Moniquie Ruiz
Veterans Liaison
Texas Department of Family and Protective Services
Monique Ruiz is the Military Liaison and a member of the Senior Business Partners Group with the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services (DFPS) Human Resources (HR) Office, responsible for the administration, development, and coordination of the DFPS MilVets program. She also serves as the human resources primary point of contact to provide guidance and consultation on HR-related matters regarding veterans, service members and their family members.
Her career with DFPS began in July 2019 while serving in the Texas Army National Guard (TXARNG). She retired as an Adjutant General officer (Major) in August 2022 after more than 20 years in the TXARNG. Monique credits the military for providing her with the human resources background as a junior Soldier and then as an officer, which gave her the opportunity to compete for her position with DFPS.
Her work extends beyond DFPS to include multiple partnerships with military transition offices and veteran/military service organizations that provide services and programs to the military community. Monique is the DFPS representative on the Texas Veterans Commission Coordinating Council for Veterans Services and its working groups to coordinate state agency activities and outreach efforts, and to facilitate collaborative relationships among state, federal, and local agencies and private organizations to identify and address issues affecting the military community.
Due to her innovative approaches, Monique has earned DFPS multiple awards and recognitions such as semi-finalist for the 2021 Secretary of Defense Employer Support Freedom Award, and the 2022 Disabled American Veterans Large Employer of the Year Award with special recognition for excellence in career building.
Monique is a graduate of St. Mary’s University – San Antonio with a masters in Marriage and Family Therapy and an undergraduate degree from Texas A&M University – Corpus Christi in Psychology. She lives in Central Texas and enjoys water activities, traveling, weight training and dancing.