Meet Stephanie Monge

Today we’d like to introduce you to Stephanie Monge.

Stephanie, let’s start with your story. We’d love to hear how you got started and how the journey has been so far.
I grew up in a multi-ethnic, multi-cultural, Spanish speaking conservative home in Grand Island, Nebraska. Being a first-generation daughter of hard-working immigrants, I became a natural resilient worker and developed the hustle mindset as long as I can remember. Some of my favorite memories growing up were going to work every summer with my parents picking corn, onions, and just playing with all the farm animals. With my innocent view on life, I didn’t question the work or the kind of poverty my family and I were really going through. My parents worked hard to provide and shelter me, and my six (I was number five, with a HUGE age gap) older and younger siblings. Nebraska was very limited and full of racism/discrimination. To say the least, it was not the best place to break any generational traumas or break out of poverty. All I knew were rice, beans, some form of meat, local TV with no signal at times (thanks tornadoes) and my treehouse my dad built for me to keep myself entertained. Honestly, I am not ashamed of how I grew up. It has kept me humble and full of gratitude when I am blessed with abundance.

Myself my parents and two younger twin siblings moved to Colorado when I was about 11 years old. My dad got a better job that eventually moved him on up to a district sales manager here in Colorado. My parents divorced, and my entire life changed. Going from a stable home life to massive and rapid changes was a tough experience for me. Being the oldest at home, and again, a very LatinX home came with so much responsibility for a middle school tween to go through. Let’s just say I matured faster than most because of said home life and responsibility. I realized I have a natural way of nurturing others and am extremely compassionate. This sparked a lot of interest in choosing what career I wanted to pursue.

When I graduated from Gateway High School in 2012, Dentistry was my focus. I tried that out, then felt incredibly unfulfilled. It was too routine for me, and I wanted to experience something new every day. I put together my interests and hobbies to get some kind of degree in order to break that stigma society has against children of immigrants and Latinas; I like to travel, I love my culture, I love talking about health (since I have been through my own journey of decolonizing my mindset of health) and my humanitarian mindset is what kept me afloat. I graduated collectively from CU Boulder/Denver with a Bachelor of Science Degree in International Studies with a zone emphasis in Latin America and a focus theme of Global Development and Health Studies plus a minor in Public Health. I really love school and take every opportunity to geek out on my degrees.

That has all brought me to today, with my 5+ year experience with community engagement, advocacy, immigrant/migrant empowerment, 1st generation student empowerment, bi-lingual literacy, mentorship, and committee membership with the Department of Education. My passion and drive all stem from what I would’ve loved to partake in during my youth. I always strive to find work that feeds my passion and fuels my soul. Currently, I coordinate a school health based project that caters to low income, POC, marginalized communities, and continue my work with advocating for agricultural farmworkers rights. Creatively, I co-founded, co-created, co-host and co-produce “The Blatino Podcast”. I consider this podcast my creative baby and my safe space. I have seen how it’s reaching my community in ways that I never thought it would, and that has always been my vision.

Has it been a smooth road?
Smooth roads are never the expectation when doing the work as an individual that society wants so bad to fail. As a woman of color, there are a lot of challenges in trying to become an advocate for your own community, and also enabling that self-advocacy and love. Knowing your worth and what talents you possess, plus being open to trusting those talents in leading you, is a big bump on the road to get over. If it wasn’t financed, it was time, and if it wasn’t time, it was self-doubt, and if it wasn’t self-doubt, it was major imposter syndrome, if it wasn’t imposter syndrome, it was lack of support. Lots of healing/breaking those generational traumas within myself and family, and massive acceptance of my calling have all contributed to making the road a bit smoother. Nonetheless, I know in my heart that I needed to go through those bumps on the road in order to get here. I am now where I said I would be five years ago, it was all worth it.

