Speakers: Andrea Mercado, Florida Rising; Nsé Ufot, New Georgia Project; Jon Liss, New Virginia Majority. Moderated by Maria Poblet, Grassroots Power Project, and Margie del Castillo, State Power Caucus.
June 1 on zoom, facebook and youtube, sponsored by Convergence and the State Power Caucus
Guests
Andrea Cristina Mercado is the daughter of South American immigrants and the South Florida mother of two has been working on race, gender and economic equity issues for 20 years and has been recognized for her work leading New Florida Majority as the Executive Director, co-founding the National Domestic Workers Alliance, chairing We Belong Together, a national immigrant rights initiative and building the San Francisco Area-based Mujeres Unidas y Activas (MUA). She is fluent in English, Spanish and Portuguese.
Jon has organized for racial and social justice in Virginia for the last 30 years. Between 1979-1981, he organized for the creation of an African American Studies department as a student at the University of Virginia where he graduated with a B.A. in History, then went on to organize for U.S. divestment in the South African Apartheid regime. From 1983-1984, he served as an elected leader of a taxi drivers association. In 1986, Jon co-founded Tenants and Workers United (TWU), a low-income racial and gender justice organization based in the Arlandria-Chirilagua neighborhood. Jon served as the Executive Director of TWU until 2011. In 2007 he co-founded New Virginia Majority Education Fund and currently serves as both a board member and as the organization’s Co-Executive Director.
