2012 Steering Committee

Pictures are from the 2012 face-to-face meeting in Immokalee

Lis-Marie Alvarado (26; Homestead, FL; lis-marie@sfalliance.org) is a Nicaragüan native who is a fighter for social justice. Currently, she is a community organizer with WeCount! and she is actively engaged with several other community-based organizations and autonomous movements locally and nationally. In college, she participated in different Fair Food campaigns against major fast-food industries and has stayed involved with SFA and the CIW since. She is honored and humbled to be part of the 2012 Steering Committee and is excited to work hard to increase the national youth and student network. Moreover, she hopes for one day to travel all over Latin America and the Caribbean and to learn a non-European language. She loves her family, community, nature, and friends; and takes pleasure in art, music, theater, dance and napping. She also goes by the name Jagüar.

Tristan Call (25; Nashville, TN; tristan@sfalliance.org) is a cultural anthropologist studying at Vanderbilt University. He graduated in Latin American Studies and Anthropology from Brigham Young University in 2008, doing ethnographic fieldwork in the highlands of Guatemala and political work in Utah. He is exploring ways of studying [Mormon] religion, [sustainable] agriculture, [indigenous] identity cultures, and [anarchist] political cultures as a single subject. He lives on a 1 acre homestead in North Nashville trying to restore the soil fertility and food productivity of a tragically-abused cityscape. He also works as a volunteer organizer with the Workers' Dignity Project, which is combating wage theft and organizing towards establishing a workers' center in Nashville. He is involved in support work for Mesoamerican social movements including the Comite de Unidad Campesina, through the Guatemala Solidarity Project and School of the Americas Watch.

Cristina Castillo (20; Tampa, FL; cristina@sfalliance.org) was born in Guatemala City, Guatemala and moved to Florida when she was four. She was raised in Coral Springs, Florida and currently lives in Lakeland. Cristina attends the University of South Florida, Tampa, where she is an undergrad working on a degree in Elementary Education. She found out about the CIW and the Fair Food movement through USF’s Students for Social Justice. Joining that group was one of the greatest decisions she ever made. Through that wonderful organization, she was connected to Tampa Bay Fair Food and has met the most inspiring people. She has been involved with the Publix campaign for two years. During that time, she has attended many demonstrations including the “Do The Right Thing” march last spring. She is now an organizer for Tampa Bay Fair Food and feels so honored to be part of the SFA Steering Committee.  Cristina is beyond excited to be part ofthis team!  The sloth is the best and her favorite animal.

Kay Cuajunco (25; Oakland, CA; kay@sfalliance.org) is an ecofeminist, scholar, and activist passionate about building amoreinclusive and intergenerational movement for food and farmworker justice. She is a graduate student at San Francisco State University and is currently writing her masters thesis on Paulo Freire and the role ofpopular education in food sovereignty and farmworker solidarity movements. She also works on multimedia/communications at Bay Localize, where she produces campaign videos and coordinates actions, workdays, and outreach for Oakland's urban agriculture campaign to demand changes in the city zoningcode for increased access to land for more community gardens. Last summer she rode through California withother youth of color on the Food and Freedom Rides filming interviews with farmers, workers, and communities to investigate how people on the frontlines of the industrial food system are surviving its dark sideand thriving in the light of their own alternatives. In addition to growing the transformative powerof youth leadership, Kay loves cooking with friends, riding her bike, and playing capoeira.

Sergio España (26; Baltimore, MD;sergio@sfalliance.org) hails from Baltimore, MD after spending the first 15 years of his life in Los Angeles and Guatemala. He has been involved in supporting the mission of the Student Farmworker Alliance since 2008. Since then, Sergio has also worked alongside veterans and military family members nationwide, helping them share their stories and experiences with the civilian community in an effort to promotetransformative healing and directly challenge militarism. The inspiration for this work and its format came directly from the transformative organizing model he learned from organizations such as the CIW, Student Farmworker Alliance, and United Workers. Sergio holds a Bachelor of Arts in both Sociology and Philosophy from UMBC, where he developed a strong commitment towards social justice through activism and sociological research. That being said, the vast majority of his skills and commitment he readily admits to have learned from the courageous individuals throughout Florida and the nation whohave stood up for their rights and encouraged the rest of us to do the same.

