Organizers & Ambassadors (4/28 backup)

Organizers & Ambassadors

Action Corps ambassadors and organizers are leaders across the country who work closely with us in a volunteer capacity to advance our campaigns. They represent Action Corps in the media, meetings with members of Congress and their communities.

Action Corps organizers have made a commitment above and beyond that of ambassadors, participating in weekly organizing calls, building and leading local teams, and investing significant time in our campaigns.

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Burma Policy Lead

Jan Jan Maran - Burma Policy Lead
Jan Jan Maran is a first generation Kachin-American activist and organizer, and a co-founder of the Global Movement for Myanmar Democracy. She is involved in her D.C.-based Burmese Church community. She previously served as the Assistant Secretary for the Kachin Alliance, co-lead of the Burma Committee for STAND: The Student-Led Movement to End Mass Atrocities, and founder and president of the George Mason University STAND chapter in Virginia.

CALIFORNIA

Jeremy Neill - Ambassador
Jeremy Neil has spent the last two years in the nonprofit sector advocating for ocean plastic mitigation efforts and coastal protection while working on his MS in Public and Urban Policy. His interests center around the intersections of policy and technology, leveraging modern computer technologies to help decision makers and grassroots organizations increase their influence and democratization over public resources.

Blen Alemu - Ambassador
Blen Alemu, based in San Diego, is an international student from Ethiopia. She volunteers as a coordinator, marketer, and financial advisor at Jarweng Educational Development. Jarweng is a non-profit whose mission is to build schools in South Sudan and to improve life through better education, healthcare, and commerce.

COLORADO

Stephen Lauer - Ambassador
Stephen Lauer, based in Pueblo, Colorado, is a scholar, educator, and organizer driven to understand and overcome barriers to sustained civic engagement for inclusive and equitable community development. He is currently working on food access and agricultural initiatives in rural southern Colorado.

Connecticut

Layan Jahaf - Ambassador
Layan Jahaf is a Yemeni-American high school student passionate about political science and foreign relations. She is a founding member of Pathways for Yemen, a nonprofit initiative working to end Yemen's civil war and alleviate the country's devastating conditions.

FLORIDA

Zehra Baqri - Ambassador
Zehra Baqri, based in Orlando, is a college student passionate about science, technology, engineering and math. She is involved in her Shi’a Muslim community and campaigns for first generation immigrants from Pakistan and Iraq to register to vote. It is important to her to speak out for her community to her central Florida representatives.

GEORGIA

Brittany Wilson – Ambassador
Brittany Wilson has over a decade of experience planning outreach events to excite, engage, and interact with the community. She is a founding member of Action Corps. Brittany is the design director at a large home textile company that sells to major retailers throughout the U.S.

IDAHO

Brendan Bell-Taylor - Organizer
Brendan Bell-Taylor graduated from Boise State University’s Political Science Program, specializing in international relations. He recently worked with the Wassmuth Center for Human Rights and is involved with Idaho politics to further human rights. His research has focused on far-right radicalization in the United States.

Hannah Margaret Schwarz - Ambassador
Hannah Margaret Schwarz is an international development practitioner committed to gender equality, climate justice, and human rights. Hannah graduated from Willamette University in Salem, Oregon, and worked in sexual reproductive health and food security while serving in the Peace Corps in Nepal.

Illinois

Sarah Pajeau - Ambassador
Sarah Pajeau is passionate about refugee rights and community health. She has her Master of Science in Refugee & Forced Migration Studies and her Bachelor of Arts in International Relations. She actively works with the Rohingya refugee population in Chicago.

INDIANA

Kimberly Kiser - Ambassador
Kimberly Kiser is a data specialist and prospect researcher for Second Helpings, in Indianapolis, providing job training, and hunger relief to 4,000 people a day. She is a founding member of Action Corps and holds a master’s degree from Indiana University, where she studied non-profit law, management and finance.

