About the Fellowship
The Movement Leader Fellowship is a program designed to give established professionals in the social justice sector an opportunity to hone their leadership skills, immerse themselves in theory and practice, and expand their community in movement work.
Movement Leader Fellows
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Anneshia Hardy (she/her) - Alabama Values
Anneshia Hardy is a communications strategist and social entrepreneur focused on using narrative and messaging for social change. As Executive Director of Alabama Values (501c3) and Alabama Values Progress (501c4), she leads initiatives to strengthen the pro-democracy movement in Alabama and across the South. Co-founder of Blackyard LLC, she empowers change-makers in marginalized communities. With expertise in strategic marketing and branding, Anneshia has developed narrative strategies and trainings for several pro-democracy organizations such as the NAACP, Obama Foundation, including the recent U.S. Supreme Court case, Milligan v Allen.
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Courtney M. McSwain (she/her) - National Juvenile Justice Network
Courtney M. McSwain is a writer, creator and social justice communicator. As a writer and advocate, Courtney seeks individual and community liberation for marginalized people through narrative advocacy and power building. She currently acts as the Director of Communications for the National Youth Justice Network.
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Ingrid Chapman (she/her) - Washington State Labor Council
Ingrid Chapman, is the Statewide Organizing Manager of the Washington State Labor Council, AFL-CIO. She spent significant time working with people hit by crisis -- post-Hurricane Katrina New Orleans, SB 1070 anti-immigrant Arizona state law, HB 56, anti-immigrant Alabama state law, US/Mexico border and post raid Mississippi, with the goal of supporting those hit hardest by the crisis to get organized, advocate for their community's needs and build power that lasts.
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Isaias Guerrero (he/him) - Community Change
Isaias Guerrero, a social arsonist for justice born from the Andes mountains. Thanks to being part of the immigrant rights movement for 16 years, I have learned the impact of people power and organizing and am deeply committed to creating spaces to imagine a better world and how to build it. You can find me dancing cumbia, hunting for the best tamales and biking around town!
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Jose Chapa (he/him) - Community Organizer
Jose Chapa currently works as the State and Local Policy Manager at the Vera Institute of Justice, where he supports the Institute’s core issues and priorities through legislation and policy change. Born in Mexico and raised in the Rio Grande Valley in Texas, he currently resides in Brooklyn, New York with his husband and his two cats.
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Juan Miranda (he/him) - Down Home NC
Originally from Ecuador, Juan Miranda is a trainer, activist, and organizer based in Greensboro NC with over 16 of experience in student, labor, immigrant rights, and multiracial organizing. He is a firm believer that there’s always room for more people and is committed to building a bold, powerful, and joyful movement. He enjoys beautiful pranks, complex puzzles, and playing in the dirt.
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Kandace Montgomery (they/them) - Community Organizer
Kandace Montgomery is a Black and queer visionary movement strategist, organizer, and trainer working to expand the collective ability of individuals to build power that transforms systems and people. Currently living in Minneapolis, they have spent over the last decade developing programming, training, and strategies that center the lives of Black people and people of color in local, state, and national organizations. Kandace is most recently a co-founder and former Co-Executive Director of Black Visions.
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Karen Escobedo (she/they) - Center for Popular Democracy
Karen Escobedo has been a community organizer for over a decade. My passion for building community power began as a student organizer at the University of Texas at Austin while pursuing a degree in Sociology. I started protesting with other undocumented students like myself then worked to divest university resources away from privatization and towards the needs of the community. This interest in social justice issues and building power in marginalized communities developed into organizing working class people around their rights.
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Kwesi Chappin (he/him) - Chappin Consulting LLC
Kwesi Chappin is a community organizer based in Cheverly, Maryland. On a mission to create tangible change for Black folks, he teaches others how to turn their apathy into anger and hold elected officials accountable. Kwesi has worked in leadership roles with the Sierra Club, Color Of Change, SEIU, Center for Popular Democracy, and Decolonizing Wealth Project.
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Marcela Hernandez (she/her/ella) - Detention Watch Network
Marcela Hernandez is an abolitionist, queer, feminist organizer who immigrated from Mexico to the US at 10-year- old. She started organizing during high school after noticing the impact anti-immigrant polices had on her family and community. She has organized against US imperialism and the PIC including surveillance, jails, prisons, ICE and CBP and for immigrant, youth, BIPOC, LGBTQIA+ and environmental justice rights. She also enjoys learning about herbalism and healing justice.
