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Commisioners' Bios
Commissioners’ Bios
| Joe Hansen, Founding National Chair Mr. Hansen began his union activism in 1962 when he became an apprentice meat cutter in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Today, he is the International President of the UFCW, a 1.3 million-member labor organization. Hansen is a leader and one of the founding architects of the Change to Win Federation—uniting seven unions, representing six million workers, dedicated to restoring the American Dream in the 21st century—and serves as the chair of the federation’s Immigration Taskforce. In addition, Hansen is President of Union Network International—a global union, uniting 15 million workers in 120 countries. | |
Governor Tom Vilsack, Commissioner In 1998, Gov. Vilsack was the first Democrat in more than 30 years to be elected Governor of Iowa and was re-elected to a second term in 2002. Prior to being elected Governor, he served as Mayor of Mt. Pleasant and was elected to the Iowa State Senate. During his eight years in office, Governor Vilsack made significant investments in Iowa’s educational system, increased the number of Iowans with health care coverage, and made Iowa a leader in the field of renewable energy. He was also engaged in immigration issues in Iowa and took a comprehensive approach to immigration concerns. Prior to being elected Governor of Iowa, Tom Vilsack served as Mayor of Mt. Pleasant in 1987, and was elected to the Iowa State Senate five years later. | |
Dennis Hayashi, Commissioner Mr. Hayashi has served as the Director of the California Department of Fair Employment and Housing, the largest civil rights agency in the country, and as Director of the Office of Civil Rights at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Mr. Hayashi also served as Staff Attorney at the Asian Law Caucus where he was a Lead Counsel in Fred Korematsu v. United States, and as National Director of the Japanese American Citizens League, where he coordinated efforts urging the passage of the federal Civil Rights Act of 1991. | | |
Samuel "Billy" Kyles, Commissioner A native of Mississippi and a leader in the civil rights movement, Rev. Kyles has served as pastor of the Monumental Baptist Church in Memphis, , since . After Memphis sanitation workers went on strike in due to low wages and inhumane working conditions, Rev. Kyles helped to form and lead the effort to gain community support for the striking workers—an endeavor that involved working with Rev. Dr. , Jr. He is a founding member of the National Board of (PUSH), the Executive Director of -Memphis and Executive Producer of Rainbow-PUSH WLOK Radio. He was appointed by President Clinton to serve on the Advisory Committee on Religious Freedom Abroad. | | |
Maria Elena Durazo, Commissioner The daughter of Mexican immigrant farm workers, Ms. Durazo was elected to serve as Executive Secretary-Treasurer of the Los Angeles County Federation of Labor, AFL-CIO in 2006. Before leading the Federation, Ms. Durazo served as President of the hotel workers union UNITE-HERE, Local 11, General Vice-President of HERE International and National Director of the Immigrant Workers’ Freedom Ride. | |
Bill Ong Hing, Commissioner Mr. Hing is a Professor of Law and Asian American Studies at the University of California Davis School of Law. Professor Hing serves on the board of directors of the Asian Law Caucus and the Migration Policy Institute, and on the National Advisory Council of the Asian American Justice Center. | | |
Susan Gzesh, Commissioner Ms. Gzesh is Director of the Human Rights Program at the University of Chicago. She has served as a member of the Executive Committee of the Regional Network of Civil Organizations for Migration and directed its Human Rights Guidelines initiative. She directed the Mexico-U.S. Advocates Network, and has served as Counsel to the Embassy of Mexico on immigration matters. She is currently a member of the Advisory Board of Enlaces America. | | |
Oscar Chacón, Commissioner Mr. Chacón is President of the Salvadoran American National Network. He also serves as Executive Director of the National Alliance of Latin American and Caribbean Communities, or NALACC. | | |
Mary Bauer, Commissioner Ms. Bauer directs the Southern Poverty Law Center’s Immigrant Justice Project, established in 2004 to address the unique legal needs of migrant workers, a group particularly vulnerable to workplace abuse. Prior to the establishment of Immigrant Justice Project, there was no entity providing legal representation to most immigrant workers in the South. | | |
William Spriggs, Commissioner Professor Spriggs is chair of the Department, and a professor of Economics at Howard University in Washington, D.C. Previously, he was a senior fellow at the Economic Policy Institute. He was Executive Director of the National Urban League’s Institute for Opportunity and Equality. Professor Spriggs participated in the UN World Conference Against Racism, Xenophobia and Related Forms of Intolerance. He has also held various positions in government service during the Clinton Administration at the National Commission for Employment Policy, the U.S. Department of Commerce, and the Small Business Administration. |
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