IOWA

Rev. Joan Fumetti - Ambassador
Rev. Joan Fumetti is an ordained minister with the United Church of Christ, and a climate activist. She is a retired staff member of Growing Hope Globally. The organization works with U.S. farmers who agree to donate the profits from specified crops to support sustainable agriculture in low-income countries. Rev. Fumetti played a key role in Action Corps’ 2020 Global COVID Response Campaign, bringing together Iowa farmers, humanitarians, and people of faith, to lobby Sen. Grassley.

MAINE

Louise Kazek - Ambassador
Louise Kazek is an international affairs and law student at the University of Maine. Originally from France, and president of Model UN in Maine, she has a diverse network from around the world.

MASSACHUSETTS

Sanjeeth Rajaram - Ambassador
Sanjeeth works in medical sciences and is a graduate of the University of Cincinnati. He is an executive board member of Project Break the Cycle, supporting poverty relief in the Middle East.

Kate Mallory - Ambassador
Kate Mallory, based in Boston, is an undergraduate student studying international relations and political science. Kate currently serves on the board of 100 Million USA, a worldwide campaign to end child exploitation. She previously worked with the Northeastern University School of Law's Immigrant Justice Clinic.

MICHIGAN

Odile Hugonot Haber - Ambassador
Odile Hugonot Haber has been an RN in the US for over 30 years, has worked with the Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom since 1983, and is on the board of World Beyond War. She was a delegate for the California Nurses Association, part of the Campaign Against Apartheid at UC Berkeley in the mid 1980s, part of the Women in Black movement, and part of the Long Haul’s project, the Slingshot newspaper.

MINNESOTA

Kim Kokett - Organizer
Kim Kokett, based in Minneapolis, is a early childhood educator and family advocate. She has had the opportunity to travel to a number of countries including Rwanda, India, Venezuela, Nicaragua, Columbia, South Africa and Sierra Leone to share her experiences around education and learn about development on a local level. She is also connected to MN 350 and the ONE Campaign.

NEW JERSEY

Kathleen O’Neill - Ambassador
Kathleen O'Neill, based in Linden, NJ, is a retired UNICEF staff member. She currently works as a caregiver and has volunteered with ESL programs, LGBT youth groups and the marriage equality movement.

Darshan Shah - Ambassador
Darshan Shah is a co-founder and executive board member of Project Break the Cycle, supports poverty relief in the Middle East. He currently is pursuing a degree in biosystems engineering.

NEW MEXICO

Kathy Chavez - Ambassador
Kathy Chavez, a native New Mexican, is a Navy veteran and practicing nurse. She grew up with a strong sense of social justice and was raised to respect the earth and all living creatures. With Action Corps she has lobbied for food aid reform and climate change policies. Her passions include health care and the COVID global response.

Don Wiviott - Ambassador
Don Wiviott is a social entrepreneur currently working in organic agriculture and reforestation. In 2008 he was a congressional candidate in his home state of New Mexico and currently serves on the board of the Iowa Farmers Union. He holds a degree in Environmental Studies from Dartmouth and an MBA from Harvard.

NEW YORK

Sami Esquivel - Lead Organizer
Steering Committee Member, Climate Justice Lead & New York Lead Organizer

Sami Esquivel has worked with local NGOs to spread awareness on the importance of oceanic health and forests by leading bay restoration projects and educational hikes for volunteers and the public. She has also coordinated with working communities to advocate for land management and organic farming at community farms for over three years. Sami is focused on amplifying diverse voices to build a healthier community through her involvement in projects involving community outreach as well as arts and cultural partnerships.

Julia Meltzer - Ambassador
Julia Meltzer is a graduate student in the Environmental Policy and Sustainability Management program at the Milano School of Policy, Management, and the Environment and will be completing her Master of Science in Fall 2021. She lives in Brooklyn, NY, and is interested in climate justice, environmental justice, and political ecology at all scales. She has advocated for environmental policy at the state level and looks forward to expanding her scope to address intersecting global challenges.

OHIO

Djeynaba Ba - Ambassador
Djeynaba Ba is originally from Mauritania. Her dissertation research at Ohio State University focuses on mining policies in Africa. She has volunteered with Oxfam America, World Food Programme USA, and CARE.

