Ella Ochoa | |
|---|---|
 Ella Ochoa during her "50 in 52" Journey interview. | |
| Born | Laredo, Texas |
| Known for | NAF Multicultural Human Development Corporation |
| Movement | Advocate for migrant workers in Nebraska |
Ella Ochoa founded the Nebraska Association of Farmworkers (NAF) in 1979 and operated it until it closed in 2011. She is also an advocate for the rights of disabled individuals.
Ella Ochoa was born in Laredo in 1945 and raised in Cotulla, Texas. [1] She was dedicated to her family, exceptionally so when she lost her mother and later her father at a young age. While education was a top priority she eventually left her schooling to take on many jobs to support her family. She worked as a migrant farmworker across Texas, North Dakota, and Minnesota.
In 1979, Ochoa co-founded the Nebraska Association of Farmworkers and became its executive director. The organization became the NAF Multicultural Human Development Corporation with advocacy missions for physical, financial, social and educational well-being of seasonal farmworkers, minorities and other disadvantaged persons. [2] She also was a member of the Farmworker Justice Fund Inc between 1995 and 2003. [3]
In 2000, Ochoa was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis and began to advocate for the rights of the disabled. [4] In 2011, she was a volunteer with the Minority Health Advisory Committee for the Nebraska Department of Health and Human Services. [5]
Ella Ochoa passed away on May 5, 2023 surrounded by family after a long hard-fought battle with cancer. She is survived by her husband Aurelio Ochoa, her 3 adults sons, and 4 adult grandchildren.
The NAF was an organization headquartered in Nebraska with locations in Scottsbluff, North Platte, Grand Island, Lincoln, and Omaha. While operating from 1979-2011, it offered many benefits to immigrant workers and helped to meet educational, developmental, and social needs. [6]
Ella Ochoa received The Ohtli Award in 1997, which is one of the highest awards given by the Mexican government to the Mexican community abroad. [7] She also received the Nebraska commission of the status of women “Women of the Year”.[ citation needed ][ when? ] In 2005, she received the Cesar Estrada Chavez Award. [8] In 2012, she received the MAFO Lifetime Achievement Award. [4]
The Oxnard strike of 1903 was a labor rights dispute in the southern California coastal city of Oxnard between local landowners and the majority Japanese and Mexican labor force.
Dolores Clara Fernández Huerta is an American labor leader and civil rights activist who, with Cesar Chavez, is a co-founder of the National Farmworkers Association, which later merged with the Agricultural Workers Organizing Committee to become the United Farm Workers (UFW). Huerta helped organize the Delano grape strike in 1965 in California and was the lead negotiator in the workers' contract that was created after the strike.
Tomás Rivera was a Mexican American author, poet, and educator. He was born in Texas to migrant farm workers, and worked in the fields as a young boy. However, he achieved social mobility through education—earning a degree at Southwest Texas State University, and later a Doctor of Philosophy degree (PhD) at the University of Oklahoma—and came to believe strongly in the virtues of education for Mexican-Americans.
Shelley Davis was an American attorney and activist best known for her advocacy of rights and better working conditions for farm workers, particularly child, migrant and seasonal laborers.
The Harvest of Hope Foundation is a 501(c)(3) non-profit foundation which provides emergency and educational financial relief to migrant farmworkers and their families. Federal, state and other public aid to migrant farmworkers has become increasingly restrictive, and in many cases, not available at all. The goal of the Harvest of Hope Foundation is to fill in the gaps in service to this most hard-working and deserving, yet needy group of laborers.
The Platte Institute for Economic Research is a free market advocacy group and think tank headquartered in Omaha, Nebraska. The group is conservative.
Librada Paz is a Mexican-American activist for the rights of farmworkers.
Sister Evelyn Mattern, a Catholic religious sister, was active in social justice movements in North Carolina from the 1970s until her death in 2003. She was concerned with farmworker's rights, gender equality, and environmental issues. She was known for her life of prayer, contemplation, activism, and protest. Additionally, Sister Evelyn authored books on women mystics, the beatitudes, and the lives of women in ministry.
