Core Members

Pambana Bassett

Jeanette Charles

Julien Christe

Melissa Cox

Chelsey Dyer

Kris Hannigan-Luther

Justin Jimenez

Evan King

Allison Lira

Liz Hacker

Vanessa Peña

Emily Rhyne

Maria Alejandra Rincón

Elise Roberts

Pao Amezquita

Jessica Garcia

Maria Samantha Wherry

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Supporters & Advisers

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Lee Schlenker

Hani Ali

Steph Alvarez

Emma Banks

Karen Blanchard

John Clark Pegg

Lyn Clark Pegg

Gary Cozette

Moravia de la O

James Dimock

Maggie Ervin

Pilar File-Muriel​

Walker Grooms

Thom Haines

Aleita Hass-Holcombe

Jessica Hayssen

Bette Hoover

Mónica Hurtado

Maria José Méndez Gutiérrez

Connor Klausing

Meghan Krausch

Ricardo Levins Morales

Rachel Mehl

Ryan Morgan

Dixie Olmstead

David Pegg

Kera Peterson

Gail Phares

Tom Power

Niccolo Roditti

Bryan Rogers

Mariah Rosenblum

Diane Stradling

Lisa Taylor

Genesis Torres

Cat Walker

Carol Wallace

John Walsh

Eleonore Wesserle​

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Coalition Partners

The Solidarity Collective is an independent organization and does not interfere with the work of our partner organizations. However, we find ourselves constantly inspired by them: their commitment, their vision, and their grassroots movements. Above are some of those partners, both from Latin America and the U.S.

OUR TEAM

CUBA PROGRAM CO-DIRECTOR

Pambana Gutto Bassett (she/her)

NATIONAL CAMPAIGNS DIRECTOR

Elise Roberts (she/her)

SOUTHEAST REGIONAL CO-DIRECTOR

Pao Amezquita (they/them/she/her)

HONDURAS PROGRAM CO-DIRECTOR

Allison Lira (she/her)

SOUTHEAST REGIONAL CO-DIRECTOR

Emily Rhyne (she/her)

CUBA PROGRAM CO-DIRECTOR

Justin Jimenez (he/him)

HONDURAS PROGRAM CO-DIRECTOR

Julien Christe (he/him)

MIDWEST REGIONAL ORGANIZER

Liz Hacker (she/her)

DECOLONIAL DELEGATIONS COORDINATOR

Vanessa Peña (she/her)

DIGITAL ORGANIZER

Evan King (he/him)

Emily Rhyne grew up in Raleigh, North Carolina before moving to Asheville to attend school at UNCA where she obtained a BA with a focus on Post-Colonial Studies. In Western NC, she found her home in immigrant rights organizing sparking her interest in Latin America and movements against racism and imperialism. After completing her degree, she moved to Ecuador to learn Spanish and worked as an English teacher. She went on to work in Guatemala as a human rights monitor with the US-based organization NISGUA, accompanying Guatemalan human rights defenders at risk of persecution for their political work. Cases she accompanied include indigenous resistance to mega-development projects and survivors demanding justice for past war crimes committed by the Guatemalan State. Since returning to North Carolina, she has worked at local nonprofits as a Spanish interpreter, specializing healthcare education and outreach to immigrants and refugees

is a queer community organizer and gardener, born in Bogota, Colombia. They have a background in advertising and communication, social justice, food sovereignty and community healing. They moved to the US 6 years ago and became connected with a variety of organizing spaces and movements including Hattie Carthan Community Garden in Brooklyn Bed-stuy, NY, Soul Fire Farm in Petersburg, NY, Black Lives Matter,  indigenous Lakota water defenders of Standing Rock #NoDAPL as well as supporting the eternal battle of the indigenous Wayúu in Colombia against the Coal Mine, El Cerrejón. Pao now resides in Orlando, FL and has spent the last several years organizing with the Farmworker Association of Fl through the Apopka Campesinx Gardens, La Vía Campesina, and international climate justice movements.

Vanessa is the Decolonial Delegations Coordinator. She is passionate about creating opportunities for cross cultural communication and understanding and linking knowledge to action. Drawing on her training as a community health worker and social worker she grounds her work in the belief that the well-being and healing of individuals and communities is integral to achieving justice.

Her work and life are inspired by all those who came before her that have paved the way for our collective liberation. She is passionate about social justice, ritual, creativity, community, and healing and is always looking for ways to integrate these into the work that she does. Vanessa also has a love for dance and a long time practice in Afro-Cuban and Afro-Brazilian dance.

Pambana Gutto Bassett is an organizer from Harare, Zimbabwe and New York City/Lenape ancestral lands. For the past 5 years she has lived in the Caribbean Basin - Belize, Jamaica and New Orleans/Bulbancha - working on campaigns for anti-colonial reparations/pago de la deuda historica, collective land tenure, and Black and Indigenous sovereignty

Justin Jiménez recently joined the Solidarity Collective as a Cuba Program Co-Coordinator. Born and raised in Boston, Justin’s solidarity work is informed by his upbringing as a second generation immigrant with Dominican and Cuban heritage and a desire to build strong, interdependent communities. He holds a Bachelor of Arts in Sociology, Creative Writing, and Africana Studies from Oberlin College. He is also a writer, musician, proud Pisces and INFP Meyers-Briggs personality type

Allison Lira joined the International Team in August 2020. She holds a BA in Philosophy from the University of California, Santa Cruz and an MPhil in Conflict Resolution and Reconciliation from Trinity College Dublin. In the past, she’s engaged in peacebuilding and human rights research and advocacy in Northern Ireland and Palestine

COLOMBIA PROGRAM CO-DIRECTOR

Jessica Garcia (she/her)

Julien Christe attended the University of Geneva where he received a BA in Political Science. He previously worked providing protective accompaniment to social leaders and human rights organizations in Mexico and Guatemala. He worked alongside communities linked to the Zapatista movement as well as witnesses and lawyers in the trial against former president Efrain Rios Montt for crimes against humanity. He recently worked providing protective accompaniment in the southern region of Honduras, where he worked closely with communities fighting to defend their rights to life, water and access to land.

Liz is passionate about connecting food sovereignty movements across the hemisphere: recognizing the power of land, space, listening and sharing cross-culturally. She has been involved in food justice organizing, bio-intensive growing and farming, and working with the land and people in systems. She has a degree in Spanish and Marketing Management from St. Catherine University along with a M.A. In Intercultural Service, Leadership and Management from the School for International Training in Brattleboro, VT.

Jessica joined the Solidarity Collective in August 2021. Jessica is from northern Argentina and has lived in Colombia for two years. During this time she lived in Barrancabermeja (Colombia), where she provided international accompaniment to rural peasant and feminist movements in Colombia’s northeastern border. Previously, she was an international accompanier to Bedouin communities in the Jordan Valley, Palestine. There she learned the importance of international solidarity between peoples. She has a degree in International Relations from the National University of Rosario and has been involved in various civil society organizations in Rosario (Argentina) working on Human Rights, international solidarity and anti-colonial struggles.

Evan is a Mexican American organizer from Chihuahua, Mexico. He has a background in international relations and audiovisual production, social justice, food sovereignty and human rights accompaniment. He moved to Bogota, Colombia 3 years ago where he provided international human rights accompaniment to rural peasant, Indigenous and Black grassroots movements throughout Colombia's Pacific Coast and Southwestern mountains. He holds a degree in International Relations and Latin American Studies from The College of William and Mary and has been involved with grassroots organizations in Buenos Aires, Argentina, Monrovia, Liberia, and Bosnia & Herzegovina.