Image Credit: Brooke Anderson.

Kimi Lee brings three decades of experience organizing and working with social justice organizations to her role as the Executive Director of Bay Rising. Kimi has organized students with the University of California Student Association and served as field director for the ACLU of Southern California, executive director of the Garment Worker Center, lead organizer of the United Workers Congress, among many other leadership roles. Her first-generation family immigrated to the U.S. from Burma in 1971.

Jane Martin is joining our team as Bay Rising’s new Organizing Director. Jane brings over two decades of experience supporting low-income, racialized communities build power, develop strategy, and win campaigns.Her passion for organizing and collective action has lead her to work with many Bay Area communities. At SEIU USWW she worked on the campaign to win union representations with thousands of security guards working at big tech campuses. She worked with janitors to win better protections agaisnt rape on the night shift, immigration enforcement and wage theft. With her leadership California airport workers launched an environmental justice campaign to hold airlines accountable for their impact on frontline workers.Jane served as the director for the successful campaign to win free Muni passes for low-income youth in San Francisco. She organized with nurses and low income seniors to save St. Luke’s hospital in San Francisco and with public housing tenants to fight for dignified housing.

Irene Rojas-Carroll provides visionary strategic as well as technical communications, digital, and cultural organizing expertise to Bay Rising and its alliance members. Before joining Bay Rising, she worked with the ACLU of Northern California, the Greenlining Institute, and the Brown Boi Project, and was involved in student organizing projects on racial, gender, labor, and environmental/land justice issues.

Kaizo Naka brings a dedication to creating efficient systems that support effective organizing as the Operations Manager. Kaizo has worked at the Sunrise Movement as a organizer in the climate movement and volunteered with Resource Generation for equitable distributions of wealth. In their free time, Kaizo likes to make art with friends and host events at their co-op.

Claire Donovan-Suguitan studied Sociology with an emphasis in community studies and is dedicated to fostering holistic community development through storytelling, narrative intervention, and relationship-building. Claire’s goal in life is to be apart of communities that empower themselves and grow  their resilience and hope through collaboration. In her personal life Claire loves being a naturalist, dancer, artist, and friend.