Representative: Jon Liss

Peter has been a labor activist since 1965, starting as a young farm worker in Southern California. He has organized for HERE, SEIU, and CWA, headed two prominent labor councils, started two low-wage worker organizations, and co-founded several labor-community coalitions, membership organizations and political action committees.

Joann Lo gained much of her experience in social activism as a student at Yale University.  After graduation, Joann worked as an organizer for SEIU locals 399 and 1877.  Before coming to Enlace, Joann worked as the Garment Worker Center lead organizer where garment workers in Los Angeles led a boycott campaign against young women’s retailer Forever 21 which resulted in a settlement of their lawsuit against the company and in Forever 21’s commitment to work with GWC and workers to try to improve conditions in the garment industry. 

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Sample authorization letter to increase your monthly donation from your checking account:
(Date)

Enlace
320 SW Stark #427
Portland, OR 97204

Dear Enlace/Communities United for People,

This letter is to authorize an increase in my monthly contribution to your organization from my checking account.  Please increase my monthly contribution to $_____.

Thank you very much,
(signature)

(Name)
(Address)

In 1996 and 1997 Peter Cervantes-Gautschi traveled the U.S. and Mexico interviewing leaders of groups that organize low-wage workers. This cross border element was present at the outset because a large proportion of the workers in the U.S. were Mexican immigrants, and the workers in Mexico were employed in the production chains of U.S.-based transnational corporations. Through these discussions he determined that the groups shared certain common challenges, chief among them the need to continually regenerate the organization. This involves the ability of the organization to build and train a strong, democratic leadership, to become strategic (every step planned and intended by the leadership), and to develop a life of its own, constantly incorporating new people and new energy.

With this in mind, seventeen of these groups founded Enlace in 1998 to help them learn from each other’s experiences and to explore other ways of strengthening their organizations. By continuing to listen carefully to the needs of these organizations, we have grown steadily and now have 23 affiliates that represent a base of approximately 300,000 low-wage workers. Enlace has developed a series of training programs with pedagogical methods familiar to elite institutions but rarely made available to low-wage workers with the objective of assisting them in their struggle for social and economic justice.

Representative: Elizabeth (Betty) Robles Ortega

Representative: Nadia Marin

Representative: Salvador (Chava) Bustamante

Representative: Raquel Espinoza

Katy has been a labor activist for over thirty years, starting in Alameda County (Bay Area) California Welfare Department where she was a member leader of the strike in 1977.  She was an organizer for SEIU Local 715 and has also worked with SEIU Local 535, the CWA Organizing Department and the Printing Specialties Union.  Katy has also worked with Confluence Northwest, a mediation service provider which also gives mediation training.