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Saket Soni

Executive Director

After Hurricane Katrina, in 2006, Saket co-founded the New Orleans Workers’ Center for Racial Justice.

Under his leadership, the organization won organizing and policy victories for both U.S.-born and immigrant workers engaged in the reconstruction of New Orleans. Saket led the organization to win precedent-setting National Labor Relations Board decisions protecting migrant whistleblowers on the front lines of the hospitality and seafood industries from retaliatory firings and blacklisting. In New Orleans, he also crafted campaigns to win pathways into the publicly funded construction industry for African American workers. Saket led a combined organizing and legal strategy to combat human trafficking, which resulted in a federal court awarding over $14 million in damages to migrant resilience workers rebuilding the Gulf Coast. In 2011, Saket founded the National Guestworker Alliance, an organization focused on defending the human rights and dignity of guestworkers in America.
Saket is recognized as a national expert on post-disaster economies, immigrant rights and the future of work. He was profiled as an “architect of the next labor movement” in USA Today, and he has testified before Congress and at the United Nations. Saket’s advocacy efforts have been featured on NPR, in Time, and on the front page of The New York Times. His writings have appeared in the L.A. Times, The Hill, The Nation, Latino Journal, Talking Points Memo and on CNN.com. Saket co-authored And Injustice For All: Workers’ Lives In the Reconstruction, the most comprehensive report on race in the reconstruction of the post-Katrina Gulf Coast, as well as Never Again: Lessons of the Gustav Evacuation, an account of the inequities in the response to Hurricane Gustav in 2009, which led to new state policies and new norms for evacuating the most vulnerable residents in preparation for disaster. Saket began his career as a community organizer in Chicago at the Coalition of African, Asian, European, and Latino Immigrants of Illinois. He is originally from New Delhi, India.
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Daniel Castellanos

Director of Workforce Engagement
Nearly 17 years ago, Daniel arrived in New Orleans under exploitative conditions as a H-2B guestworker to support recovery and rapid repair efforts after Hurricane Katrina. He began organizing with other guestworkers in New Orleans and the Gulf Coast, and helped found the National Guestworker Alliance (NGA), which later became Resilience Force. Daniel works to improve workplace conditions for migrant workers by investigating questions of workplace standards enforcement. Daniel is a recognized expert on U.S. guestworker programs, consults regularly with U.S. policymakers and has testified before Congress on effective enforcement models within the U.S. Department of Labor. Daniel is from Peru and is a proud father.
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LaTanja Silvester

Director of political affairs
With significant experience in political campaigns and government relations, LaTanja Silvester is a veteran activist who has dedicated her career to defending the rights and improving the lives of working people. Ms. Silvester spent the last 10 years leading the efforts for organized workers at the Louisiana affiliate of Service Employees International Union (SEIU) Local 21 LA, serving as President from 2013-2019. In the role as President, Silvester has been a constant voice and force for the needs of Louisiana’s working families everywhere from City Halls to the U.S. Congress. LaTanja has led campaigns for voting rights, equal pay for women, equitable education, and fair wages. Ms. Silvester has advanced legislation supporting access to healthcare, living wages and economic empowerment, and has worked to broaden and deepen opportunities for local and minority owned businesses across Louisiana.

Molly Bartlett

Operations Director
Molly joined Resilience Force as the national Operations Director in February 2022.  With a background in research, psychology and social work she is a deep generalist who is passionate about supporting people and programs that contribute to a more just and equitable world. Molly has worked as a mental health therapist in New Orleans public schools, as Chief Operating Officer of Family Service of Greater New Orleans ensuring access to free/low-cost community mental health services, and as the Operations Coordinator for Global Programs at The Susan Thompson Buffett Foundation in support of reproductive health, rights and justice. Originally from upstate New York, Molly currently resides in New Orleans.
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Sacha Feinman

Communications Director
Sacha joined Resilience Force as the Communications Director in October, 2022, bringing to the job a wealth of experience in journalism, politics and non-profit management. Born and raised in Tucson, Arizona, Sacha spent his childhood roaming the halls of a Spanish language radio station managed by his father. Time spent on both sides of the US/Mexico border imbued him with an appreciation for the immense diversity of the world and a curiosity to explore its nuances. Prior to Resilience Force, Sacha worked as a journalist in South America and Mexico, as well as on Wall Street, co-authored the 2012 Democratic Party Platform, managed strategic projects for the philanthropist and climate change activist Tom Steyer, and ran a non-profit fight gym in Oakland, California that administered free social services to community youth. He loves big dogs and, if you have one, please share a picture.
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Cynthia Hernández

