Staff
Printer-friendly version
ILRF is an advocacy organization dedicated to achieving just and humane treatment for workers worldwide.
Our staff are dedicated to supporting the rights of workers and to building power for workers through a variety of strategies. To reach us, fill out the form at our contact page.
Staff
- Jeffrey Becker, China Program Director and Research Coordinator
- Brian Campbell, Director of Policy and Legal Programs
- Bjorn Claeson, Director of SweatFree Communities
- Vonetta Faulkner, Director of Operations
- Liana Foxvog, National Organizer
- Judy Gearhart, Executive Director
- Eric Gottwald, Senior Policy Analyst and Staff Attorney
- Sean Rudolph, Campaigns Director
- Jacqueline Starr, Development and Communications Associate
- Haley Wrinkle, Senior Researcher of Free2Work
Staff
Jeffrey Becker, China Program Director and Research Coordinator
Jeffrey Becker joined ILRF in the summer of 2010, and is responsible for the Organization’s work in China. In addition Jeffrey is responsible for coordinating collaborative research projects between ILRF and its partner organizations worldwide, and is the ILRF representative to the Just Job Network at the Center for American Progress. Jeffrey holds a Ph.D. in political science from the George Washington University, and his research examines the rise in labor protests among migrant workers in China. Jeffrey has taught Chinese Politics for Penn State University, and classes on the political economy of trade at the George Washington University. His research has previously appeared in edited volumes on Chinese politics, as well as The Journal of Chinese Political Science and Comparative Political Studies (forthcoming).
Brian Campbell, Director of Policy and Legal Programs
[interested in Mr. Campbell speaking in your community? see the ILRF Speakers' Bureau]
Bjorn Claeson, Director of SweatFree Communities
Bjorn Skorpen Claeson, Ph.D., Director of SweatFree Communities, was lead organizer of PICA's Bangor Clean Clothes Campaign, a national model for community-based anti-sweatshop activism, from 1996 to 2005. Claeson is a cofounder of SweatFree Communities and became SweatFree Communities' first staff person in July 2003. He is the recipient of the Maine Initiatives Social Landscape Artist Award 2006 and the Dirigo Social Movement Leader Award in 2004. [interested in Mr. Claeson speaking in your community? see the ILRF Speakers' Bureau]
Liana Foxvog, National Organizer of SweatFree Communities
Liana Foxvog joined SweatFree Communities as National Organizer in 2004. By leading workshops and strategy sessions, she has played a critical role in helping launch new grassroots campaigns for sweatshop-free purchasing. Her presentations have included venues such as the U.S. Social Forum, the international Fair Trade Action Network convening meeting, and dozens of colleges. In 2003-2004, she worked with American Friends Service Committee in New Hampshire, educating high school students about globalization and "bird-dogging" presidential candidates to support fairness in trade agreements; National Public Radio, among other media, featured a story about the creative youth-led actions. Liana has a B.A. in Political Science and an M.S. in Labor Studies. She has taught Labor and the Global Economy at the University of Massachusetts and serves as a Spanish interpreter for immigrant rights and social justice organizations. [interested in Ms. Foxvog speaking in your community? see the ILRF Speakers' Bureau]
Judy Gearhart, Executive Director
Judy Gearhart is the Executive Director of ILRF since March 2011. Ms. Gearhart is also an adjunct professor at Columbia University's School for International and Public Affairs, teaching the course Human Rights and Development Policy since 2002. Previously, Gearhart served as the Program Director at Social Accountability International (SAI) where she led research on voluntary labor standards and coordinated training programs for workers and trade unions on how to use codes conduct to claim their rights at work. Prior to SAI, Ms. Gearhart worked on democratization, women’s rights and labor rights programs for Mexican NGOs, UNICEF-Honduras and the ILO’s International Program to Eradicate Child Labor (IPEC). Gearhart holds a Master of International Affairs from Columbia University.
Eric Gottwald, Senior Policy Analyst and Staff Attorney
Eric Gottwald joined the ILRF in the fall of 2011 and is responsible for its programs in Latin America, as well as supporting legal, policy, and legislative efforts. Prior to joining ILRF, Eric worked on union capacity building projects for the AFL-CIO's Solidarity Center in Lima, Peru. He graduated from the University of Minnesota Law School in 2005 and his work has appeared in the American University International Law Review. During law school, Eric worked as a Fellow for the International Labor Organization's Multinational Enterprises Programme. He is licensed to practice law in Wisconsin and the District of Columbia.
Jacqueline Starr, Development and Communications Associate
Jacqueline Starr graduated from Lake Forest College in 2010 with a B.A in Economics and Communications. She joined ILRF as a Trade Finance Research intern in November of 2010, after coordinating with the organization to bring the midwest tour of "Sweatshop Workers Speak Out" to the Lake Forest campus. She then worked in a part-time fundraising and development role, and has recently become the full-time Development and Communications Associate in the D.C office.
Haley Wrinkle, Senior Researcher of Free2Work
Haley Wrinkle joined ILRF in January 2011 as the Senior Researcher at Free2Work, a joint project between ILRF and Not For Sale. Haley was originally at ILRF as a Trade Programs fellow, which augmented her masters work at the University of California, Santa Barbara in Global and International Studies. Her masters thesis focuses on the ILO's Better Factories Cambodia program, and the supply chains that connect to the garment industry in Phnom Penh. She also recently conducted climate change adaptation research for Conservation International, an environmental NGO based in Washington, DC. Haley's motivation to strive to improve global worker rights comes largely from her experiences living and working in Cambodia and other parts of the developing world.
Consultants
Pharis Harvey, Senior Consultant
Pharis Harvey, a founder of the International Labor Rights Forum, serves as Senior Consultant to ILRF. Mr. Harvey served as Executive Director from 1990 to 2001. Prior to joining the Fund, Harvey, spent twelve years with the North American Coalition for Human Rights in Korea, based in Washington, DC. This followed many years of work in Asia under the sponsorship of the United Methodist Church and various ecumenical bodies, to support the efforts of workers and community organizations to defend their human rights. His most recent post in Asia was as Consultant on Economic Justice to the Christian Conference in Asia, from 1975-79. Harvey is the author of Trading Away the Future: Child Labor in India's Export Industries (1994) and editor of several studies of labor and peoples movements in Asia, including People Toiling Under Pharaoh: MNCs in Asia (1976) and No Room in the Inn: Asia's Minorities (1978). He has also published many articles in the United States, Japanese, and Korean journals. In October 1996, Harvey received the prestigious Letelier-Moffitt Human Rights Award for "Lifetime Achievement" in developing labor rights law and defending labor rights internationally.
U Roberto (Robin) Romano, Photography Consultant
Award-Winning Producer, Director, Director of Photography, U Roberto (Robin) Romano is one of the most respected investigative filmmakers in the world. A short list of his credits: Producer, Director & Director of Photography - The Harvest: feature documentary, produced by Shine Global, on the life of migrant children and their families in America. Co-Director (with Miki Mistrati) and Director of Photography - Dark Side of Chocolate: feature documentary, produced Bastard Films - Denmark, on slavery in the West Africa cocoa trade. Director, Director of Photography and Still Photographer - Fields of Peril: upcoming report by Human Rights Watch. Director of Photography and Still Photographer - Freedom Awards: Special Broadcast, produced by Free the Slaves. Producer, Director & Director of Photography - Children in the Fields: Educational documentary produced by the Association of Farmworker Opportunity Programs. Producer, Director, Director of Photography - Stolen Childhoods: feature documentary on child labor for Galen Films and Romano Productions.
