WHO WE ARE
We are workers, united across different industries to improve our working conditions and our lives. We are coming together as a multiracial community of working people, including immigrants, women, people with disabilities, and LGBTQ+ workers.
WHAT WE DO
We build power through education, organizing, and enforcement. We work to raise and uphold standards in the workplace. And we fight for economic and racial justice in our communities. Here’s how:
EDUCATION
We learn together about our rights as workers, and we develop the tools to exercise our rights and make them real.
ORGANIZING
We organize, speak out, and take action to win changes in our workplaces and our lives. Together, we transform industry practices, change laws, and shift norms around the value of work.
ENFORCEMENT
We hold employers accountable to workplace laws and standards through legal services, and we use the law creatively to help build our movement.
WHY WE DO IT
We see a future where all jobs are good jobs, and where all workers are respected and thrive in our workplaces and our communities.
WE BELIEVE
- All workers deserve respect.
- Organizing together is how we build our power.
- Our economy thrives when workers thrive because workers are the driving force behind our economy – not the stock market or investors or technology.
- As workers, we are the experts in our own lives, and we should be leading the work to identify and solve the issues we face.
- Every worker deserves to know our rights at work and have the ability to exercise those rights; and no worker should be retaliated against for standing up for our rights at work.
- We must fight for racial justice and economic justice. We cannot have one without the other.
- Our political and economic systems must be transformed to center the needs of working-class and poor people.
Staff
Danielle Alvarado, Executive Director, dalvarado(at)fairworkcenter.org
Danielle has more than a decade of experience working in movements for racial and economic justice across the country. As Executive Director, she provides leadership on organizational strategy, advocates for public policy that puts workers first, and fosters collaboration between our campaigns, legal, and education teams to build worker power in Washington state and beyond. She previously served as our Legal Director, overseeing the Legal Clinic’s efforts to recover $1.5 million in stolen wages and expanding representation of low-wage workers in wage theft, harassment, and retaliation cases.
Before coming to Working Washington & Fair Work Center, Danielle was an Immigrants’ Rights Staff Attorney at Takeroot Justice, where she provided direct representation, policy and technical assistance, and strategic campaign support to grassroots immigrants’ rights organizations and worker centers in New York City. She serves on the Board of Directors for Detention Watch Network, a national organization dedicated to ending immigration detention in the United States. She speaks Spanish, attended Whitman College and Northeastern University School of Law, and is a proud past recipient of the National Lawyers Guild C.B. King Award. Danielle is admitted to practice law in Washington and New York. When she’s not working, Danielle enjoys taking her puppy out on walks and making pottery.
Jeremiah Miller, Legal Director, jmiller(at)fairworkcenter.org
Jeremiah Miller has actively litigated on behalf of working people since he became a lawyer in 2008. He was a trial attorney and counsel for civil rights at the United States Department of Labor for more than a decade, prosecuting anti-discrimination, wage and hour, workplace safety and health, and anti-retaliation cases in administrative and federal courts to ensure fair, equitable, and safe working conditions throughout the Western United States.
Before joining Fair Work Center, Jeremiah served as an Assistant City Attorney for the Seattle City Attorney’s Office representing the Office of Labor Standards in its enforcement actions under the city’s progressive labor standards. He defended the city’s progressive labor standards in a variety of actions, including defending a federal preemption challenge to protections for hotel workers at the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, and defending the city’s minimum compensation standards for gig workers at the Washington Supreme Court.
Jeremiah earned his J.D. from the University of Washington School of Law, was the recipient of the Mary Ellen Krug Scholarship labor and employment law scholarship, and holds a Ph.D. in Inorganic Chemistry from the California Institute of Technology.
Josh Fogt, Operations Director, josh(at)fairworkcenter.org
Josh is responsible for managing operations, human resources, and many other special projects for Fair Work Center. Josh has over ten years of experience in the public, private and non-profit sectors working on progressive policy development, advocacy and strategic communications. Locally, he has worked for Seattle City Councilmember Mike O’Brien, Northwest Harvest and Public Health – Seattle & King County, as well as for Peter D. Hart Research Associates in Washington, D.C.
