Committee

Dave Atias - is a long-time local activist.  He has run for the Rochester City School Board twice, served numerous boards and has run several progressive political campaigns in Rochester as well as Hawaii.  Dave is an educator who is currently the Assistant Director of Advocacy at Center for Disability Rights.  He also co-hosts a weekly podcast called Transforming Rochester and is on the board of Radio Free Rochester.

Mary Boite - is a professional librarian and a long-time community activist who moved to the Finger Lakes area from Toronto in 1995.  She spent several years working on electoral NDP campaigns in Ontario before realizing that her time would be better spent working for change through non-violent, active resistance.  She was  Board Member for and worked against the death penalty with, Judicial Process Commission for several years and has been on the Human Rights Day Committee since its inception.  She is also a local food activist.  "I am a humanist who believes in the possibility for change in everyone."

Sandy Cain -

Penny Crudup -

George Dardess - has a doctorate in literature, a masters degree in theology, and is an ordained deacon in the Roman Catholic Church, where he works in support of migrant and interfaith ministry. He is a longtime member of Rochester, NY’s Commission on Muslim-Christian Relations and is the author of several books on Muslim-Christian dialogue. He and his wife, writer Peggy Rosenthal, have two very energetic granddaughters.

Barbara Deming - brings a significant history of advocacy for justice and equality for all to the table. She is a founding member of the Rochester Episcopal Diocesan Public Policy Committee. Barbara is also an active Fellow with Rural and Migrant Ministry, having previously served as Board President of this statewide organization. RMM’s mission is to stand with the disenfranchised, especially farmworkers and rural workers.

Reame Kidane -

Steve Jarose -  is the Director of the Rochester Chapter of the National Coalition Building Institute (NCBI), a leadership development and empowerment non profit whose goal is to end the mistreatment of any person or group by creating welcoming and inclusive learning, work, and neighborhood environments around the world. Steve is also an interfaith minister. He enjoys people and the teaching - learning process as part of his passion for life-long learning. He often says "If we do our jobs well, it is impossible to tell who is the teacher and who is the learner." He retired from a career in special education and is a strong advocate for and ally to groups targeted by oppression of any form.

Pat Mannix - 

Gail Mott - 

KaeLyn Rich - KaeLyn Rich is a queer feminist activist and far left practical idealist. With community organizing experience that dates back to stuffing folders for her parents' union meetings, she specializes in direct action organizing, intersectionality, and young adult engagement. She serves on a handful of boards and committees including the founding board of Connect & Breathe, a taboo-breaking nonjudgmental after-abortion talkline based out of upstate New York. KaeLyn is the director of the Genesee Valley Chapter of the New York Civil Liberties union. Formerly, she was the community affairs coordinator at Planned Parenthood of the Rochester/Syracuse Region and worked at Services to Aid Families, a rape crisis/domestic violence program in Oswego County. KaeLyn loves bold coffee, her spouse and their many furkids, dytopic fiction, and herding cats (a.k.a. grassroots organizing).

Hank Stone - is a retired engineer and long-time peace activist.  He prints and gives away the "Earth Dot" series of bumper stickers and keeps the [PEACE] email list.  Hank believes a future that works for everyone reqires being personally prepared for a transformed world based on world law protecting democracy, human rights, climate, and world peace.

Shirley Thompson - Raised during the turbulent Civil Rights era of the 50’s and 60’s, Shirley Stephens Thompson attributes those years, her upbringing in NYC and Long Island, and childhood visits to the south with sparking her desire to make a positive difference in her community and to work for social justice. She has served eight years on the board of education of the Rochester City School District and in a wide range of roles as a community volunteer. She is a nationally certified volunteer administrator and a (retired) national instructor for the American Red Cross, teaching "The Inclusive Leader: Maximizing Our Diverse Workforce." A member of Occupy Rochester, Shirley is currently enrolled at Empire State College pursuing her bachelor's degree in Social Theory, Social Structure, and Change.

Melanie West -