ABOUT US
Familia Solutions was founded in 2020 by two Latina immigrant women out of a need for families and communities to address the growing inequities and lack of culturally relevant resources impacting Latinos. Led by Javiera Monardez, her expertise in medicine, public health, community health promotion, Adolescent development, positive parenting, nutrition, and sexual health education, is a cornerstone to Familia’s services, providing workshops, programs, and curriculum that bring visibility and solutions to many of the roadblocks confronting Latinix families & individuals at pivotal times in their development.
Through a network of experts, Familia Solutions works with community organizations like Schools, Community Centers, Clinics & Health Systems, and City & County governments, to provide expertise, education, and scale to their initiatives and programs.
If you want to learn more, please contact us.
Javiera (Javi) Monardez Popelka
Javi’s heart and passion has always been about promoting community wellbeing. After 5 years working as a primary care physician in Chile, she realized that there is more into healthy individuals and communities than what it’s offered within the doctor’s office. That is why she became a health coach, and later pursued a Master in Public Health and Community Health Promotion. As she gained deeper understanding of the impact of socioeconomic determinants of health, she was able to provide families with holistic tools to be healthier and prevent future health issues.
Javi has a passion for working with adolescents, and providing them and their families with what they need to thrive and grow up healthy. Javi sees youth as gifts and capable of changing the world for the better. She has tenaciously dedicated her life to promote healthy youth development and support caregivers while they navigate challenging systems and advocate for their families.
Javi is a mom of two bicultural young children. She and her partner live first hand what it means to raise children in a culture that is different to how they grew up. Her own experience as an immigrant, combined with her will to help families to thrive have set the bases of Familia Solutions.
Javi’s empathy, enthusiasm, commitment, and passion translate into effective solutions. Her team involves leaders in parenting education, school counseling, community education, and teens education.
Abigail (Abi) Gadea
Abi is a social justice and youth advocate at heart. She is originally from Uruguay, and moved with her partner to Minnesota almost two decades ago. She’s a mom of two curious and active kids. Abi completed her graduate studies at the University of MN and obtained a dual master’s degree in social work and public policy in 2008. She continued her journey at the University of MN as an employee for 13 years.
There, she gained progressive leadership experience and thrived at supporting public health, educational, and justice systems through technical assistance, capacity building, and evaluation. She served as Deputy Director at the University of MN – Prevention Research Center, where focused on fostering partnerships with the community, nonprofit and public sector agencies while managing the Center’s general operations. She also specialized in talent development, training, and relational coaching for government and nonprofit agencies.
She has advanced equity and diversity leadership training and direct experience working with underrepresented and underserved communities in Minnesota. In her free time, Abi enjoys playing with her kids, volunteering, running, reading, and brewing kombucha.
Rocío Peralta
Rocío was born and raised in Guatemala City, Guatemala and had a career there as an architect and community development consultant before moving to the United States in 2009. After pursuing advanced degrees in environmental studies in Guatemala and Spain, she worked with disadvantaged communities, primarily indigenous and women’s groups, on a range of issues including community development planning, protected area management, prevention and management of natural disasters, and women’s rights.
Since moving to the United States in 2009, Rocío has specialized in providing bilingual outreach services to the non-profit and education sectors. She has performed recruitment, accompaniment, case work and program coordination at community colleges and a range of non-profit organizations in the Midwest. Rocio has spent the last decade working on behalf of families experiencing domestic violence. in 2020, she joined an organization in Illinois called The Immigration Project as part of the Direct Relief Team providing financial assistance to immigrants affected by the pandemic.
Cristi Carretero
Cristi is a deep listener, thoughtful team member, and relentless fighter for more just, caring, and safe communities.
She’s originally from Mexico and immigrated to Minnesota with her mom and sisters nearly two decades ago. Cristi completed her undergraduate education at Carleton College in Northfield, MN with a Bachelor’s Degree in Economics. While at Carleton, Cristi was a Teaching Assistant for the Spanish Department and ran Cross Country and Track & Field.
Cristi is driven by equity and empathy and she is a steadfast advocate for underrepresented and underserved communities. She is committed to connecting people to the resources they need to live and thrive. Cristi currently works with a small non-profit focused on supporting survivors of intimate partner violence. In previous professional roles, she has been involved in dispersing COVID-19 recovery funds to small businesses and supporting people seeking asylum in the US. She also volunteers in her community, including accompanying people in the LGBTQ+ community to their health appointments and delivering free CSA boxes to BIPOC community members.
She loves to run, play with animals, and chat with friends over a cup of coffee. She’s very excited to be part of the Familia Solutions team!
Kjersti Olson
Kjersti Olson, Ph.D. is a passionate developmental scientist seeking to advance policy, research, and practice that meaningfully addresses violence and disparities in the lives of children, youth, and families. She is a Sr. Program Officer for Program Design & Innovation at the National CASA/GAL Association for Children where she leads a portfolio of programs utilized by the 100,000 staff and volunteers in its network of 940 member programs. Prior to joining the organization, she was the Senior Policy Analyst at the U.S. State Department, Office of Children’s Issues focusing on international child protection, implementation of the Hague Convention on the Protection of Children and Intercountry Adoption and preventing illicit practices in international child welfare. Her exemplary performance safeguarding vulnerable populations was recognized by the United States Department of State with the Meritorious Honor Award on three occasions and the Superior Honor Award twice.
At the University of Minnesota’s Extension Center for Family Development, she led prevention program design and implementation for court mandated and coparenting programs for diverse audiences. As Director of International Programs at Children’s Home Society & Family Services, she directed 450 staff in 17 countries focused on permanency and social protection programs. Her portfolio of programs included rural education, water projects, maternal and child health, family strengthening, women’s small business development, and social support and training for youth aging out of institutional care. Kjersti has held major gift fundraising leadership positions at the Science Museum of Minnesota and the University of Minnesota Foundation where she helped raise over $20 million.
Kjersti started her career in advertising as an Account Executive at Rada Advertising before relocating to Universidad Nur in Santa Cruz de la Sierra, Bolivia where she coordinated their advertising, public relations, and donor relations efforts. She holds a bachelor’s degree from the University of Minnesota where she studied journalism and earned both a master’s and a doctorate in Curriculum & Instruction, specializing in prevention and intervention programs for Families, Children, and Communities experiencing adversity. She is fluent in Spanish.
Marianela Díaz
Marianela Diaz is a psychologist from Venezuela, with a Master in Human Resources. She works as the bilingual family coordinator at a school district in Illinois. Marianela is committed to empowering families through effective communication and through ensuring they have equitable access to their children’s education. She thrives on building strong relationships and creating a supportive environment where every family feels valued and understood. Marianela brings 9 years of experience in bridging cultural gaps and ensuring families receive the services they need. She has successfully coordinated bilingual programs at McLean County Unit5, where she facilitated seamless communication between Spanish speaking families and schools.
Fanny Fernández
Fanny Fernandez has been supporting multicultural communities for over ten years, helping families, mothers, and individuals access resources and mental health support. As the founder of Infinite Prema and Embracing Community Balance, she leads projects that provide emotional, spiritual, cultural, and wellbeing resources to diverse communities.
Fanny has extensive experience in mental health, cultural healing circles, holistic practices, prenatal and postpartum education, lactation support, and disability and autism education.
Fanny’s dedication to serving others is deeply rooted in cultural wisdom and ancestral teachings. Her daily life reflects her commitment to learning from the diverse traditions and experiences of each person she meets.