Monarca Movement is a capacity-building partnership supporting organizations to authentically engage community, build power, and transform systems. Monarca’s offerings include popular education workshops, strategic meeting facilitation, impact campaigns, community engagement trainings, and other consultations.
The Monarca Movement team also specializes in themes including environmental justice, democracy, immigration, education, youth leadership, and housing.
Meet the Team
Melody Arteaga
Melody Arteaga was born and raised in Southern California, in the Inland Empire region, surrounded by warehouses and polluting projects that impacted her family’s health. In pursuit of education and new opportunities, she moved to Minnesota to attend Macalester College. Through her experiences as an educator for environmental justice, youth mentor, and facilitator, Melody has seen firsthand the power of community in changing systems and creating equitable changes.
She firmly believes that we must organize to demand knowledge about the underlying systems affecting day-to-day life. Melody works alongside environmental justice organizations to make change in Minnesota, across the Midwest, nationally and internationally.
Melody is a recipient of the Minnesota Climate Adaptation Partnership (MCAP) 2025 Climate Justice Leadership Award.
Ryan Perez
Ryan Perez is a Chicago-born, Minnesota-based facilitator and political strategist. After enrolling at Macalester College in Saint Paul, Ryan began his political career in the Twin Cities, managing three winning electoral campaigns and directing high-impact community organizing teams. He played a prominent role organizing to defend immigrant rights across the Midwest while developing groundbreaking democracy and civil rights training initiatives.
Throughout his career, Ryan has played pivotal roles in state and national movements for democracy, housing justice, and immigrant rights; he has been a voice for narrative change, contributing to media outlets including CNN, NPR, and Minnesota-based networks. For Ryan, inclusive politics and policymaking can be vehicles to build a better life for all people.