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Farmworker & Landscaper Advocacy Project

Farmworker & Landscaper Advocacy Project

Ayuda para Trabajadores

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Our Team

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Meet Our Staff

Alexandra Sossa

Alexandra Sossa

Executive Director

Alexandra Sossa has more than 30 years of experience performing community outreach and education for very low-income Latino immigrants. She has a long history of public service dating back to her work with coffee plantation workers in Colombia, where she also worked for nearly a decade with the Attorney General’s Office. She has educated low-income workers on their rights in the United States, Spain and Colombia. While in Spain, Alexandra helped citizens of Mexico navigate through the Spanish legal system via the Mexican Embassy.

Ms. Sossa graduated from the University of Medellin School of Law, Colombia and is certificated as a bilingual Mediator at the Center for Conflict Resolution in Chicago, Illinois. She is alumni of the Center for Leadership Innovation and also holds a Non-Profit Management certification from the University of Illinois at Chicago. In March of 2019, she was awarded the Foundation Award from the Illinois Human Rights Commission -IHRC-, to honor her commitment in promoting and cultivating women’s rights, freedom and achievement in Illinois.

Alexandra is presently the Executive Director of the Farmworker & Landscaper Advocacy Project –FLAP – Proyecto de Ayuda para Trabajadores del Campo y Jardineros, a non-profit organization dedicated to improve working conditions for low-income workers and their households in the following industries: cannery, farms, greenhouse, landscaping, meat, nursery, packinghouse, poultry, restaurants and snow plowing. The organization carries out its mission through community outreach and education, litigation, community legal education, information and referrals, partnering with other organizations to fight human labor trafficking, preventing family separations by helping immigrants secure dual citizenship for their children and during the COVID-19 pandemic has facilitated the access to cash transfers to very low-income populations to supplement lost wages.

She first came to FLAP in summer, 2001 and since then, Alexandra has played an instrumental role in the success of the non-profit’s continued growth. Throughout her years of service with this organization, she has educated low income immigrants about their rights in the United States, developed working relationships with more than 150 organizations, including law firms and foundations, in Illinois and other States in the USA, and has supported attorneys providing legal assistance to a countless number of very low-income immigrants, migrant and seasonal workers in the area. She has also written for several newspapers in Illinois, Spain and Colombia, been interviewed by the media countless times and has been invited to speak at events about issues that affect very low-income immigrant latino workers in the USA.

Her passion for helping these workers, fighting human labor trafficking, wage theft and helping families stay together in the event of deportation by facilitating the process of getting dual citizenship for their children is immediately apparent when she speaks. She is a strident advocate for the very low-income Latino population.

Under Alexandra’s Leadership, FLAP’s success speaks for itself. Since its founding, FLAP has filed 210 cases in Federal and State courts, 90 percent representing multiple workers. It has sent 85 demand letters, recovering almost 5.0 million dollars in back wages and damages for very low-income Latino immigrant workers.

Since March 15th through October 15th, there have been more than  21,300 calls for FLAP with about 20,800 calls related to COVID-19 for that period of time. Monthly call volume is usually around 240 calls. FLAP has secured one-time $500 cash donations to 2,100 very low-income Latinx individuals making an impact on roughly 12,600 family members for a total of $1,050,500 cash distribution. 98,768 COVID-19 educational materials with information and resources have been delivered. 2,496 Know your Rights presentations have been delivered. 31,122 masks have been distributed. Of those 23,171 went directly to Illinois’ Farmworkers and 4,052 to immigrant kids. 

Alexandra is dedicated to her craft and is truly committed to improving the working conditions for low-income workers across Illinois and the USA. She is a native Spanish speaker and is fluent in English.

Email:asossa@flapillinois.org

Phone:847-668-2114

Arlo Chapple-Berletic

Arlo Chapple

Development & Communications Assistant

Arlo Chapple is the Development and Communications Assistant at FLAP. He works with the Board of Directors and Executive Director implementing the organization’s development and communications plan. Arlo has a passion for helping the Latino low-income immigrant community. At FLAP, he helps the organization grow and tell the story of the important work it does to improve working conditions in Illinois.

Arlo graduated with a Bachelor of Arts from the University of Rochester in 2007 with a concentration in English and Creative Writing. Following graduation, he worked for a small manufacturer, working to make sustainable, eco-friendly skateboards. After that, using his hand-on knowledge of building, and his love for writing, Arlo helped create a variety of educational exhibits for nature centers and history centers in Illinois and Wisconsin.

In 2017, after premiering an exhibit that Arlo helped write, the Grand Army of the Republic Museum in Aurora, Illinois, won a state award for Small Institute of the Year.  

Arlo speaks, reads, and writes English and speaks conversational Spanish.

Email:development@flapillinois.org

Phone:312-784-3541

Diana Vargas

Diana Vargas

Intake Coordinator and Outreach Assistant

Diana Vargas is a first-generation Latina from Little Village, Chicago. She is a graduate of Dominican University, where she received her Bachelor’s in Political Science and Psychology. She is bilingual; she can fluently speak, read, and write in both Spanish and English. Her determination to help the immigrant and underprivileged community began at a young age by witnessing the struggles, setbacks, and frustrations her predominantly Latino immigrant community experienced. She sought opportunities working with them in Chicago and surrounding suburbs after graduating college.

