Brenda Montaño is Xicana-Indigena from California. Her ancestors come from what is today southern California and Jalisco, Mexico. She was raised in the Inland Empire but has deep roots in both the Bay Area and Northern California.

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Brenda's work is grounded in Xicanisma, Reproductive Justice, Traditional Mexican Medicine, Indigenous wisdom, environmentalism and grassroots organizing. She has always recognized the power of the written and spoken word and now, as a mother, has been enlightened by the magic of birth. 

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Brenda received her BA in Raza Studies and Journalism from San Francisco State University. Her schooling connected her to community organizations, such as the Freedom Archives and the SF Day Laborer Program and Women's Collective; as well as publications like El Tecolote and Cipactli. In 2013 she started Zines Rasquache with her first two zines: East Oakland Tierra de Lucha y Limones and Xicanistas y Punkeristas: Say it Loud! Her collection has now expanded to the Zines with Sol Distro. Her work has been shared with people from around the world.

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In 2016 she completed a full spectrum doula training with Roots of Labor Birth Collective. In 2017 she completed a placenta encapsulation training, co-organized a POC doula training with Elena Aurora in Southern California which then gave life to the Inland Empire Birth Workers of Color Collective. In 2020, she interned and completed a full-spectrum doula training with Sumi's Touch. In 2021, she completed her training as Lactation Educator with BreastFeedLA and is a qualified candidate to become an International Breastfeeding Certified Lactation Counselor. She is currently administrative assistant for Corazon Counseling.

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Outside of media making and birth work, Brenda loves spending time outside with her plantitas, familia and ancestor trees, laughing with her community, and learning new, necessary, self sustaining skills in preparation for the (r)evolution.

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Follow her on Instagram to get a further glimpse into her daily life @zineswithsol