Cambodian
Community Development (Oakland,
CA) - CCDI is a grassroots volunteer-based organization founded by a
group of concerned community activists in 1997. CCDI is committed to
the empowerment and self-determination of the Cambodian American community
and assists Cambodian refugees in Oakland, CA in overcoming social,
cultural and economic barriers to reach independence and self-sufficiency.
The Fellow, Porthira Chhim, will
serve as Director of the Cambodian American Project for
Empowerment (CAPE). In addition to providing legal service
support, and advocacy work related to the detention and deportation
of Cambodians, he will work on general policy advocacy efforts, media
campaigns, and community forums representing the interests of Cambodians
on the national and local levels. Mr. Chhim received his J.D. from City
of New York School of Law in 2000.
CASA
of Maryland (Takoma Park, MD) - CASA seeks to improve
the quality of life, economic and social well-being of the Latino community
in the metropolitan Washington area through educational, housing, employment,
legal, health, and social service programs. CASA facilitates self-development,
organization, and mobilization of the Latino community to achieve full
participation in the larger society. As the New Latino Leaders
Advocacy Fellow, will serve as Natali
del Carmen Fani will conduct campaigns at the
national, state, and local levels around key issues affecting Latinos,
including driver's licenses, in-state tuition for children of immigrants,
and the DREAM Act. She will graduate with a B.A. in Political Science
and International Intercultural Studies from Goucher College in May
2003.
Center
for Justice and Accountability (San Francisco, CA) -
The Center works to deter torture and other serious human rights abuses
around the world by helping survivors hold their perpetrators accountable.
By representing survivors in U.S. federal courts, referring cases to
the U.S. Department of Justice and Immigration and Naturalization Service,
and providing witnesses and evidence to international tribunals and
foreign courts, the organization seeks to create a body of law that
promotes accountability and benefits survivors and their communities.
As Director of the South Asia Human Rights Project,
the Fellow will design and implement outreach activities to and litigation
activities on behalf of, survivors of torture from countries in the
region who have sought refuge in the United States. His fluency in regional
languages will enable him to create literature that explains rights
and options of survivors under the Alien Tort Claims Act and Torture
Victim Protection Act. The Fellow (whose name is not disclosed for security
reasons) has been awarded both a Master of Arts degree in International
Politics and a Juris Doctorate.
Critical
Resistance (Oakland, CA) - Critical Resistance believes
that the provision of basic necessities like food, shelter, and freedom
create the conditions for more genuine forms of security than the use
of policing, surveillance, and imprisonment. By harnessing growing grassroots
political will and empowering prisoners and their families, the organization
fights to end the prison-industrial complex and seeks more just and
humane alternatives to imprisonment and policing. As Former
Prisoner and Family Coordinator, the Fellow, Pilar
Maschi, will draw on her personal experiences and previous work
at La Casita Treatment Center to move former prisoners toward activism
and involve them in grassroots organizing against the prison-industrial
complex. She is an A.S. in Corporate Cable Communications candidate
at the Borough of Manhattan Community College.
Foreign
Policy in Focus (Washington, DC) - By widening the space
for progressive voices in foreign policy debates, the organization seeks
to make the U.S. a more responsible global leader and partner. With
an international network of over 800 policy analysts and advocates,
Foreign Policy in Focus describes itself as a "think tank without walls"
and publishes materials on a broad range of foreign policy topics. The
Fellow, Julie Ajinkya will serve as
Grassroots Outreach Coordinator. She will
conduct outreach to broad-based constituency groups, grassroots organizations
and activists, offering assistance with speakers and films. She will
also organize events and protests, including a conference on oil in
2003. Ms. Ajinkya will receive her Bachelor of Arts in Political Science,
with a focus on international and public affairs, from Amherst College
this year.
Global
Exchange (San Francisco, CA) - Global Exchange is an
international human rights organization dedicated to promoting political,
social, and environmental justice globally. Since its founding in 1988,
the group has been working to increase global consciousness of the U.S.
public while building partnerships around the world. The Fellow, Claudia
Rodriguez-Zinn, will serve as Youth Program Coordinator
of Global Exchange programs and will develop and coordinate a new youth
initiative. She will build youth networks, carry out research and analysis,
and organize youth to participate in global economic justice campaigns.
Ms. Rodriguez-Zinn is an activist who received B.S. degrees in Zoology
and Biology from Humboldt State University in 1998. She has lived and
worked in the United States, Puerto Rico, the Turks and Caicos Islands,
and Chiapas, Mexico.
Innocence
Project New Orleans (New Orleans, LA) Dedicated to improving
fairness and equity in the criminal justice system, the Project investigates
claims of innocence and provides legal representation for indigent prisoners
who have been wrongfully convicted. The Fellow, Melissa
Pleasant, will serve as Staff Attorney,
expanding the Project's reach into the state of Mississippi. She will
lead new litigation efforts on suspected cases of wrongful convictions,
coordinate development of a DNA testing statute for the state of Mississippi,
and conduct outreach efforts with affected communities, including as
prisoners' family members. Ms. Pleasant received her B.A. in American
Studies from Yale University in 1999 and will graduate with a J.D. from
Tulane University Law School in May 2003.
Jewish
Voice for Peace (Oakland, CA) The organization is dedicated
to the human, civil, and economic rights of all people in the Middle
East and seeks to engage the Jewish community and others in advancing
a more balanced U.S. foreign policy toward the region. As Communications
Director, the fellow Cecilie
Surasky, will increase regional,
national, and international coverage in mainstream and alternative media
and position the organization as a trusted media source. The Fellow
will also play a role in educating the media, policymakers, leaders,
the Jewish community, and the general public about Jewish support for
ending the Israeli occupation of Palestinian territories. Ms. Surasky
received her B.A. in Religious Studies, Modern Culture and Media from
Brown University and has extensive expertise in marketing, public relations,
and videography.