Maya Zazhil Fernández (17; Chicago, IL; maya@sfalliance.org) is a Chicago native living and organizing out of the Pilsen-La Villita hood. Growing up immersed in music and dance, she is dedicated to playing, learning and teaching the Son Jarocho fandango tradition of Veracruz, Mexico, as well as the Puerto Rican Bomba y Plena. As part of the groups Jarochicanos, Son del Viento and BomPleneras, and through teaching in Son Chiquitos, she continually experiences the power of tradition and culture in community struggle and development and in educating children and youth. She regularly participates in local and national events and actions, using musical improvisation as a form of expression for spreading consciousness. Through jarocho and bomba networks, she was connected to the CIW and helped to reconnect Chicago Fair Food in 2011. She is looking forward to getting out of high school and having greater choice in studying and applying herself to her passions such as, working with youth, cultivating community arte y cultura, and fighting for justice.

David Granberg (21; Providence, RI; david@sfalliance.org) is in his third year at Brown University majoring in Environmental Studies with a focus on agriculture.  He is interested in exploring how community-based scientific research can be a way to help build democratic institutions and fight different forms of oppression.  David came to be involved with the Campaign for Fair Food through the local Providence organizing committee, Providence Fair Food.  In his spare time, he likes reading steampunk fiction, playing guitar, and thinking about physics.  David is excited to be a part of the Steering Committee this year and build on the amazing participatory work that the CIW and SFA have done so far!

Kevin Hom (21; Los Angeles, CA; kevin@sfalliance.org) resides in Los Angeles and attends Occidental College. He became involved in the Campaign for Fair Food through his internship at the United Food and Commercial Workers Local 770, when SFA and CIW organizers worked with the union on planning an action at the Trader Joes headquarters in Monrovia. He is inspired by the organizers he has met through this internship, and wants to continue his work in the social justice arena. Kevin’s interests include but are not limited to labor, food justice, urban planning, and politics. He is excited to be a steering committee member, and cannot wait to see the SFA's plans unfold in the upcoming year! 

Marley Moynahan (22; Washington, DC; marley@sfalliance.org), a native of the woodlands of Northern Florida, is working part time as a multimedia program director at a thinktank in D.C. while also working on various independent documentary video projects. She first encountered the CIW during her freshwoman year in college while attending a United Students Against Sweatshops (USAS) Conference in Miami, FL with the Georgetown Solidarity Committee, and has been involved with Burger King and subsequent campaigns. She is excited and grateful to be returning to the SC for another year, and for the ongoing inspiration of the Campaign for Fair Food. It should also be noted that she is a certified scuba diver, loves to cook and write (usually not simultaneously), and above all prefers to be barefoot. 

Paul Prescod (20; Philadelphia, PA; paul@sfalliance.org) is a first year Steering Committee member.  He is very excited to help build the Fair Food Campaign in Philly in whatever way possible.  Paul is a junior at Temple University, where he first became involved in labor solidarity organizing during his freshman year when the nurses at Temple Hospital went on strike.  This experience showed him the importance and relevance of worker struggles as well as how students can play a key strategic role.  Paul first heard about the Coalition of Immokalee Workers at the 2010 Labor Notes conference, where a CIW member spoke about the history of their inspiring struggle.  In his free time, Paul likes to play/watch sports, listen to music, go to concerts, read, and chill with my friends.  Last but not least, he loves watching re-runs of Seinfeld and Fresh Prince of Bel-Air.

