Leader Spotlight
Leader Spotlight: Sr. Cheryl Liske
Sister Cheryl Liske, OP is a Dominican Sister of Adrian Michigan. She grew up on the west side of Detroit in a neighborhood of post WWII housing. Sister Cheryl currently lives a block west of her childhood home in Detroit. She is the Michigan state director and is a member of Sts. Simon and Jude…
Leader Spotlight: Mary Lim-Lampe
Mary is the lead organizer of GENESIS, an affiliate of the Gamaliel network in Oakland, California. GENESIS is dedicated to creating a unified voice for social justice and public policy reform, with a focus on leadership development, relationship building and successful action in the public arena. Mary grew up in Kansas City, Missouri and currently…
Leader Spotlight: Aida Cuadrado
Aida grew up in New Jersey in the Puerto Rican Neighborhood speaking only Spanish. She currently lives in Lansing, Michigan and is an organizer of ACTION of Greater Lansing. Aida works with four different task forces: Children’s Health Equality and Access, Civil Rights for Immigrants, Restraint and Bullying, Housing Code Enforcement and the Disability Caucus.…
Leader Spotlight: Rita Aguilar
Rita grew up in Pilsen, a neighborhood in Chicago, Illinois and she has lived there for most of her life. She is the Vice President of the Pilsen Neighbors Community Counsel (PNCC), which is an affiliate of Gamaliel and she has been working there for about ten years. In 2010, Rita had participated in the…
Pastor Dietra Wise Baker
“A COMMUNITY LEADER FOR JUSTICE FOR THE LONG TERM” What is your current involvement with Gamaliel? I am the Metropolitan Congregation’s United (MCU) Clergy Caucus co-leader. I provide leadership for the clergy from the congregations affiliated with MCU. MCU has not had a clergy caucus in a long time due to lack of leadership. Gamaliel’s…
Rev Rodney Williams
What is your current involvement with Gamaliel? I am currently the Co-Chair of the Metro Organization for Racial and Economic Equity (MORE2). My role as Co-Chair is to help lead MORE2 in a prophetic way to help bring equity and justice to the greater metropolitan Kansas City region. How did you get involved with Gamaliel?…
Congratulations to Cesar Chavez 2019 Honoree Pablo Tapia
Yesterday, March 31, was the birthday of Cesar Chavez, the great labor and civil rights activist, who—along with Dolores Huerta—co-founded the National Farm Workers Association (now known as United Farm Workers). As a tribute to his legacy, Gamaliel funder and partner, the Marguerite Casey Foundation (MCF) chose to honor local heroes across this country. Gamaliel…
Vilma Cardona
A few weeks ago Pilsen Neighbors honored Vilma Cardona, 23, as its annual Senorita del Sol, recognizing her service to the community in Pilsen and accomplishments as a “Dreamer”—she was born in Guatemala and is the first in her family to go to college. Photo (of Cardona in traditional Guatemalan costume) by Oscar Espinoza courtesy of Oscar Photo.…
Maria Van Core
This summer Maria G. Van Core, Action Greater Lansing board member and president of Greater Lansing Area chapter of Labor Council For Latin American Advancement, LCLAA, nominated ACTION organizer Aida Cuadrado for a labor-community partnership award. She is a local and national leader on immigration issues. What is your current involvement with Gamaliel/Action of Greater…
Octavia Moore
Octavia Moore, 16, holding paper at center, says Oakland, CA affiliate Genesis helped her find her voice. Her work on the group’s campaign to win free public transit for students to go to and from school has led to work to end the school to prison pipeline in Oakland schools and a deeper approach to…