National Training Director
Cynthia S Hernández re-joined the Resilience Force as National Training Director in 2022 just as Hurricane Ian was making landfall in Florida.  Cynthia had previously been the Florida Director of Resilience Force from 2018-2020.  During that time, Cynthia tracked changing conditions and regulations affecting Resilience Workers and advocated for labor protections at the local and state level. Cynthia began her career as a researcher and instructor at Florida International University’s Center for Labor Research & Studies (CLRS) in 2006. Her research interests include issues at the intersection of labor and immigration, with a focus on wage theft. Her numerous research and publications led to the creation of several county-wide anti-wage theft ordinances throughout Florida, which have helped recover millions of dollars of unpaid wages.
After nearly ten years of public service at FIU, Cynthia became the Executive Director of the South Florida American Federation of Labor (AFL-CIO). In that capacity, Cynthia created and led various labor and community coalitions to win higher wages and benefits for low-income families in Miami-Dade County, lobbied for equitable development, and advocated for pro-immigration legislation. In 2017, Cythia was awarded a four year grant from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation to lead a Labor Community Coalition to address Climate Change in South Florida, the first to be awarded in Florida. From 2020-2022, Cynthia returned to local politics and to lead Miami-Dade County’s legislative team for district 7.  In her capacity as District Director, she led a strategist team to craft county-wide legislation on affordable housing, creating the first ever Tenant Bill of Rights.  Her portfolio included resiliency projects focused on improving local transportation, increasing the use of micro-mobility and access to food security for the most vulnerable. Cynthia has presented her research findings at county hearings throughout the state and has testified for state senators, appeared on numerous national television interviews, radio interviews and worked closely with print media. Cynthia has also worked on producing short documentaries on labor and immigrant issues, and most recently worked closely with a Netflix film crew to document the lives of immigrant workers rebuilding Florida after Hurricane Michael. Cynthia obtained a B.A. in International Relations, with a concentration in Labor Studies and Latin America and Caribbean Studies, and M.S. in Adult Education with a focus on Labor Studies and Immigration. Cynthia is from Mexico, having immigrated to the U.S. at the age of five. She lives in Miami, Florida with her partner and son.

Sufyan Sohel

Chief Operating Officer & General Counsel
Sufyan is a civil rights lawyer, mediator, and facilitator who has dedicated his career to strengthen community organizations and to be an advocate for our most vulnerable. Before Resilience Force, Sufyan served as Deputy Director & General Counsel of CAIR-Chicago, a nonprofit that advocates for and protects the rights of Muslim Americans and other marginalized communities facing hate and injustice. He led the Chicago-wide response to the Muslim Ban, organizing hundreds of attorneys and volunteers to provide legal services and support to those affected. Sufyan is a Cook County Human Rights Commissioner, the co-chair of the DePaul Law Diversity Council, and on the board of directors for the Chicago Access Network Television (CAN-TV), the Greater Chicago Legal Clinic, and the ACLU of Illinois, where he serves as the organization’s Affiliate Equity Officer.  Sufyan also hosts a weekly cable talk show, Change Agents, where he spotlights critical issues impacting Chicagoans, and amplifies the voices and efforts of leaders and organizations working to create positive change in Chicago’s communities.
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Fernanda Herrera Spieler

Equal Justice Works Fellow Sponsored by the Text-to-Give Campaign
Fernanda arrived to the United States from Guadalajara, Jalisco, Mexico when she was two years old and grew up undocumented, eventually acquiring Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) status. As a college student in Birmingham, Alabama she became involved in immigrant rights advocacy efforts, travelling to Washington, D.C. to lobby for DACA and Deferred Action for Parents of Childhood Arrivals (DAPA). She served on various panels about her experience after the passage of HB-56, the nation’s harshest anti-immigrant law. After graduating from college, Fernanda attended Loyola University Chicago School of Law and continued her fight for immigrant rights, working at various non-profit organizations aiding clients with T-Visa, U-Visa, Asylum, and Cancellation of Removal petitions to secure their futures in the United States away from dangerous conditions in their home countries. Additionally, Fernanda continued her individual advocacy efforts while in law school. She published Op-Ed pieces, was featured in podcasts, and attended the Supreme Court hearing on the legality of DACA, Department of Homeland Security v. Regents of Univ. of California. She also helped run the campaign that secured her mother’s prompt release from the Irwin Detention Center when her mother was arrested and flagged for ICE following a minor traffic stop during Fernanda’s first year of law school. Ferrnanda graduated law school in 2021 and lives with her spouse in Nashville, TN.

