I was born in San Francisco and live in US. I am 43 years old. Currently, I am an associate profe... more

I was born in San Francisco and live in US. I am 43 years old. Currently, I am an associate professor at the Labor Center, University of Massachusetts Amherst. I became politically aware growing up in the 70s, particularly surrounded by the growing women's movement, and my initial activism was around reproductive rights, clinic defenses, and feminism more broadly. From there I looked to find a broader analysis to address the inequality, racism, and poverty I saw in the world. I got involved in labor issues, and then was active building an independent political party in Wisconsin. Eventually that led me to join a socialist feminist group called Solidarity. In recent years, I've been most involved in living wage campaigns, union democracy efforts, and higher education organizing. I'm still a member of Solidarity and also an officer in the faculty union on my campus. I'm currently involved in an effort to bring together left organizations and collectives in the US, called Revolutionary Work in Our Times. In my academic work, I am working with Jobs with Justice and the Asia Floor Wage Campaign to develop strategy for an effort to win higher wages for garment workers in Asia, but also perhaps organize along global supply chains. This project is exciting because I think we are at a key historic moment, and as a left we are not yet taking advantage of it. I'd like a chance to hear ideas from others about how we can move forward in this period to build the movements we need to create alternative economies. I'd like us to share ideas about organizing across issue and sector and country, and take the best lessons about deepening and expanding democracy. I'd like to bring to the project a real commitment to radical change, built on principles of democracy, transparency, accountability and non-sectarianism. less