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Maria Tchijov (she/her) - Siskin Strategies
Maria Tchijov is a campaigner and strategist working at the intersection of technology and social justice. Having spent the past 10+ years focused on digital-first organizing at UltraViolet and MoveOn, Maria is passionate about bringing new activists into the progressive movement and mobilizing them to take action for gender justice and democracy reform. Outside of work, Maria enjoys building community with fellow Jews and queer folks in Chicago, as well as spending time with her wife, three kids, and two dogs.
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Osmani R. Alcaraz-Ochoa (he/they/el) - Center for Popular Democracy
Osmani R. Alcaraz-Ochoa is a writer, poet, and the Director of Economic Justice Campaigns at the Center for Popular Democracy. Originally from Jalisco, Mexico, they grew up in SF and Richmond, CA and now lives in San Antonio, Texas.
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Rachel Gilmer (she/her) - Dream Defenders
Rachel Gilmer is the Director of the Healing and Justice Center, a community-based public safety program in Miami working to reduce violence without the carceral system and build power for working class Black people. Rachel moved to Miami in 2015 to join the Dream Defenders, and was the organization's Co-Director for 6 years, where she led campaigns and programming to build the power of Black and Brown young people across Florida. Rachel has 15 years experience in grassroots organizing and social change. She has worked in a variety of settings including community organizations, schools, prisons and government
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Reema Ahmad (she/her) - Movement Voter Project
Unapologetically relational and values-centered, Reema Ahmad is a movement leader with over 15 years of experience across progressive movement organizing, campaigns, and philanthropy. She co-conspires with some of the most innovative grassroots organizing groups around the country, connecting them to funding, tools, trainings, strategic support, and each other. Her passion lies in the indisputable power of the collective – because the only path worth pursuing is the one we get to move forward on together.
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Sasha Feldstein (she/her) - California Immigrant Policy Center
Sasha Feldstein is a Policy Director at California Immigrant Policy Center, where she works toward the vision for all Californians to be able to meaningfully support themselves and their loved ones on their own terms. At CIPC, she has worked with partners to end the exclusion of immigrant tax filers from the CalEITC, secure COVID relief for undocumented Californians, fight against misclassification, and expand opportunities for people who have been traditionally shut out from California's prosperity.
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Sherra Bennett (she/her) - Winthrop Rockefeller Foundation
Sherra Bennett is a Social Worker and Community Organizer by education and professional training. She's currently an Equity Officer at the Winthrop Rockefeller Foundation, leading the movement building portfolio to expand equity through philanthropic investments throughout the region. She's a daughter of the Arkansas Delta Region and was also raised and first introduced to organizing in Detroit, MI -- which provides a unique lens to her movement methodology.
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Stevie O’Hanlon (she/they) - Sunrise Movement
Stevie O’Hanlon is Sunrise’s Communications Director. She has been organizing in movements for economic and climate justice for the past decade. Since co-founding Sunrise in 2017 she has held roles leading Sunrise’s campaign, communications, and electoral work. Stevie is also a core leader in the Philadelphia Sunrise hub, where she lives.
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Teumbay Barnes (she/her) - Southern Partners Fund
A passionate community activist and advocate for access to quality affordable childcare and sexual assault prevention, Tee brings more than 15+ years of experience in community organizing, policy, leadership development, journalism, and higher education to her role. She has spent her career working to change the narrative and create safe and sacred spaces for those experiencing any form of injustice. She believes and understands that the power of change lies in the people.
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Yadira Sanchez (she/her) - Center for Popular Democracy
Yadira Sanchez is an Economic Justice Organizer with the Center for Popular Democracy working towards a just economy that works for workers. She is committed to the liberation of people and enjoys creating popular education tools that are grounded in leadership development. In her spare time she likes to get creative with her baking.
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Yonah Lieberman (he/him) - GiveDirectly
Yonah Lieberman is a Brooklyn-based movement builder, communications strategist, and community organizer. He is a Senior Manager of Communications for GiveDirectly, a cash-aid charity. He is a co-founder of IfNotNow, where he led communications and campaign strategy for over eight years. He has organized around immigrant rights, housing justice, and electoral politics. He is originally from Washington, DC and (proudly) went to the University of Michigan.