Monserrat Padilla has been organizing LGBTQ, immigrant and communities of color on the ground for over ten years to build collective movement power. She was a co-founder of the Washington Dream Coalition and has led national and statewide campaigns, including the victory on the Washington State Dream Act to expand eligibility for state aid in higher education to undocumented students.
Monserrat worked as the National Program Coordinator for the Queer Undocumented Immigrant Project, a program of United We Dream, where she worked across the country building a national network of LGBTQ immigrant community leaders, advocates, and organizers to develop policies and advocate addressing the needs of LGBTQ immigrant communities. Now she is the statewide coordinator for the Washington Immigrant Solidarity Network, a powerful network of 100+ organizations fighting to protect immigrant and refugee communities in our state.
Monserrat was born in Jalisco, Mexico. At the age of 2, she migrated to the U.S. with her mother and two older siblings. She grew up in East Los Angeles, CA where she became part of the 11 million undocumented families living in the U.S. At the age of 15 she moved to Seattle, Washington, graduating from Chief Sealth International High School in 2010 and attending the University of Washington in Seattle.
The Washington Immigrant Solidarity Network is the largest immigrant-led coalition in the state and is a powerful network made up of over 100 organizational members. There are currently over 500 Rapid Response verifiers across the state to respond to ICE attacks. WAISN provides an ICE reporting hotline (1-844-724-3737), a text message alert system (text “JOIN” to 253-201-2833), and resources in multiple languages. WAISN’s mission is to protect and advance the power of immigrant and refugee communities through a multiracial, multilingual, and multi-faith coalition, an organizing strategy that educates and mobilizes statewide to uphold and defend the rights and dignity of all immigrants and refugees, centering the voices of impacted communities. You can find out more about WAISN online at www.waisn.org.