Executive Office
Mary Beth Maxwell
Executive Director
Mary Beth Maxwell is the founding Executive Director of American Rights
at Work, a national advocacy organization launched in 2003 to advance
workers’ rights to organize and collectively bargain. In its brief
history, she has led the organization in exposing unionbusting in The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal,
monitoring decisions of the National Labor Relations Board, and
informing the policy debate on workers’ freedom to form unions through
original research studies.
» Read Mary Beth's full bio
David Bonior
Chair (on leave 2007-2008)
David Bonior is the
Chair of American Rights at Work. He also serves as University
Professor of Labor Studies at Wayne State University; and on the boards
of Public Citizen and Community Central Bank in Mount Clemens, MI.
Elected to the U.S. House of Representatives
in 1976, he served the people of Macomb and St. Clair Counties for 26
years-the longest tenure of any Congressman from this district. When
he retired at the end of 2002, he had held the position of Democratic
Whip, the second ranking Democrat in the House, for ten years.
» Read David's full bio
Kimberly Freeman
Deputy Director
For more than 13 years, Kimberly Freeman has served the progressive community as a
senior communications strategist and publicist. Previously, as Director
of Communications for the Robert F. Kennedy Memorial, she developed and
managed national and international media campaigns on domestic social
justice issues and international human rights. As an independent public
relations consultant, she has designed national public relations
projects for clients including the Children’s Defense Fund, the
Smithsonian Institution and the National Breast Cancer Coalition.
Freeman previously served as Director of Communications for American
Rights at Work.
» Email Kimberly
Portia Hickson
Executive Assistant
Communications
Liz Cattaneo
Communications Director
Elizabeth Bukey
Communications Assistant
Josh Goldstein
Press Secretary
Beth Handy
Communications and Publications Coordinator
Jon Steed
Writer
Michael Whitney
New Media Coordinator
Research
Julie Martínez Ortega
Director of Research
Before joining our staff, Julie Martínez Ortega
was a Kerr White Visiting Scholar with the U.S. Department of Health
and Human Services. She also practiced civil rights litigation with
Hadsell & Stormer, Inc. of Los Angeles, California, and worked on
Capitol Hill as a Special Assistant to Senator Alan Cranston. She is a
graduate of Stanford University, the UCLA School of Law, and the Heller
Graduate School of Brandeis University. She is a member of the
California Bar Association.
» Email Julie
Erin Johansson
Research Associate
Erin Johansson has worked as a Research Associate for American Rights at Work since 2004. Her recent publications include "Checking Out: The Rise of Wal-Mart and the Fall of Middle Class Retail Jobs" in the Connecticut Law Review, and two American Rights at Work reports, Fed Up With FedEx: How FedEx Ground Tramples Workers’ Rights and Civil Rights, and Broken Promises: Verizon neglects its commitment to provide good jobs and quality service. Erin also writes the Eye on the NLRB blog. She holds a Master of Public Policy degree from the University of Maryland College Park, and a Bachelor of Arts from Skidmore College, where she was elected to the Phi Beta Kappa Society. Erin is a member of the Labor and Employment Relations Association and as serves as a Co-Chair of the Labor Studies Committee.
» Email Erin
Velina Petrova
Research Analyst
Partnerships & Outreach
Jane Norman
Director, Partnerships and Outreach
Jane Norman brings over 10 years of experience in program design, training, and nonprofit management to American Rights at Work.
Previously, as a Program Director at
Advocates for Youth, she led a multi-year public health education
project with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to reduce
the rates of HIV/AIDS infection among adolescents. She established a
national clearinghouse to strengthen the design and delivery of
adolescent health programs, provided training and technical assistance
to youth-serving institutions and professionals, authored articles and
publications, built networks of youth leaders, and led lobbying
delegations to the UN Special Sessions on Children and HIV/AIDS. She
has also served as a training consultant to the UN Population Fund,
where she designed and led advocacy trainings in Bosnia and Panama.
She currently sits on the Board of the Office of Minority Health Resource Center.
» Email Jane
Joe Wantz
Outreach Assistant
Rebecca Wasserman
Senior Outreach Associate
Socially Responsible Business Program
Nikki Daruwala
Director, Socially Responsible Business Program
Nikki Daruwala brings 20 years of labor policy, corporate advocacy,
and management experience to her current position. Prior to joining
American Rights at Work, she was Manager for Advocacy and Social Policy
at Calvert, a leading socially responsible mutual fund company. She has
worked with several major U.S. and international corporations in
developing comprehensive workplace policies and programs. Previously,
she was employed by the Food and Allied Service Trades Department of
the AFL-CIO and the United Food and Commercial Workers International
Union (UFCW), where she led and was instrumental in advocacy campaigns
to help workers gain union representation and bargaining rights.
Daruwala is a founding member of the Child Labor Coalition, and has
served as Chairperson of the Indigenous Rights Committee and the
Diversity Committee at the Interfaith Center on Corporate
Responsibility (ICCR) and on the Shareholder Advisory and Policy
Committee Board of the Social Investment Forum (SIF). She currently
serves on the Advisory Committee for the Institute for Women’s Policy
Research (IWPR) and the Board of Co-op America.
She is a graduate of Ithaca College and holds an MS in industrial
and labor relations from the University of Massachusetts-Amherst.
» Email Nikki
Administration
Lorenzo Di Silvio
Administrative Assistant
Development
Alicia Daly
Development Director
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