Monika began her career with CAL FIRE in August 2004 as an Office Assistant for the Financial Assistance Support Team (FAST) Unit. In September 2005 she accepted a Staff Services Analyst position in the Office of Legislation, where she was responsible for all legislation pertaining to Resource Management. She continued in that position until May 2008, at which time she went to work for the Office of Emergency Services. There she worked in the Office’s Safety Assessment Program, which trains and certifies architects, building inspectors, and engineers to assess buildings after a disaster. She returned to CAL FIRE’s Office of Legislation in February 2009 as an Associate Governmental Program Analyst and was responsible for all legislation pertaining to Fire Protection. Monika served as the Acting Chief of Legislation from June 2010 to November 2011, and she officially promoted to the position in April 2013. She has served as a member of CAL FIRE’s Leadership Level I Training Cadre since January 2020.

Prior to working for CAL FIRE, Monika was a Student Assistant for the Department of Rehabilitation for four years in their Statistical Analysis Unit. She graduated from California State University, Sacramento (CSUS), in May 2004 with a Bachelor of Arts in English and a Minor in Business Administration, and earned a Master of Arts in English from CSUS in December 2007.