JEANNE GAUNA, Co-Director. Jeanne is a founding member of SWOP and was raised in eastern New Mexico. She has a BA in Southwestern Studies from the University of New Mexico and has over 25 years of experience as a community and student activist and organizer. Her work has involved organizing among welfare recipients, the disabled, undocumented people, farmworkers involved in union struggles, and those facing political and police repression. She has worked as an organizer and in many other capacities with SWOP. She is responsible for the overall coordination of SWOP efforts, including organizing, fundraising and networking, and is an ex-officio member of the SWOP Board of Directors. Jeanne is also a Community Developer with the United Methodist Church, and serves on the Boards of the National Religious Partnership for the Environment and the Coalition for Environmentally Responsible Economies.

MICHAEL LEON GUERRERO, Co-Director. Michael is Chamorro (from Guam), was raised in California, and is a graduate of the University of California at Berkeley. Michael began working with SWOP as a Minority Activist Apprenticeship intern with the Center for Third World Organizing in 1987. Since 1989 he has overseen SWOP organizing throughout New Mexico. He has served as a Co-Chair of the Coordinating Council of the Southwest Network for Environmental and Economic Justice.

ROBERTO ROIBAL, Materials Developer. Roberto was born and raised in Santa Fe, New Mexico and is a graduate of the University of New Mexico. He has been active in student, labor, community, and social justice efforts for over 25 years, and has volunteered with SWOP since our early days. He is a printer by profession, and began working as a SWOP staffperson in 1991 in order to coordinate the marketing and distribution of the book 500 Years of Chicano History in Pictures/500 Años del Pueblo Chicano and related materials, as well as the production of our newsletter Voces Unidas.

ROBBY RODRIGUEZ, Field Organizer. Robby is originally from Southern California by way of Tucson, Arizona. As a Cornell undergraduate student, he interned with SWOP during the summer of 1996. He recently graduated from Cornell University with a BA in Sociology. He now coordinates SWOP's Youth Campaign.

EVELYN FACIO, Youth Project Contractual Worker. Evelyn is a native New Mexican who grew up in Albuquerque and who has a Master's degree in Counseling and Educational Psychology. Evelyn has 12 years experience working with youth, and is also a professional musician with many years experience writing, performing, and directing musical and theatrical productions including our very successful play "Zoot Suit 2000."

MATTHEW LIGHTFOOT, Matthew comes from the United Methodist Church. Originally from Philadelphia, he came to SWOP as a Methodist Intern in February 1997. He graduated from Drew University in Madison, New Jersey, with a BA in Behavioral Science. He currently writes grant proposals and prepares reports for SWOP funders.

VICTORIA RODRIGUEZ, Field Organizer. Victoria comes from Guanajuato, Mexico. She is a resident of the Pajarito Mesa colonia in Albuquerque's southwest mesa. She organizes in that community for basic services in the community and immigrant issues. She started work with SWOP in July 1999.

SANDRA MONTES, Field Organizer. Sandra, originally from Mexico is a long time Albuquerque resident. She lives in the Pajarito Mesa colonia in Albuquerque's southwest mesa. She organizes in that community for basic services in the community and immigrant issues. She started work with SWOP in July 1999.

SWOP SUMMER INTERNS, Shermian Daniel worked as a Methodist Summer Intern. She is a student at Johns Hopkins University. Karlos Schmieder, a SWOP Summer Intern will attend the University of New Mexico in the Fall, 1999. Rosina Roibal, a SWOP Summer Intern will attend Loyola University in New Orleans in the Fall, 1999. Fernando Abeyta, a SWOP Summer Intern will attend Albuquerque Technical Vocational Institute in the Fall, 1999. Lolita Roibal, a SWOP Summer Intern will attend Stanford University in Palo Alto, California, in the Fall, 1999. Not pictured is Vanessa Dorado, a SWOP Summer Intern. Vanessa lives in Carlsbad, N.M. and will attend New Mexico State University in the Fall, 1999. During the Summer of 1999 the Interns worked on SWOP's Youth Campaign.

Through the years, SWOP has had many individuals work with us as volunteers. Our volunteers have been unemployed workers, students, work study students, Service Learning students, interns from various programs, supporters, and of course, our members. We have had volunteers work full time during the summer, and we have had volunteers work from four to fifteen hours a week during the summer or during the school year. If you are interested in volunteering anytime of the year, please contact us. Volunteer work is crucial to the success of our organization and our volunteers too have reported great personal benefit after working with SWOP.