Meet The Team

Irma R. Muñoz is the Founder/President of Mujeres de la Tierra – a “culturally relevant” environmental equity non-profit focused on healing la Madre Tierra and redefining the traditional “green” dialogue. She has developed guidelines and approaches for effective community engagement through using creative tools including “platicas” resulting in impactful participation where members of the community are inspired to “lead” and “own” issues in their neighborhood.

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She believes that community engagement is about community listening. Listening
not just with our ears, but also with our eyes, head, and heart. For the past 11 years, she has served as a Governor’s appointee to the Los Angeles Regional Water Quality Control Board and is the City of Los Angeles
Mayor’s appointee to the Santa Monica Mountains Conservancy which provides the opportunity to also serve on the Mountains Recreation Conservation
Authority.

Wendy Sotelo is our Administration and Human Resources Manager. Born in Toluca, Mexico, Wendy was raised in Hollywood and returned to Mexico during her adolescence before settling and making Los Angeles her current home. Having worked as a Human Resources Professional for over 10 years, she has experience in bi-cultural environments in banking, manufacturing, and nonprofit organizations. She is a believer that the most important asset of an organization is its people. 

Wendy holds a B.A. in Anthropology with a minor in Sustainability from California State University Northridge. She considers herself an environmentalist and thrives in helping others. Joining Mujeres de la Tierra is a pivotal point in her career and life. 

Sujei Milagros Alston is our Community Engagement Coordinator. She was born in Michoacan, Mexico, and was raised in East Los Angeles. She graduated from La Verne University with a B.A. in Business Administration. She comes with experience in nonprofits, environmental justice, and community work. She also has a lot of experience facilitating workshops for youth empowerment. 

She is excited to share her passion for youth development and fighting for social justice with the Mujeres de la Tierra community. She believes that the youth are our future and that “Every Mujer has a goddess within.”  Also, has experience working with Indigenous communities. Milagros also began Danza Azteca at an early age and continues to share her culture with nearby communities.

Briseida Pineda is our Vista Volunteer Coordinator. Briseida hopes to gain further experience working in the non-profit field, which will significantly impact her career future and open doors for her to work toward social justice and social change. Currently, she is a senior at the California State University of Dominguez Hills majoring in Sociology. Her life goal has always been to give back to her community. She believes Mujeres de la Tierra will help her achieve her goal. 

Jocelyne Flores is our VISTA Community Organizer. They are a non-binary, queer creative/writer who was born and raised in East Los Angeles. They have done a variety of projects such as mental health conversations with young women in their community to advocate for the LGBTQ+ community in their city. They are enrolled at Los Angeles Pacific University in hopes of earning their BA in Liberal Arts with a focus on education. Their goal for Mujeres De La Tierra is to continue advocating for the communities that they have been a part of and further educating themselves on community organizing. 

Rosa Bautista is our Chief Advisor & Executive Operations Manager. Rosa was born in Mexico and raised in East Los Angeles. She comes with 30 years of experience in the environmental education field. She has extensive experience in school and community greening by planting and caring for trees in areas like Watts, Compton, South East LA, and Sun Valley.

She wants to share with communities all open spaces around us and plant the "love of nature" in people's hearts. She embraces every community with “respect, amor y orgullo de la comunidad.” "Community building is relationship building. It needs care, respect, and time to grow and after it gets that, it can bloom beautifully and change the whole community."

Margarita Aguilar is our Senior Community Engagement Coordinator. She was
born in Nicaragua and grew up in Southern California. She has worked in the field of nonprofits during
her entire professional career. This includes five years of Family and Community Engagement
Coordination experience. Margarita has worked for many large nonprofit organizations in the Bay area
and throughout Los Angeles. She has a B.A. in Community Studies from the University of California,
Santa Cruz. Her experience combines providing children, youth, and families with resources and tools
that will help to create a healthy balance at home and in the communities, they live in.

Margarita believes that “Everyone deserves, Healthy, Safe, and Beautiful neighborhoods and
communities to enjoy and thrive, no matter what social or economic level.” She also believes that
having a connection to Nature, Music, and Art balances many of the daily stressors we encounter.
Margarita is very excited to be an integral member of Mujeres de la Tierra and is ready to support all of
the projects Mujeres is leading.

Jennifer Ascencio is our Community Engagement Coordinator. She was born and raised in the Mid City neighborhood of Los Angeles. She has always loved helping others as well as la Madre Tierra and believes everything is interconnected. She has a degree in Environmental Science & Policy and has worked in environmental education, community outreach and engagement, park planning, and environmental compliance. Her objective is to provide continuous support and empowerment to communities, particularly those that are similar to her own. With the power of Mujeres de la Tierra, she is prepared to take action, uplift, and heal the earth and all its inhabitants need. 

Christopher Ayala is our Operation Associate. He volunteered with Mujeres for three years before joining our team. Christopher hopes to pursue a career in Technical Theatre while attending Los Angeles Community College. He gained experience by leading our Telenovelas in the Park.