Advisors

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William Craig Fugate

Special Advisor to Resilience Force
W. Craig Fugate served as President Barack Obama’s FEMA Administrator from May 2009 to January 2017. Previously, he served as Florida Governor Jeb Bush’s Emergency Management Director from 2001-2009. Fugate led FEMA through multiple record-breaking disaster years and oversaw the Federal Government’s response to major events such as the Joplin and Moore Tornadoes, Hurricane Sandy, Hurricane Matthew, and the 2016 Louisiana flooding. Fugate set a clear and compelling vision, mission, and priorities for FEMA and relentlessly drove the Agency to achieve better outcomes for survivors. FEMA’s effectiveness in dealing with more than 500 Presidentially-declared major disasters and emergencies under Fugate’s leadership restored the faith of the American people in the Federal Government’s ability to respond to disasters. Prior to his tenure at FEMA, Fugate was widely praised for his management, under Governor Jeb Bush, of the devastating effects of the 2004 and 2005 Florida hurricane seasons (Charley, Frances, Ivan, Jeanne, Dennis, Katrina, and Wilma).
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Kerry O’Brien

Special Advisor to Resilience Force
Kerry O’Brien has been working with Resilience Force since its founding on legal and policy matters. She has developed and litigated cases on behalf of resilience workers as co-counsel including Cabre v. Cotton in Florida regarding unpaid wages and overtime and immigration-related retaliation and Delegado v. SERVPRO in Michigan regarding a COVID-outbreak amongst resilience workers responding to dam breaks in Michigan. In addition, she was the principal author of the policy section of Resilience Force’s A People’s Framework for Disaster Response report. Kerry was Senior Counsel to Solicitor Patricia M. Smith at the U.S. Department of Labor during the Obama administration, and has also been a Campaign Coordinator for Service Employees International Union, Director of Federal Programs at Equal Justice Works, Director of Services at CASA, and a co-founder of the D.C. Employment Justice Center, for which she was, with her co-founder, a recipient of an Echoing Green fellowship. She was named Employment Lawyer of the Year by the Metropolitan Washington Employment Lawyers Association. She is a graduate of the University of Texas at Austin and Georgetown Law and she began her career as the Crowell & Moring Equal Justice Works Fellow at Bread for the City in Washington, D.C.

Organizing Team

Latoya Kiel

Adminstrative & HUman resources associate

Writing and Administrative Staff

Gabriel Thompson

Writing Specialist

Writing and Administrative Staff

Mariano Alvarado

Organizing Staff

Angelo Castellanos

Organizing Staff

Joel Salazar

Organizing Staff

New Orleans Resilience Corps:

Harold Sterling

Program manager

Resilience Corps Leadership

Andre Wright

Field Manager

Resilience Corps Leadership

Tonya Freeman Brown

Community support coordinator

Resilience Corps Leadership

Pamela Bourgeois

Client service representative

Resilience Corps Leadership

Lennie Silvester

Community Health Worker Supervisor

Brion Teapo

Community Health Worker Supervisor

Claudio Venacio-Anaya

Community Health Worker Supervisor

Redgie Cameron

Community Health Worker

Patricia Garcia

Community Health Worker

Ashley Gill

Community Health Worker

David Gonzalez

Community Health Worker

Alexander Hayes

Community Health Worker

Willie Hollingsworth

Community Health Worker

D'Von Jones

Community Health Worker

Latoya Kelly

Community Health Worker

Taj Rudolph

Community Health Worker

Ailen Ruiz

Community Health Worker

LaJae Webb

Community Health Worker

Harold Sterling

Program manager

Resilience Corps Leadership

Andre Wright

Field Manager

Resilience Corps Leadership

Tonya Freeman Brown

Community support coordinator

Resilience Corps Leadership

Pamela Bourgeois

Client service representative

Resilience Corps Leadership

Lennie Silvester

Community Health Worker Supervisor

Brion Teapo

Community Health Worker Supervisor

Oscar Garcia

Community Health Worker Supervisor

Claudio Venacio-Anaya

Community Health Worker Supervisor

Redgie Cameron

Community Health Worker

Annie Galan

Community Health Worker

Patricia Garcia

Community Health Worker

Ashley Gill

Community Health Worker

David Gonzalez

Community Health Worker

Alexander Hollingsworth

Community Health Worker

D'Von Jones

Community Health Worker

Latoya Kelly

Community Health Worker

Ailen Ruiz

Community Health Worker

Taj Rudolph

Community Health Worker

Looking for National Guestworker Alliance? Most of NGA’s work is now part of Resilience Force.

If you have a specific question about guestworkers,
email Daniel Castellanos, dcastellanos@guestworkeralliance.org