She began organizing as a fellow for Casa Michoacán in the “Juntos Podemos” campaign, where she helped undervalued and underprivileged immigrant communities navigate the citizenship and DACA process through extensive outreach. During her time as an organizing fellow, she learned the importance of grassroots organizing as a tool to effect change at the local, regional, and national levels.

Through her continued passion for helping underprivileged communities, she joined First Defense Legal Aid. At FDLA, she taught Know Your Rights workshops, trained peer educators about alternatives to policing through their Help Not Jail program, alongside lawyers, and connected community members to resources through their 24/7 hotline to help assuage unnecessary contact with police.

Diana continues to help the underprivileged and immigrant community through her position as Intake Coordinator and Outreach Assistant at FLAP. As an Intake Coordinator and Outreach Assistant, she supports FLAP by doing community outreach and educating workers on their labor rights across Illinois.

Email:intake@flapillinois.org

Phone:773-818-2403

Sasha Reyes

Sasha Reyes

Community Outreach & Education Team Leader

Sasha Reyes is a proud graduate of the University of Wisconsin-Madison with a Bachelor of Arts in Sociology. She is a first-generation Latina who was raised on the south side of Chicago by two hard working parents. Growing up, Sasha’s primary language was Spanish; she has vivid memories of learning English before entering kindergarten and as such, she is bilingual and fluent in both English and Spanish.

Sasha has been committed to serving her community; as a young adult, she and a couple of classmates co-founded an after-school club at Whitney Young Magnet High School. At the University of Wisconsin-Madison, a gender in the workplace class Sasha took opened her eyes to farm workers’ working conditions. During college, Sasha was then inspired to partake in a successful national campaign involving Trader Joe’s who was rightfully asked to pay farm workers merely one more penny per bucket of tomatoes that were harvested.

After graduating, Ms. Reyes joined First Defense Legal Aid. She worked as a bilingual Know Your Rights educator delivering workshops in English and Spanish under the supervision of attorneys.

Since Sasha could remember, when asked what profession she wanted to be a part of, She always responded with “I want to help people”. This mission she always carried with her in her heart wherever she went. Sasha is happily committed to continue advocating for her community in all capacities and is delighted that she can continue her Know Your Rights work at FLAP! As an outreach assistant, she supports FLAP’s mission distributing important information to those that do not know their rights at work.

Email:outreach1@flapillinois.org

Phone:224-522-3178

Board Officers

Jose Rivero

Jose Rivero

Chairman

Jose Rivero

Chairman

Attorney at Law - Cullen, Haskins, Nicholson & Menchetti

Jack King

Jack King

Vice Chairman

Jack King

Vice Chairman

Retired Director of Student Professional Development - College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, Northern Illinois University

Vincent Beckman IV

Vincent H. Beckman IV

Treasurer

Vincent H. Beckman IV

Treasurer

Former Chicago Public School Teacher-Managing, Partner at Tanta Chicago, Managing Partner at Arbella, Partner Nicelce Company.

Shar

Shahryar Afshar

Secretary

Shahryar Afshar

Secretary

Equity Options Trader Formerly a member and proprietary trader at Lantana trading and Riverbank Capital Management

Board of Directors

Roy Berg

Royal F. Berg

Royal F. Berg

Attorney at Law

Maria Dominguez

Maria Dominguez

Maria Dominguez

Legal Assistant

Lilian Gonzalez

Lilian Gonzalez

Lilian Gonzalez

Suzanne Juday

Suzanne Juday

Suzanne Juday

Retired Educator

Ron Levitsky

Ron Levitsky

Ron Levitsky

Retired Educator

Baldemar Lopez

Baldemar Lopez

Baldemar Lopez

Attorney at Law

Legal Advisory Board

Julie Herrera

Julie Herrera

Julie Herrera

Attorney at Law - Law Office of Julie Herrera

Thomas Geoghegan

Thomas H. Geoghegan

Thomas H. Geoghegan

Attorney at Law - Despres Schwartz and Geoghegan Ltd.

Founders

Margo De Ley

Margo De Ley

Margo De Ley

Founder and Honorary Board Member

Olgha Sandman

Olgha S. Sandman

Olgha S. Sandman

Founder

Patricia Mendoza

Patricia Mendoza

Patricia Mendoza

Founder

Roberto Ramirez

Roberto Ramirez

Roberto Ramirez

Founder

Vincent Beckman III

Vincent H. Beckman III

Vincent H. Beckman III

Founder, Honorary Board Member, and Former Executive Director

Volunteers

David Arfa

David Arfa

Cartographer

David Arfa

Cartographer

David Arfa has a BA in Geography and a BFA in Printmaking from the University of Washington. He has been a volunteer since 2011.

Memo Ramirez

Software Engineer

Memo Ramirez

Software Engineer

Memo has a BS from the University of Chicago and has been a volunteer since 2012.

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Farmworker & Landscaper Advocacy Project

Proyecto de Ayuda para Trabajadores del Campo y Jardineros. Advocating on their behalf since 1999

33 N. LaSalle Street
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Chicago, IL 60602

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888-451-3527

info@flapillinois.org

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This material has been prepared for informational purposes only. The information presented is not legal advice, it is not to be acted on as such, and is subject to change without notice.

Este material ha sido preparado con propósitos informativos solamente. La información presentada aquí no es consejo legal, no debe ser usada como tal, y está sujeta a cambios sin previo aviso.

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