Our Team - Farmworker & Landscaper Advocacy Project

Meet Our Staff

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 15^th, 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

Carlos Cisneros-Vilchis

Coordinating Attorney

Carlos Cisneros-Vilchis is the coordinating attorney at the Farmworker and Landscaper Advocacy Project-FLAP, where he oversees the organization’s litigation and community legal education efforts. Carlos earned his JD from Notre Dame Law School and is a licensed attorney in Illinois. He is licensed to practice law in the Northern District of Illinois, in the Bankruptcy Court for the Northern District of Illinois, and in the Central District of Illinois.

Carlos is dedicated to providing access to justice and knowledge to migrant populations. Originally from Monterrey, Mexico, Carlos is an immigrant to the United States. He became interested in the plight of agricultural workers when working with Advocates for Basic Legal Equality (ABLE) in 2015. While working at ABLE, Carlos became steeped in immigration and employment advocacy. Carlos has learned to take cues from community advocates of the populations that he serves. He believes that by doing this a more holistic representation of the client and the community-at-large can be achieved.

Carlos’s legal work has focused on providing access to justice, knowledge and legal representation to immigrants and agricultural workers. He has helped the immigrant population in Chicago in removal proceedings and with their contractual and consumer related questions. Since 2018, Carlos has focused on working with rural and suburban agricultural workers to ensure that their labor and employment rights are protected. This has resulted in large amount of money in settlements for agricultural workers. Furthermore, Carlos has given a range of Know Your Rights trainings, ranging from employment law to immigration law to the legalization of Cannabis.

Carlos continues to focus on providing access to justice through his work with FLAP. He is a native Spanish speaker and is fluent in English.

Email:litigation@flapillinois.org

Phone:312-561-7975