
About Monica
I've been a storyteller for as long as I can remember. As a kid, I used to get a kick out of spotting typos on billboards and would spend hours at the library devouring Highlights Magazine or playing dozens of rounds of Scrabble with my beloved dada. Somehow words quickly became my canvas and a powerful tool to share untold stories. I was able to better see and understand the world around me through the written word.
In my past life, I worked as a journalist, editor, and digital producer for various online, hyperlocal, and national news outlets and higher education institutions. I previously worked as a digital producer for two seasons of the Emmy-award winning television show, "SoCal Connected" on KCET and a web journalist and contributor for NBC News, producing original reported news and feature web stories and on-camera Instagram Stories covering the Asian American Pacific Islander community on a national scale.
My bylines have appeared as press releases and original reported articles for NBC News, VICE (Broadly and Tonic), Southern California Public Radio, KCET, OC Weekly, LA Weekly, HelloGiggles, Yahoo News!, The Aerogram, India-West, Louisiana Weekly, Alhambra Source, New America Media, University of California, Irvine, USC Chan Division of Occupational Science and Occupational Therapy.
The stories I've reported have connected me to inspiring, resilient people. I've interviewed organizations and courageous individuals who are working to combat human trafficking and recruit more foster parents to fill culture and language needs. I will never forget the faces I've met a long the way, or the stories that either broke my heart into a million pieces or gave me hope.
I will never forget the grieving mother who lost her son to a senseless drive-by shooting, the aspiring young childhood photographer who never let cancer define him; the nursing survivor who survived a mass shooting, or the fierce determination of a 14-year-old girl in Seattle who launched a petition at her middle school to make tampons and sanitary supplies free and available in all restrooms on campus.
There are so many stories yet to tell. I will always consider myself to be a storyteller and an educator. I am passionate about writing, teaching and empowering our youth.