Adelante Board, staff, and family members at our 2018 Retreat
Our Staff
Miriam is originally from Guatemala and loves working with and for her community. She arrived in Alabama in 2005. She previously volunteered at La Casita, and then worked at the Hispanic Interest Coalition of Alabama for several years. “For me it is a lovely experience to be able to show my community what one day other people taught me. Now I have the great opportunity to work at Adelante and continue to be involved with the community, which is the work I have always loved to do,” explains Miriam.
Born in Colombia, Luis immigrated to the U.S. as a child with is family. He has been in the Birmingham area since 2006, when he began his undergraduate in International Studies at University of Alabama at Birmingham. Luis is interested in empowering the worker community with the tools they need to represent themselves in their struggle for equality and justice.
Victoria was born in Montevideo, Uruguay and moved with her family to Birmingham in 1996. She studied English at the State University of New York at Purchase as well as the University of Alabama at Birmingham. Her professional background includes community organizing, communications, and development with a focus and passion for Latin American culture and storytelling of the immigrant experience in the U.S. “Working at Adelante is an incredible honor,” says Victoria, “I deeply admire every member, their powerful individual voices, and their collective fight for liberation.”
Jessica moved to Birmingham in 2013 to help launch Adelante with the support of the National Day Laborer Organizing Network. She received her J.D. from Yale Law School in 2013. Jessica’s work is guided by a law and organizing approach, using creative, high-quality litigation, legal representation and strategy to support organized community efforts to hold government actors, employers, and other authorities accountable for unjust practices. Jessica is licensed to practice law in Alabama and California.
Richard Gabriel first came to Adelante as Organizing Fellow for the Shut Down Etowah campaign. Their first taste of organizing began when they fought against Amendment 1, an anti-LGBTQ constitutional amendment proposed in North Carolina. This passion for organizing developed into advocacy opposing HB2 (anti-Trans bill in North Carolina), pressuring decision makers to make Wake Forest University a Sanctuary Campus for undocumented students, and educating peers in organizing and power building. Continuing to push for justice, they are incredibly excited to be directly addressing immigration detention and mass incarceration with this amazing group of people, both in Adelante and the Shut Down Etowah campaign.
Our Board of Directors
Marisol Aguilar*
Marisol Aguilar is a community activist who’s been based in Hoover for the past 15 years. She works as a house cleaner. She has three children and is working diligently for the betterment of her community.
Yazmín Contreras
Yazmín is a Chicana, a proud daughter of Mexican immigrants, a fighter in her community and a constant advocate for immigrant rights. She was raised in Alabama, and graduated from the University of Alabama at Birmingham with a degree in political science and international studies. Her parents came to the U.S. as migrant farmworkers who moved from state to state following the harvests, eventually settling down in Alabama. “My passion is to help others realize their own potential and to fight for their own liberation,” she explains. Yazmín was Adelante’s founding Organizer from 2015-2017.
Jean Hernández
Jean is the Latino Outreach Coordinator at AIDS Alabama.
Cesar Mata*
Cesar has lived in Birmingham, Alabama for 16 years. He started working as an immigrants’ rights activist around 2011 with the Alabama Coalition For Immigrant Justice (ACIJ). He also serves on the board of Greater Birmingham Ministries. He served as Adelante’s inaugural Organizing Fellow in 2017.
Remedios Perez*
As a mother, wife, and an immigrant, Remedios fights everyday for her family and he community. She got involved with community activism and social justice work because of her own personal struggles. Now Remedies hopes to make the world a better place through her efforts.
Karla Pesquera*
Karla migrated from Honduras to Alabama to escape poverty and violence. She and her coworkers first came to Adelante in 2015 after having their wages stolen. They got the support they needed to confront their abusive employer, won their wages, and became Adelante members. She then became a leader in the Sanctuary Campaign and testified in front of Birmingham’s City Council.
Helen Rivas
Benjamín Tzompaxtle Itehua*
Benjamín is an immigrant and indigenous rights activist based in Tuscaloosa, Alabama. He is originally from Veracruz, Mexico. In recent years, his work has been strongly centered around immigrants rights, deportations, and wage theft. Benjamín’s passion for community activism is based on a desire to gain equality for his family.
*Adelante member
Previous Board Members:
Dr. Carlos Alemán
Lily Andrews
Miguel Carpizo Ituarte
Scott Douglas
Rosa Gutierrez
Stan Johnson
Pastor Tommy Morgan