Visiting Social Activist Program

Most Recent Visiting Activist
Past Visiting Activists
 

NEWS FLASH !!   CEW's 2010 Visiting Social Activist Ai-jen Poo was recently named to the
"100 Most Influential People in the World" list by TIME Magazine.   Check out this profile and short video about her efforts organizing domestic workers to achieve their employment rights.

 

An Overview of the Twink Frey Visiting Social Activist Program

Each year, the Twink Frey Visiting Social Activist (VSA) Program brings to CEW a social justice activist whose work affects women and recognizes gender equity issues. The primary goal of the program is to build the capacity and effectiveness of social activists. This is accomplished by giving the VSA time, space and support to work on a project that would not be possible under the activist’s usual working circumstances.

A four-week stay in Ann Arbor, Michigan, gives the selected activist time for reflection, research, planning and writing related to her area of activism. A stipend, housing and travel expenses are paid by the program. Each VSA is required to create a product that will advance the future work of the VSA and potentially benefit other activists. This product may be a report, plan of action, communication strategy, training tool or other item relevant to the activist’s work.

Connections between Visiting Social Activists and people in Ann Arbor and Grand Rapids have a positive and synergistic effect on all. Community members as well as U-M students, faculty and staff are able to learn from and be inspired by activists who are working to improve women’s lives. Interactions between VSAs and U-M faculty nurture a “scholar-activist” mindset that can improve the quality of work done in academia as well as social justice organizations.

The VSA program is made possible through a generous gift from UM alumna Twink Frey and her husband James McKay. Learn more about the process for nominating or applying to become a Twink Frey Visiting Social Activist.


The 2011-12 Twink Frey Visiting Social Activist

Mistinguette Smith, Executive Director of the Black/Land Project, spent October 2011 interviewing black women in Michigan. She asked:  "What stories do black women have to tell about relationship to land and place that are valuable and unique?"  From these interviews and others she conducted across the U.S., she created a short video entitled Black/Land: Women's Voices, which was shown as part of three workshops held in Detroit and Ann Arbor.  Smith's workshops highlighted the powerful traditions of resourcefulness, resilience and regeneration evident in many black communities today.  

Looking forward, Smith continues to collect stories and hopes to convene a national conference to celebrate the connections between black people, land and place, and to grapple with important policy issues. Her research findings and community-based efforts reveal a number of complex and overlapping aspects of black life in America, encompassing historical and current perspectives, urban and rural settings, emotional and pragmatic responses, and policy and practice implications.  The Black/Land stories can serve as a framework for bringing together community representatives, land use planners, environmentalists, academics, business leaders and governmental actors in order to resolve critical land use issues facing Americans today.

 

 
Visiting Social Activists 2006 to Spring 2011

Kim Bobo  (March 2011)
Kim Bobo founded and directs Interfaith Worker Justice, an organization representing more than 70 interfaith committees, workers' centers and student groups across the United States.  Since 1996, IWJ has educated and mobilized the religious community on issues and campaigns that will improve wages, benefits, and conditions for workers.

For her Visiting Social Activist project, Bobo revised and updated her 2008 book Wage Theft in America:  Why Millions of Working Americans Are Not Getting Paid – And What We Can Do About It.  Wage Theft includes violations of minimum wage laws; not paying overtime pay or forcing workers to work off the clock; denying workers their final paychecks; misclassifying employees as independent contractors to avoid paying minimum wage, overtime, and the employers' share of FICA tax; and not paying workers at all. You can now order the newly released edition. 


Ai-jen Poo (March 2010) is co-founder and former director of Domestic Workers United, a New York-based advocacy organization of over 2,100 nannies, housekeepers and caregivers for the elderly. DWU mobilized a statewide campaign for a Domestic Workers Bill of Rights. Ms. Poo wrote about the lessons learned by Domestic Workers United regarding coalition building, promoting policy statewide, expanding membership and developing the leadership skills of its volunteers.

Her paper about the organizing campaign was given to 1,000 activists who attended the U.S. Social Forum in Detroit in June 2010. Later that summer, New York Governor David Paterson signed the bill into law. In June 2011, the California Assembly approved a similar bill, taking it a step closer to becoming the second state to pass such historic legislation.  Also in June, the International Labor Organization adopted the first ever global rule recognizing domestic workers and setting international labor standards to protect their rights. Learn more about the growing national and international movements to protect domestic workers' rights.

Ms. Poo now heads the National Domestic Workers Alliance. In April 2012, Ms. Poo was named to TIME Magazine's list of the "100 Most Influential People in the World" for her leadership of domestic worker campaigns across the U.S.  Her profile in TIME was one of just a handful made into a video, which you can view here.
 

Mallika Dutt (March 2009) is the Executive Director of Breakthrough, an international human rights organization that uses education and popular culture to promote values of dignity, equality, and justice. Read more about her work and her TFVSA project.

Ms. Dutt’s paper presents Breakthrough’s theory of social change and the ways in which it builds a culture of human rights.


Linda Burnham (February 2008) founded the Women of Color Resource Center (WCRC) in 1990 to promote an agenda that recognizes the interconnections between anti-racist, anti-sexist and anti-homophobic organizing on issues of peace and civil rights.

During her stay, she discussed issues related to social movements with several UM researchers, interviewed eleven social justice leaders, and reflected on her own organizing experiences to develop her TFVSA paper. See "The Absence of a Gender Justice Framework in Social Justice Organizing" in which Ms. Burnham makes several recommendations for social justice organizations interested in better understanding how gender dynamics play out in their communities, among their members and constituents, and within their organizations.

Learn more about the Women of Color Resource Center and Ms. Burnham’s experience as a Twink Frey Visiting Social Activist.


Anne Ladky (February 2007) is the Executive Director of Women Employed a non-profit that analyzes workplace issues, educates policy makers, and builds support for improved career opportunities, benefits and incomes for women. During her stay, she met with faculty experts in business, public policy, economics and labor relations to develop a persuasive business case showing how businesses can save money (e.g., in recruitment and retraining, customer satisfaction and repeat business) by providing low-wage workers with adequate wages, sick time and health insurance, and greater scheduling predictability.

Find out more about Ms. Ladky’s work as TFVSA, and how Women Employed is now utilizing the business case she created as part of her stay at CEW.

Read Ms. Ladky’s reflections on the benefits of being an “activist in residence” at CEW.


Connie Evans – Inaugural Visiting Social Activist 
(March 2006) In 2006, Connie Evans came to CEW as the Center’s first Twink Frey Visiting Social Activist. As founder of the Women’s Self-Employment Project, she created the largest microenterprise program in the country assisting low-income urban women. Ms. Evans has also played an active role in global efforts to encourage investments that support human rights. During her stay, Ms. Evans consulted with University researchers and then convened town meetings with local African American women to learn how they spent, saved and managed their money.

Her findings are summarized in the report: The Intersection of Gender, Race and Culture as Influencers on African American Women's Financial Fitness, Asset Accumulation, and Wealth Attainment

Learn more about Ms. Evans and her work in microenterprise development.