, and binge-watching documentaries.