About Us
Our Mission & Vision
We envision a society free of exploitation and oppression, where all people have the resources to live safe, dignified and healthy lives.
We build power with Hispanic immigrant workers in Springfield and throughout the Pioneer Valley. Together we educate our community, organize for systemic change and empower our members to lead the immigrant worker movement.
PVWC History
In 2014, a team of restaurant workers, labor unions and local activists launched Pioneer Valley Workers Center to build power with workers and immigrants through community organizing, mutual aid, and the solidarity economy. Since our founding, PVWC members have organized for wage theft protections and better working conditions, municipal and statewide policies to protect and improve the lives of immigrants, and increased the public’s awareness about the realities facing immigrant workers.
Today, PVWC is an organization that is of, by and for immigrant workers. Our diverse membership base of immigrant workers come from across Latin America and work in low-wage industries such as agriculture, construction, landscaping, cleaning/laundry services, restaurants, and more. We shift power within our own organization by being led at the staff, Board and member level by those who come from our membership base and are directly affected by the issues that we work on.
Meet the Staff
Claudia Rosales, Executive Director
Unanimously elected by the Worker Center Staff Collective and our board, Claudia Rosales became the new Co-Director for the first time in September of 2021. She first joined our team as Farmworker Organizer in March of 2020. Through this position, she has been instrumental in growing our membership base from 300 to 500, and expanded our COVID-Relief Solidarity Fund. Despite the many challenges of organizing in a pandemic, she met 1-1 with more than 200 workers to discuss their labor conditions and to teach them their rights. Before joining our staff, Claudia was a long-standing member of our Springfield Workers Committee. She also served on our Board of Directors, and was a founding member of the Riquezas del Campo farm cooperative. She was born in El Salvador to a farming family, where she worked for many years. She is intimately familiar with the difficult realities immigrants face in the United States, and she believes in organizing to build a better future.
Ariana (Ari) Keigan, Associate Director
Ari Keigan comes to the Pioneer Valley Workers Center with a wide range of experiences in farming, nonprofit, and community organizing settings. She has woven her commitment to justice throughout her experiences as a local farm worker, domestic violence survivor advocate, and ESL teacher. Ari is committed to building a world of connection, mutual care, and interdependence by way of transformative justice and healing. Her lineage of diasporic Jewish ancestors and her people’s radical traditions motivate and sustain Ari's work. She holds degrees in African American Studies and Gender & Sexuality Studies from Brandeis University. At the Workers Center, Ari is responsible for grant management, fundraising, and supporting the team with strategic priorities.
Leninn Torres, Lead Community Organizer
After immigrating from Tlaxcala, Mexico and working for more than a decade in the restaurant industry, Leninn began as a volunteer with PVWC’s mutual aid program in 2020. Growing up, Leninn saw his mother struggle to provide her children with consistent healthy meals. His upbringing, immigration journey, and experience in the restaurant industry have led to a deep, personal understanding of food insecurity and the myriad challenges, facing the undocumented immigrant and low-income community in the US. Leninn became a member of PVWC’s staff in the early 2021 and is proud to help to keep the Mutual Aid food distribution program running and growing to serve communities in need in the Pioneer Valley.
Sarah Takasaki, Communications Organizer
Sarah comes to the Workers Center through working alongside cooperative farm Riquezas del Campo and from a background of work in food service, healthcare, and farming. Sarah works closely on helping members to attain their Driver's Licenses and supporting communications at the Workers Center.
Itzhel Gibson, Finance Coordinator
Itzhel came to the world of organizing through UFCW Local 770 in Los Angeles as a El Super Boycotter in the union’s campaign to fight injustices that immigrant food workers endured at the grocery chain. She is a member of Dream Team LA, a grassroots organization that advocates for the rights of immigrants across the country. On top of that, she has been a volunteer for the City of Los Angeles for over two decades, helping with all types of community events. As a teenager, she helped with the growth of the Heart of Los Angeles Youth Program for four years and won a grant for college for all of her hard volunteer work. Itzhel also works part time with our movement partners at the Food Chain Workers Alliance as the Operations Associate.
Going Forward
Check out ongoing efforts and learn more about specific campaigns.
Drivers License For All
Mutual Aid
Worker Trainings