Steering Committee meets near Immokalee, Jan. 28-30, 2006

Meghan Cohorst (21, St. Petersburg, FL) is in her final year of undergraduate study and will graduate in May 2006 with degrees in International Studies and Spanish from Eckerd College, where she is also the Vice President of Amnesty International Chapter. Meghan's involvement with SFA began when she interned in Immokalee during the summer of 2004, later returning in January and February of 2005 to help with organizing the 2005 Taco Bell Truth Tour and assisting in other projects from afar. Her interests include Spanish language and music, traveling (especially in Latin America), and graphic design. Contact Meghan: meghan (at) sfalliance.org

Francisca Cortes (23, Immokalee, FL) is the youngest member of the staff of the Coalition of Immokalee Workers (CIW). She was elected to this position by the membership of the CIW as recognition for her commitment to pursuing social justice for all farmworkers. Francisca came to Immokalee from her native Oaxaca, Mexico to work in the fields alongside her father, in order to assist her family in paying for her younger brothers' and sisters' education. After experiencing firsthand the inhumane treatment and sub-poverty wages of farmworkers in the fields, Francisca decided to fight back and joined the CIW. During the recently resolved Taco Bell boycott, Francisca became somewhat of a spokesperson for the boycott, speaking at numerous venues, conferences, and protests across the country -- encouraging youth, students, religious, and labor allies to join the boycott and to ask for fair wages and fair treatment for farmworkers. She was most recently a finalist for the Cardinal Bernardin Award for Young Community Activists. Contact Francisca: francisica (at) ciw-online.org

Alexis Herrera (20, Austin, TX) is a queer Chicana activist from Texas. She is currently attending the University of Texas at Austin where she is an undergraduate in Mexican-American Studies. While in Austin she has been involved with Movimiento Estudiantil Chicano/a de Aztlan (MEChA), the Student Labor Action Project, The Youth Liberation Network and Austin Indymedia. While working with these organizations she became involved with the Coalition of Immokalee Workers and the Student/Farmworker Alliance during the Taco Bell Boycott and has been connected with them ever since. Alexis enjoys using her design and photographic knowledge in a political manner and has been doing so for over 5 years. She is also currently a DJ and the Community Programming Director at 91.7fm KVRX, the student radio station at UT. Contact Alexis: alexis (at) sfalliance.org

Luis Fernando (25, DC-MD-VA area) has been working with different social justice movements since his early twenties. He first work that he was involved with was the issues of the tomato pickers in Southwest Florida. While in school, he gave speeches to inform people of the struggles in Immokalee and the surrounding areas. Later, he became involved with Fair Trade issues. He began selling products in his neighborhood from co-ops in Chiapas, Mexico. He now volunteers his time with organizations that are involved with gang intervention work as well as empowerment of the youth in the DC-MD-VA area. Contact Luis: luis (at) sfalliance.org

My name is Guadalupe Gomez (20, South Bend, IN) and I'm a junior at the University of Notre Dame. I love my family. I'm Chicana or Mexican-American and proud of it. Currently, I am the Social Action Commissioner for MEChA de ND, on the Organizing Corps for the Campus Labor Action Project, I work at the Center for Social Concerns during the week and work performing with Mariachi Acero on the weekends. Other than that, dancing is my other passion. Contact Lupe: lupe (at) sfalliance.org

Angelo Moreno (22, Mt. Pleasant, MI) Angelo Moreno is a senior at Central Michigan University, where he studies Spanish and Latin American Studies. He has been a social activist since high school. Upon graduation, he looks forward to continued work organizing, with a focus on Latin American solidarity and the farmworker movement. Contact Angelo: angelo (at) sfalliance.org

Natasha Noriega-Goodwin (20, Costa Mesa, CA) lives in Southern California and works at the volunteer-run Centro Cultural de México in Santa Ana tackling alienation through popular art, or arte de pueblo. Natasha is mainly involved in the band/musical ensemble Son del Centro that plays the folkloric music of Veracruz, México and which is an entity under the umbrella of El Centro Cultural. This music, son jarocho, comes from a history of resisting assimilation, exploitation and hegemony in Veracruz, during the colonial era and to this day, similar to the New Song movement of the '60s against imperialism in Latin America. Aside from son jarocho music classes, Son del Centro engages in transnational collaboration with communities in other parts of CA, over in Veracruz and in Immokalee, Florida to work for social justice: utilizing the appeal of music, of art, as social action and to support it with rhythm. Early in the CIW's Taco Bell Boycott, El Centro Cultural de México (Son del Centro) was in solidarity. In the past year, the young members of Son del Centro have joined in on the specific campaigns of the Student Farmworker Alliance. Contact Natasha: natasha (at) sfalliance.org

