Executive Committee Officers
President – Alice Carli
Alice Carli learned about community organizing as an ACORN volunteer in the early 1980s, before moving to Rochester to study musicology at Eastman. She has worked for the past 25 years as the scores conservator at Sibley Music Library. In November of 2016 she attended a meeting of Campaign for NY Health - Rochester at Metro Justice, and her old interest in community activism was revived and is now going strong.
Vice President - Luis Torres
Since becoming a Metro Justice member in 2009, Luis has had the fortune to volunteer with campaigns, help with the running of the organization, learning from the old school volunteers, and getting blown away by the new members. He has also been lucky to get the opportunity to work with those making a living in farmwork, hotels, and healthcare. He was born and raised in San Juan, Puerto Rico. One way he is growing the movement is by having four kids... Maya, Mateo, Noah and Phoebe.
Past President – Evelyn Evans
Evelyn is president emerita of the Federation of Social Workers; an IUE-CWA local, and currently holds the position of Treasurer. She is a Trustee for the Rochester Chapter of the Coalition of Black Trade Unionists, and a member of the Rochester Finger Lakes Chapter of Pride At Work.
Treasurer – Darien Lamen
Darien became active in Metro Justice shortly after moving to Rochester in 2017. He currently works in community media and is the founder of the local news outlet Reclaiming the Narrative. Darien first became involved in grassroots organizing during the anti-fracking movement of the 2000s. He was very active in the Fight for $15 and, as an AFT-W member, also helped organize contingent university faculty. In a former career, Darien was a scholar of Latin America, with an interest in Freirean pedagogy and Brazilian liberation theology that survives his time in academia.
Secretary – Sophia Allie Martinez
Sophia is a volunteer/activist in her community. She has been a member of the Citywide Tenant Union helping tenants organize and fight bad living conditions. She has further been active in the Rochester for Energy Democracy campaign to fight for a public utility that is democratically controlled by its rate-payers with an emphasis on renewable green energy transition. In her professional life she is a paralegal for Empire Justice Center in the Immigration Unit.
At Large Council Members
Gary Bonadonna Jr
Gary is Manager & International VP of the Rochester Regional Joint Board, Workers United - a labor organization that represents some 6,500 union members in Upstate New York who work in racinos, manufacturing, commercial laundries, hotels, and food service. In the Rochester area, that includes workers at Xerox, Frontier, Hickey-Freeman, International Paper, ALSCO, Aramark and Aid to Hospitals commercial laundries, Jewish Community Center, and the Riverside Convention Center, among other employers. The union is also home to Starbucks Workers United. He is also President of the Sidney Hillman Health Center, and the Executive Vice-President of the Rochester and Genesee Valley Area Labor Federation.
Michael Harold
Michael is a representative for 1199 SEIU serving the members in perioperative services as chief delegate. He was a part of the 2021 contract negotiating committee that delivered a historic contract securing worker benefits and improving wages. From member political organizing to training sessions, Mike appreciates the opportunities to expand his labor advocacy skills with seasoned organizers and leaders in his union.
Christine Noble
Christine has been a member of Metro Justice since 2017 and a volunteer shortly before that. She attended SUNY Brockport, majoring in philosophy and political science. She continues to volunteer on Metro Justice’s RED campaign for public power.
Callie Rabe
Callie has been a teacher for most of her life (a bilingual elementary school teacher in California and a Spanish teacher when she moved to New York in 1999). Other constants in her life include activism and supporting our farmworker community. Callie volunteered at the first daycare center for farmworkers when she was in 6th grade (so children would not have to go out in the fields), and her support continues with the last few years working as a Family Advocate and tutor for Migrant Education until 2022. Her activism includes working with Earth First (training tree sitters for Redwood Summer), CNT (Anarchist organization) in Madrid, Spain, member of DAWN (Direct Action Working Network), co-chair of RAIR (Rochester Alliance for Immigration Reform), lead organizer for Abalone Alliance (anti-nuke group), Community organizer for Citizens Alliance, member of RAW (Rochester against War) and anti-drone groups, member of ROCLA, member of PAE, Coordinator of Humboldt University’s Woman’s Center, and many other campaigns and groups. As a former active and long time member, Metro Justice has always been important to her.
LaWanda Shipman
LaWanda is Vice President of the Federation of Social Workers.