Nancy “Rusty” Barceló is the former president of Northern New Mexico College, she is a leading figure with National Initiative for Women in Higher Education (NIWHE). She has chaired Mujeres Activas en Letras y Cambio Social (MALCS) as well as the Washington State Native American Advisory Board (NAAB). In 2004, Barceló was awarded the Ohtli award, which is a special recognition presented by the Mexican government to Mexicans or Latinos whose work has benefited Mexicans living abroad. In addition, Barcelo was a University of Iowa alum who also held positions at the University of Iowa and later at the University of Minnesota, as well as the University of Washington.
Xochitl Castaneda is the Founding Director of the Health Initiative of the Americas (HIA) at the School of Public Health, University of California (UC) Berkeley.
Migrant Clinicians Network (MCN) is a non-profit organization dedicated to health justice for the mobile poor and the creation of practical solutions at the intersection of vulnerability, migration, and health. It is headquartered in Austin, Texas with supporting offices in California, Maryland, and Puerto Rico. MCN engages in research, develops tools and resources, and advocates for migrants and underserved populations and the clinicians who serve them. MCN's goal is to improve health care for migrants by providing support, technical assistance, and professional development to clinicians at Federally Qualified Health Centers and other health care delivery sites, in order to ensure “quality health care that increases access and reduces disparities.” In 2019, MCN accounted for over 31,000 technical assistance encounters, 267 health center site visits, and 1,069 trained clinicians. MCN has 53 full-time and part-time staff members, with many of them being bilingual. MCN is featured as a Top Rated Non-Profit based on user reviews at Great Nonprofits as of 2021.
Marylou Olivarez Mason is a former American civil servant of Hispanic descent.
Blanca Alvarado is an American social activist and former politician. She was the first Latina elected to San Jose City Council and the Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors and the first Latina to serve as the board's chairperson.
Mónica Ramírez is an American activist, author, civil rights attorney, entrepreneur, and public speaker. She has been engaged in service and advocacy on behalf of farmworkers, Latinas and immigrant women.
Lupe Martinez is an American labor leader and civil rights activist who has spent an entire career advocating for the living and working conditions of migrant and seasonal farm workers.
Maria Guajardo Lucero is an American educator and advocate for children and the Latino community. Born to illiterate Mexican migrant workers in California, she earned her undergraduate degree in psychology and social relations at Harvard University and her master's degree and doctorate in clinical psychology at the University of Denver. From 1988 to 2013, she worked in several state and national government-level positions to increase opportunities for low-income children and Latinos, and served as executive director of the Latin American Research and Service Agency. In 2013 she moved to Tokyo, Japan, to develop a new degree program in international liberal arts at Sōka University. She served as dean of the program from 2013 to 2016, when she was promoted to vice president of the university (2016-2020). She is the recipient of numerous honors and awards, and was inducted into the Colorado Women's Hall of Fame in 2010.
Ann Aurelia López is an environmental studies scholar and a team member of the Society for the Advancement of Chicanos/Hispanics and Native Americans in Science. López is also the founder and executive director of the non-profit Center for Farmworker Families.
Margarita Romo is an activist for immigrant farmworkers in Florida. She was inducted into the Florida Civil Rights Hall of Fame in 2013.
Mily Treviño-Sauceda is an American writer, trade unionist and leader of the National Alliance of Farmworker Women, a nonprofit organization advocating for the safety and rights of women laborers in agriculture. She is celebrated as a founder of the women's farmworker movement in the United States. She was recognized twice by People magazine in 2006, and in 2018, Treviño-Sauceda was co-awarded the Smithsonian Institution's American Ingenuity Award for Social Progress.
Niria Alicia Garcia is a Xicana environmental activist, human rights advocate, and educator. She is an organizer involved with indigenous-led species restoration efforts in California's Sacramento River watershed.