Ella Ochoa: From the Fields of Texas to the Frontlines of Farmworker Justice
For Ella Ochoa, the rows of crops stretching across South Texas were both classroom and crucible. By age four, she was already working alongside her migrant parents, stooping under the sun to pick vegetables for hours each day. Those early years of labor shaped her understanding of sacrifice, inequity, and resilience, lessons she would later turn into a lifetime of advocacy.
Born in 1945, Ochoa’s childhood mirrored that of countless migrant families: constant movement, little schooling, and hard labor. But her determination to change her circumstances was unwavering. Earning her GED became her first act of rebellion against limitation and the foundation for a lifetime of empowerment. “Education is the key for the people we work with,” she would later say. “We help them get their GEDs and show them there is something more out there.”
In 1979, she co-founded the Nebraska Association of Farmworkers (NAF) and served as its first executive director. Under her leadership, the organization expanded into NAF Multicultural Human Development Corporation, operating in cities across Nebraska, from Scottsbluff to Omaha, and offering health, education, financial, and social support to farmworkers, minorities, and low-income families. For more than three decades, Ochoa and her team opened pathways beyond the fields, proving that dignity and opportunity could coexist.
Her work drew national recognition. In 1997, she received the Ohtli Award, the Mexican government’s highest honor for a civilian living abroad, for her decades of service to Mexican and Latino communities. The Nebraska Commission on the Status of Women named her a Woman of Distinction in 2001, and in 2006, she received a Lifetime Achievement Award from MAFO, a national partnership of farmworker and rural organizations.
During President Bill Clinton’s administration, Ochoa was invited to join a U.S. delegation to Bolivia, bringing her experience as a farmworker and advocate to an international stage.
In 2000, when she was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis, Ochoa transformed yet again, this time into an advocate for the rights of people with disabilities. Even as her health declined, her conviction deepened. She continued advising state committees like the Minority Health Advisory Committee for Nebraska’s Department of Health and Human Services, ensuring that marginalized voices remained heard.
Ella Ochoa passed away in May 2023 in Omaha, leaving behind a legacy rooted in compassion and courage.
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