We’d love to hear more about your work.
First, I am originally known as “Miss Monge” with my previous students. I taught middle school history, ESL, and health. The school I was working at the time was a Title 1 Part C School, so in reality, because of funding, I ended up teaching all subjects collectively. These kids are amazing human beings. They taught me so much about myself and who I am as a person. They forever have a place in my heart. This sparked a lot of my passion for community and student/parent empowerment.

After teaching for three years, I moved onto work for a Title 1 Part C Program in the Aurora Public Schools District called Migrant Education Program. I identity, recruit, advocate, and provide supplemental services for agricultural and industrial farmworkers and, more specifically, their children who are in school. I was also a part of this program when I was living in Nebraska. So entering this program as an adult who helps agri-workers as me and my parents once were, it’s such a humble opportunity. Being a migrant student has its own unique challenges like missing vital class time because you and your family had to move to another state to seek work that was in season. I am in touch with these families and empower them to be a voice in their children’s education. This program was founded by Cesar Chavez and Dolores Huerta collectively and has been around since the farmworker rights/strikes in the ’60s. To say that it’s just another program that helps folks is an understatement. It’s a movement that is sustained by our farmworker community.

I recently took on another career dream and goal I have had for a long time now. I am a state project coordinator for a school health-based program! Action for Healthy Kids is a community outreach/engagement program that empowers parents to become those voices in advocacy for their children’s school-based health needs. I love how the program is actively listening and caters the program to what diverse groups need in regard to physical, mental, and emotional health. Coordinating this project in the entire state is a dream come true. I am so excited to see this program flourish and impact our community. We are in collaboration with the Colorado Health Foundation which makes this all the more exciting! Stay Tuned!

The Blatino Podcast is my street cred. I like to say it is at least! It’s something I started with two friends in order to hold space for all conversations about race, society, culture, etc. As I mentioned before, growing up in a multi-ethnic/cultural, mono-lingual, LatinX/Hispanic, 1st generation, conservative home (whew) had it’s a unique perspective. What started as me just sharing my experience has turned into what many have reached out to me and expressing how much they relate. This year we partnered with Lance Mijares from Turnt Up Tv and have been gaining a new following and audience. It has been the best decision we made for the podcast. Lance, Riaga (check out his music) and I have the best chemistry and I can’t imagine another trio to spread the cultural word to Denver! This podcast has reached many different folx from all backgrounds and we have had the most amazing guests join us too! It’s so exciting to see how far this podcast will go, which I believe and see it going very far.

Is our city a good place to do what you do?
I actually do! I think Denver is turning into a go-to center for community engagement and empowerment. The city is becoming more and more diverse every year, and there are always opportunities for work if you want to get started in community work and project engagement. In fact, the project I am coordinating now had Denver on their list. So many other projects and companies have Denver on their list. You never know when the next opportunity will show up. Riaga (local artist, a co-host on TBP) always tells me that Denver is a training camp, and I couldn’t agree more. By putting myself out there and seeking the work I wanted to focus on, I really have learned so much and flourished in an industry that is very accessible here. I do recommend that you don’t stop in Denver, spread your talents all over in other states if you have the chance.

Community work, engagement, advocacy, and project coordination is something you can find anywhere. However, if you really want to get deep into it and really explore who you are as a community outreach coordinator/compassionate service individual, Denver is phase number one. Make all the mistakes here, learn from them, network, associate and surround yourself with those who are under the same mindset as you, and you will be in the position you want to be in no time! At the end of the day, you make and define yourself by what you do, say, think, and focus on. Passionately driven individuals are all over Denver but trust me, you’re always going to offer something unique from the rest. Don’t let anyone dim your light.

Contact Info:

• Email: stephanielmonge@gmail.com
• Instagram: stephsouture
• Facebook: The Blatino Podcast

Image Credit:
Nine Denies

Suggest a story: VoyageDenver is built on recommendations from the community; it’s how we uncover hidden gems, so if you or someone you know deserves recognition please let us know here.