Charlene Obernauer (17, Stony Brook, NY) is a student at Stony Brook University, where she is majoring in religious studies and anthropology. Charlene spends her time organizing justice-related events with an activist group on campus and working as a Peer Minister for Protestant Campus Ministries. In her free time, Charlene plays drums in an alternative rock band and writes poetry. Contact Charlene: humanrightssbu (at) aol.com

Brian Payne (31, Minneapolis, MN). After graduating from the University of Florida in 2000, Brian started working with a handful of students across the state of Florida to form the Student / Farmworker Alliance. From 2000-2004 he bounced in and out of Immokalee, coordinating student solidarity with the Coalition of Immokalee Workers. Currently Brian lives in Minneapolis and works with SEIU. Contact Brian: brianpayneyvp (at) gmail.com

Brent Perdue (22, Austin, TX) served two terms on the Campus Greens Board of Directors. During his tenure, he represented Campus Greens in the National Youth and Student Peace Coalition and United for Peace and Justice. Brent also served for two years in the University of Texas at Austin Student Government. He served as a member of the Presidential Student Advisory Committee, Liberal Arts Representative, and independent candidate for Student Government President. Brent is currently an active volunteer editor and producer at the community news outlet, the Austin Independent Media Center. Austin IMC maintains an online news site, trains and equips individuals and community groups with media skills and equipment, and assists in the production of local print, radio, and film media projects. Austin IMC helped chronicle the recent Taco Bell Truth Tour and produced a touring feature-length film about the Coalition's victory. Contact Brent: brent (at) sfalliance.org

Brie Phillips (22, Washington DC) Brie Phillips, of Russian Jewish decent, graduated from Central Michigan University in May or 2005. After working with her local Student/Farmworker Alliance chapter for 2 years, and participating in the 2004 Taco Bell Truth Tour, she came to Immokalee to work as an intern during the summer of 2004. She returned to Immokalee in Spring 2005 to take a short-term staff position for the SFA, where she remained until November of the same year. She is currently working for the Living Wage Action Coalition. Contact Brie: brie (at) sfalliance.org

Rolando Sales (26, Immokalee, FL) is originally from Huehuetenango, Guatemala. His native tongue is Mam and he coordinates much of the CIW's indigenous language radio programming and outreach. He joined the CIW staff at the beginning of 2005 after being a member for a few months. Rolando worked as a tomato picker and also as a construction workers before joining the staff. He participated in the 2005 Taco Bell Truth Tour where he gave numerous presentations about the campaign. Contact Rolando: rolando (at) ciw-online.org

Tiffany Ten Eyck (25, Detroit, MI) works as a writer and organizer for Labor Notes. Tiffany organized with the Student/Farmworker Alliance in Immokalee, Florida for a year, doing national tour organizing and outreach around the 2004 and 2005 Taco Bell Boycott actions. A former SEIU intern, anti-war agitator, and student labor activist, Tiffany is looking forward to working with the SFA steering committee on organizational structure and campaign strategy, among other things. Contact Tiffany: tiffany (at) labornotes.org

Candelario Vasquez (22, Tallahassee, FL), also known as "Cande", is a student at Florida State University earning his BA degree in English Literature with a minor in Communication Studies, December 2005.† As a child of a migrant parents, of Mexican descent, growing up in Immokalee Florida, his parents cultivated a great passion for social justice and dedication to community through appreciation of culture, history and diversity.† He witnessed first hand the injustices brought upon the farmworker community at a young age, through the death of his father to cancer from pesticide exposure, and the continued abuses by company bosses rising throughout the area, leading him to actively participating in many of Immokalee's direct action efforts that have made Immokalee a less isolating and oppressed community. Participation in the Coalition of Immokalee Workers has led Cande to continue working with migrant worker's in organizations around his University both as an advocate and educator, a role he hopes to continue in Immokalee. Contact Cande: candelario (at) sfalliance.org

Click here to view notes from the 2006 steering committee retreat.