National
Center for Human Rights Education (Atlanta, GA) The
Center seeks to build a human rights movement in the United States by
training activists, students, educators, and community leaders in ways
to hold society accountable to universally acknowledged human rights
norms. The organization leads workshops for activists and works with
grassroots organizations on campaigns and projects to increase understanding
and activism. As Program Manger , the Fellow
Deanna West,
will develop resources and lead NCHRE’s new Peace and Security
through Human Rights Education training program. The program will engage
people of color in the peace movement and offer popular education related
to the domestic and international impacts of U.S. foreign policy. Ms.
West has a Master’s of International Affairs and Development from
Clark Atlanta University in 2002.
Oregon
Action (Portland, OR) Through leadership development
and community organizing, Oregon Action empowers under-represented voices,
particularly poor and low-income people, people of color, and women,
to impact public policy. The Fellow, Josie
Margallo Michael, will serve
as a, Community Organizer, involved in membership
recruitment, leadership development, and campaign organizing, while
developing her own program area on international economic policy. Raised
and educated in the Philippines, Ms. Margallo Michael received her Bachelor
degree in Business from the University of San Jose Recolletos and then
immigrated to the United States in 1985 as a student. After working
in the Accounting field for 15 years, she made a career change and,
in June of 2001, while working for the Workers' Organizing Committee,
helped win a fair wage increase from the City Council of Portland for
City Contract workers.
Pro-Choice
Public Education Project (New York, NY) Guided by principles
of reproductive choice, personal freedom, the empowerment of young people,
and collaboration as a means to achieve goals, the Pro-Choice Public
Education Project works to educate young people and the organizations
that serve them about reproductive freedom and choice in order to energize
a new generation of pro-choice leaders. The Fellow, Nichole
Wicks will serve as a, Outreach and Patnership
Development Associate, helping build PEP's outreach programs
and partnerships, as well as providing leadership on the creation of
evaluation mechanisms for PEP's programmatic work, resources, and best
practices tools prior to dissemination. Ms. Wicks received her Bachelor
of Arts in Psychology from Eastern Connecticut State University in 2000
and has presented at conferences and taught workshops on a range of
issues including LGBTQ civil rights.
Sweatshop Watch (Los Angeles, CA) - The organization
represents a coalition of over 30 labor, civil rights, immigrant rights,
women’s, religious, and student organizations, as well as hundreds
of individuals, committed to eliminating the exploitation that occurs
in sweatshops. Sweatshop Watch’s decisions, projects and organizing
efforts are informed by the voices, needs, and life experiences of the
workers they represent in California, nationally, and abroad. As Globalization
Project Coordinator, Fellow Karin
Mak will build networks and solidarity among garment workers
internationally and will facilitate garment worker preparations for
the expiration of the Multifiber Agreement in 2005. She will also be
involved in development of worker and public education materials and
workshops on globalization and related issues, using visual media. Ms.
Mak received her Bachelor of Arts degree in Media Studies from Pomona
College in May 2002.
Tri-Valley CAREs (Livermore, CA) - Tri-Valley CAREs (Communities
Against a Radioactive Environment) aims to build peace, justice, and
a healthy environment by striving to 1) clean up the Department of Energy’s
Livermore Lab and reduce its environmental and health hazards; 2) convert
Livermore Lab from nuclear weapons development and testing to socially
beneficial, environmentally sound research; 3) end all nuclear weapons
development and testing in the United States; 4) abolish nuclear weapons
worldwide and achieve an equitable, successful non-proliferation regime;
and 5) promote forthright communication and democratic decision-making
in public policy on nuclear weapons issues, locally, nationally and
globally. The Fellow, Loulena Miles,
will serve as Staff Attorney/Project Director,
heading up a project to oversee upcoming environmental review of the
Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory and offering fresh investigative
reporting on U.S. nuclear weapons and biological agent activities. She
will also be involved in public education and advocacy efforts addressing
U.S. neglect of international treaty obligations. Ms. Miles will receive
her J.D. from Golden Gate University, School of Law in May 2003.
Turning Point for Families, Inc. (Hilo, HI) - Turning
Point’s mission is to provide shelter, counseling, advocacy and
education to promote a violence-free community. Serving the County of
Hawai’i for nearly 24 years, the organization provides an array
of services to families, including education, advocacy, support groups,
prevention and intervention programs for youth violence. As Community
Educator/Advocate, the Fellow, Lenore
Pu’uohau-Pummill will conduct community education,
policy advocacy, systems change, and media work activities related to
reducing the high rates of domestic violence in the county of Hawaii.
She will also network with leaders in different sectors of the larger
community to encourage them to play an active role in effecting social
change. Ms. Pu’uohau-Pummill will receive her B.A. in Philosophy/
Religious Studies from the University of Hawai’i- Hilo this June.
Youth
Ministries for Peace and Justice(Bronx, NY) - The organization
is working to redevelop the Bronx River and Soundview/Bruckner neighborhoods.
Youth Ministries for Peace and Justice seeks to develop indigenous leadership,
improve public health, reclaim the waterfront and green space for community
use, and restore a positive social environment through youth development
and community organizing. As Environmental Justice Coordinator,
the Fellow, Ajamu Kitwana,
will conduct research and coordinate efforts to shape a brownfields
policy to propose to the New York State legislature, engage local youth
in environmental justice campaigns, and develop a curriculum for hands-on
environmental education. Mr. Kitwana will receive his M.S. in Civil
and Environmental Engineering from Stanford University in May 2003.
