Artist, Activist, Educator, Resource Connector. Charles Curtis is a multifaceted leader deeply rooted in social justice and community building efforts, particularly within the Hudson Valley region. In his role as Director of Community Engagement for the City of New Rochelle, Charles is committed to identifying and addressing the diverse needs of residents, fostering partnerships, and spearheading initiatives that promote equity and inclusion.
Throughout his career, Charles has actively participated in various social justice initiatives and organizations, including Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc., Community Voices Heard, My Brother’s Keeper, and the White Plains Youth Bureau. His commitment to empowering underserved communities is further exemplified by his involvement in Suit-UP!, a mentoring program designed to empower young men in underserved communities. Demonstrating his dedication to uplifting marginalized communities and promoting positive youth, Charles served on the advisory committee that successfully secured the implementation of the My Brother's Keeper program into the City of Mount Vernon.
Charles is also an award-winning playwright and performing artist. His stage plays, including the critically acclaimed STRINGS, have been showcased in theaters and festivals nationwide. Through his artistry, Charles explores themes of identity, resilience, and social justice, sparking conversations and inspiring change within communities.
Activist, Advocate & Community Organizer. Dawèdo came to the US from Haiti where her father, uncles, and family friends were political activists fighting against the corrupt government. The influence of the Haitian Revolution on American black liberation movements has always been the starting point for Dawèdo’s own political activism.
She became a volunteer organizer and activist in New York’s Columbia, Greene and Albany Counties.
She is currently a staff organizer with Columbia County Sanctuary Movement. CCSM organizes immigrants and allies to collectively support, empower, and defend communities in the Capital Region and Hudson Valley. CCSM was founded in 2016, by four community members who stood up and intervened in the ICE raids that were happening throughout the city of Hudson.
Dawèdo has spent most of last year in Albany collaborating with local organizations to support newly arriving Asylum Seekers. As a volunteer coordinator & Community Organizer, she continues to build relationships, ask tough questions, and fight for new arrivals.
Her work in Columbia County involves cultivating potential members, specifically from the Caribbean Islands such as Haiti, Jamaica, Guyana, Trinidad and Tobago. This is done through one-on-one conversations and community-building events. Dawèdo also spends a great portion of her time at the Capitol in Albany. She attends press conferences and meets with legislators to push state priorities for our immigrant communities and incarcerated individuals. She is currently organizing a Caribbean Festival in Albany, NY July 27, 2024, and looks forward to starting her skin care and healing ventures.
Organizer, Activist, Advocate for Workers’ Rights. Over the course of fifteen years, Janet worked as a social worker with the Jesuit community in Guayaquil, Ecuador, and in health services at the national level with the foundation Filanbanco. In 1993-1994, she worked in El Salvador as a popular educator for the Social Initiative for Democracy, to engage indigenous agricultural workers and rural in the political process. She was also an international observer in the Salvadoran presidential elections in 1994. Born in Guayaquil, Ecuador, she obtained her bachelor’s degree in social work from the Vicente Rocafuerte University and studied theology at the Latin American Biblical University in San Jose, Costa Rica. At Westchester Community College, she has taken classes in human services and immigration law.
Since 2011, Janet has been working for Catholic Charities as a community organizer with the Day Laborers Program in Yonkers. She has organized workshops and trainings on topics such as OSHA in construction, gardening, asbestos, health and safety, and workers’ rights. She is the coordinator at Catholic Charities’ new workers center.
Janet recruited a board for Obreros Unidos (Workers United), whose mission is to protect the rights of day laborers. The organization is part of the National Day Laborer Organizing Network, which offers training, legal advice, lobbying, and worker advocacy to members.
Farmer, Activist, Bridge Builder. Growing up in a food desert, Michael was only able to understand food as a tool for survival. Over time, Michael started to see food for what it truly is, a tool to heal and resist. Through his work as a farmer, activist, and community bridge builder at Sweet Freedom Farm, he seeks to give marginalized people, including prisoners, agency in defining their own health through education, opportunity, and access. Michael became active in the food justice movement while he was serving his 14-year prison sentence. He doubled down on his efforts immediately after his release in February of 2022. Since his release, Michael has worked towards creating a food justice network that can expand his overall impact. Michael has helped to pioneer the bring back care packages movement, speaking about it in interviews and publishing an article about it. He has worked with the Sing Sing Family Collective; RAPP (Releasing Ageing People in Prison campaign); All Of Us; Vocal-NY; Kites Nest; Center for Community Alternatives, and the Shared Plate Fun. As a bridge-builder, Michael created a panel discussion series to highlight the struggles of formerly incarcerated people and has been hosting farm stands at Sing Sing Correctional Facility. He attends rallies and protests; advocates to senators and assembly members; while continuing to write and speak about the issues he cares about.
Educator, Artist, Community Bridge Builder. Born in Mexico City and raised in the Hudson Valley, Susie grew up watching her parents navigate a new language to provide a better life for their family. Inspired by their resilience, she pursued her passion for the arts. She earned her MFA in Fine Art at Universidad del Claustro de Sor Juana and eventually moved back to New York in 2009 to raise her daughter. Susie hopes to combat the stigma behind being undocumented while bridging the gap between the Latinx community and the places they live. She has worked with Arts-Mid Hudson in the past in curating various exhibits focused on migration and queer Latinx identity.
Susie is the current director of Adelante Student Voices in the Hudson Valley. She works with undocumented youth to change learning environments and make them more equitable. Through her advocacy work in the school district, she strives to provide undocumented students access to higher education by pushing for necessary reforms.