Emily Grove, Staff Attorney, egrove(at)fairworkcenter.org
Emily advocates for the protection and advancement of workers’ rights through her representation of individuals under local, state and federal employment laws. She provides free legal consultations and represents workers through various stages of dispute resolution processes. Before joining Fair Work Center, Emily practiced at a private law firm representing workers in matters of employment discrimination including, race discrimination, disability discrimination, age discrimination, gender and pregnancy discrimination, hostile work environment claims, and harassment claims. Emily earned her J.D. from the University of Washington School of Law and her B.A. in Anthropology from the University of Washington. Emily is admitted to practice law in Washington.
Mohamed Ahmed, Community Engagement & Basebuilding Educator, mohamed(at)fairworkcenter.org
Mohamed Ahmed is the Outreach and Education Coordinator for the SeaTac Airport. Mohamed was born in Mogadishu, Somalia. His Family migrated to Pakistan and India at the age of 9. At the age of 12, he started translating for families going through the refugee process in Pakistan and also partook in his first policy protest in front of the United Nations office in Islamabad, Pakistan. Since migrating to Seattle, WA, Mohamed has been volunteering at many of the Somali Community events and organizations advocating for all aspects of social change and the needs of the immigrant communities in South King County. Serving as a community organizer with AL Noor Center, he partook in the fight for $15 minimum wage at SeaTac. He then as President of AL Noor Center partnered with Fair Work Center since it’s beginning.
Henny Ahn, Legal Clinic Coordinator, hahn(at)fairworkcenter.org
Henny is responsible for the coordination of intakes and administrative support for the Fair Work Center Legal Clinic. Previously, she interned for Congresswoman Pramila Jayapal’s campaign and the Neighborhood Legal Clinics at the King County Bar Association. Henny earned her B.A. in Philosophy at the University of Washington.
Colleen Fontana, Senior Community Engagement & Basebuilding Educator, colleen(at)fairworkcenter.org
Colleen is joining the Fair Work Center Outreach and Education Team for Seattle area workers. Most recently, Colleen coordinated the Worker Rights Outreach and Education program at Casa Latina, co-leading the Worker Defense Committee which organizes community members, workers and allies to recover unpaid wages through negotiation and community action. Additionally, she facilitated a group of worker advocates to support outreach to certain key industries such as domestic work and construction. She previously worked in a migrant shelter on the US/Mexico border in El Paso, Texas, where she learned more about our deeply broken immigration system and the power of education and information to build community resilience. Colleen is bilingual in Spanish and earned her BA in Journalism from Seattle University. She enjoys swing dancing, backpacking adventures in the nearby mountains, and exploring new local restaurants.
Zhi Chen, Operations Coordinator, zhi(at)fairworkcenter.org
Bio for Zhi is coming soon!
Nishi Shankar, Grants & Development Associate, nishi(at)fairworkcenter.org
Nishi is responsible for monitoring grants, grant compliance, and data support for Fair Work Center. Prior to her current role, she worked as a Supervisor for the Family Law Department at the King County Superior Court and has been actively involved in local politics. Nishi graduated from The University of Puget Sound in 2014 with a B.A. in U.S. Politics & Government and has devoted her career to advocating for social change. She was born in the Fiji Islands, is bilingual in Hindi, and moved to the U.S. as a child. Nishi’s life experiences have instilled a strong passion for worker’s rights, economic, and racial justice. In her free time she enjoys spending time with family and friends, cooking, traveling, and hiking.
Gabo Gutierrez, Equal Justice Works Fellow sponsored by the Ottinger Foundation, ggutierrez(at)fairworkcenter.org
Gabriel “Gabo” Gutierrez advocates for workers under local, state and federal law, with a particular focus on workers in the Yakima Valley. He provides free legal consultations, engages in worker education, and represents workers in administrative forums and in litigation. Before coming to Fair Work Center, Gabo was part of the first cohort of students in CUNY School of Law’s Workers’ Rights Clinic; an Executive Board member of his law school’s Labor Coalition; and an intern at the SEIU, Centro de los Derechos del Migrante, and Community Legal Services. Gabo earned his J.D. from CUNY School of Law and his B.A. in Music-Arts from McGill University. He is admitted to practice law in Washington.
Board
David Rolf, President
Rebecca Saldaña, Vice President
WA State Senator, 37th Legislative District
Rebecca Smith, Treasurer
Nina Jenkins
Charlotte Noss
Erika Valencia