Ollín Rodriguez (22; Brooklyn, NY; ollin@sfalliance.org) was born, raised, and currently lives in the concrete jungle of Brooklyn, NY. Ollín became involved in organizing during their senior year of high school. They have been deeply inspired by working with autonomous/grassroots collectives--creating change through solidarity, accountability, and sustainability. Ollín has done organizing from different collectives in Washington, Oaxaca, and to the South Bronx. For over a year, Ollín has been organizing with the Community-Farmworker Alliance-NYC. They were connected to the Trader Joe's campaign in 2010. Coming from a farmworker, immigrant family background, as an ally, they hold great responsibly to take action against corporations who exploit workers. The powerful work of the CIW and SFA, has been incredibly profound for them. When Ollín isn't busy, they are a local DJ, reads a lot, and loves cooking with homies. Ollín is a two-spirit/queer xican@/salvadorian, who appreciates their community and works to ends all forms of oppression. Overall, Lupe is mad excited to be a returning SCer and continue building farmworker solidarity within the SC communidad. 

Ingrid Romero (20; Brooklyn, NY; ingrid@sfalliance.org) is a born-and-bred New Yorker, with her roots deep down in Colombia, but her mind constantly in wanderlust. Currently a working student, she believes in non-traditional forms of education and in community transformation. She became politicized at fifteen, and discovered CIW shortly after, while they were on tour in the northeast, in 2008. After their beautiful presentation with the handmade storyboards, she was inspired to fuse art with social justice, and has never looked back since.  Her interests lay somewhere in between gender and sexuality, food justice, writing, crafts, language and yoga. Feeling powerfully connected to the CIW since her parents are immigrant workers as well, she is proud to be a fierce participant in the fight for fair food and is excited for this year’s steering committee. Pa'lante, siempre pa'lante! 

Katy Savage (28; Nashville, TN; katys@sfalliance.org) graduated from the University of Utah's Environmental Humanities program, where she did ethnographic work with Peruvian sheepherders in rural Utah and indigenous herders in the Navajo Nation. From her home base in Nashville, she farms, writes about food and land use politics, and works with groups promoting and researching democratic economies and food sovereignty, and fighting racism in food production and accessibility. She also works with The Workers Dignity Project/Proyecto de Dignidad Obrera, a Tennessee workers center, and spends time in Guatemala researching peasant movements, resistance to neoliberalism, and people-affirming environmentalisms. Katy's life-plans include creating a worker-owned farm/kitchen collective, writing something worth reading, and raising her own dairy goats, bees, and tree crops.

Amanda Sliby (22; Tampa, FL; amanda@sfalliance.org) was born and raised in Saint Petersburg, FL. She is thrilled to be on the SC for her second year and to continue learning and growing with her fellow Fair Food activists. Amanda is an undergrad in Cultural Anthropology at the University of South Florida. She is deeply concerned with preserving the diversity of humanity, promoting an ethic of care, and getting Publix to reach an agreement with the CIW! She likes to do cross-cultural studies of feminism in order to have a better understanding of her place as a female activist in this society. As a restaurant worker exposed to the lives of Mexican migrant workers, she has had a growing interest in the push-pull factors of immigration and processes of acculturation. Amanda makes frequent trips ‘cross the Howard Franklin Bridge to connect with the larger Tampa Bay area and to meet with the quickly growing local fair food committee Tampa Bay Fair Food. Amanda’s most prized possession is the dialogue shared by her friends/mentors/family, and their never-ending encouragement.

Amy Tegge (22; Pharr, TX; amy@sfalliance.org) is currently living in the Rio Grande Valley studying art at the University of Texas, Pan-American. Amy learned about the CIW in 2010 through the SFA chapter in the RGV. This was right before they were planning on traveling to Florida for the Publix action. Amy was coincidentally also traveling to the Tampa Bay area to visit family. The most enjoyable time she spent in Florida was before and during the action, helping out in any way she could. Since then, she has been interested in learning as much as she can about organizing and activism and using her foundation in art to further that. She also enjoys roller skating around in circles and playing roller derby.