Organizer, Activist, Advocate for Workers’ Rights
Over the course of fifteen years, Janet worked as a social worker with the Jesuit community in Guayaquil, Ecuador, and in health services at the national level with the foundation Filanbanco. In 1993-1994, she worked in El Salvador as a popular educator for the Social Initiative for Democracy, to engage indigenous agricultural workers and rural in the political process. She was also an international observer in the Salvadoran presidential elections in 1994.
Born in Guayaquil, Ecuador, she obtained her bachelor’s degree in social work from the Vicente Rocafuerte University and studied theology at the Latin American Biblical University in San Jose, Costa Rica. At Westchester Community College, she has taken classes in human services and immigration law.
Since 2011, Janet has been working for Catholic Charities as a community organizer with the Day Laborers Program in Yonkers. She has organized workshops and trainings on topics such as OSHA in construction, gardening, asbestos, health and safety, and workers’ rights. She is the coordinator at Catholic Charities’ new workers center.
Janet recruited a board for Obreros Unidos (Workers United), whose mission is to protect the rights of day laborers. The organization is part of the National Day Laborer Organizing Network, which offers training, legal advice, lobbying, and worker advocacy to members.