Kenny Ruffin - Ambassador
Kenny Ruffin is a former member of Oxfam America’s Action Corps and a founding organizer of Action Corps. He has been interested and active in pursuing justice and equality locally, nationally and internationally.

OKLAHOMA

Sister Diane Koorie - Ambassador
Sr. Diane, a Sister of Mercy at Mercy Health Center convent in Oklahoma City, is a former teacher continuing to serve on ministry boards, offering adult faith formation, and in advocacy work. Sisters of Mercy serve God’s people through education, health care and other ministries that further social, political, economic and spiritual well-being.

PENNSYLVANIA

Julian Wharton - Ambassador
Julian Wharton was an advocate in the early AIDS movement with ACT-UP, is chair of the Nominating Committee for the NAACP-Monroe County, PA, and is an active member of his church. Leading up to the 2020 election, he volunteered with Reclaim Our Vote to fight voter suppression.

TEXAS

Neda Aloudi - Ambassador
Neda Aloudi is a Yemeni American activist with an associate’s degree in Allied Health. She is working towards becoming an ultrasound technician and currently works as a preschool teacher.

Rachel Powelson - Ambassador
Rachel Powelson, based in Dallas, has lived in Thailand and Myanmar and researched Kachin languages in grad school. Her wish is for Myanmar to become a peaceful and prosperous country where its people can live in safety and happiness.

UTAH

Farhan Iqbal - Ambassador
Farhan Iqbal, based in Salt Lake City, is an entrepreneur and businessman committed to international charitable causes. He is focused on humanitarian efforts in Yemen, Burma, Syria, and Palestine. With Action Corps he has met with the office of Senator Mike Lee, and initiated a Utah petition to the senator, in support of the people of Yemen.

VERMONT

Mary Diane “MD” Baker - Organizer
MD is an activist in Brattleboro, Vermont, where she organizes with a number of groups. She was a key organizer of the January 25, 2021 Vermont car caravan as part of the global day of action called World Says No to War on Yemen. She has participated in multiple constituent meetings with the staff of Vermont's U.S. senators, advocating for global justice, and she has led press outreach for the group's local Yemen solidarity campaign.

Ellen Schwartz - Ambassador
Ellen is past president of the Vermont Workers’ Center, where she currently serves as co-coordinator of the Campaign Team. She is a retired Vermont educator and editor.

WASHINGTON STATE

Ann Simons - Ambassador
Ann Simons has worked as a state and regional lobbyist for 35 years. She recently played a pivotal role in the passage of legislation creating the Washington State Women's Commission. She holds a Master of International Relations from American University.

Birch MacLeod - Ambassador
Birch MacLeod is a college graduate who was born and raised in Seattle. On her days off you can find her crocheting, gardening, or playing banjo on the porch. Now that Birch is out of school, they have more time and energy to give back to the communities around them.

Founding Organizers

Brennan Frazier, New York
Brian Rawson, California
Clara Herrero, California
Dawn Deransburg, Wisconsin
Desiree Thayer, California
Djeynaba Ba, Ohio
Elizabeth Norman, New York
Elizabeth Tillman, Texas
Ellie Baron, New York
Fatmazohra Feknous Ouaaz, New York
Hope Berndt, Indiana
Isaac Evans-Frantz, New York
Jasmine McBeath, California
Jessica Shao, California

Kathy Chavez, New Mexico
Kenny Ruffin, Ohio
Kimberly Kiser, Indiana
Margaret Tran, New York
Megan Nakra, Illinois
Nancy Carpenter, Illinois
Nancy Romer, New York
Richenda Kramer, New York
Sapana Thomas, Massachusetts
Somia Elrowmeim, New York
Taryn Fusco, New York
Yolande Cadore, New York
Yolibeth Rangel, Wisconsin
Brittany Wilson, Georgia

Special Thanks

Action Corps would never have taken root without the tireless efforts of our founding board members --
Megan Nakra, Sapana Thomas, Elizabeth Tillman, Brittany Wilson, and Kimberly Kiser.