Irene Juaniza, Senior Program Officer
Irene Juaniza (she/her) has worked as an organizer on various racial and economic justice issues both locally and nationally, including police brutality in Oakland, affordable housing in the Bronx, an elected representative school board in Chicago, state legislation supporting Chicagoland worker centers, and welfare reauthorization at the federal level. Her early community work with young people includes developing one of Chicago’s first restorative justice programs, commonly known as peer juries.
She credits her education in community organizing to the Center for Third World Organizing (CTWO), where she coordinated their national organizing training program for people of color organizers. Following her time at CTWO, she was recruited by a graduate of their organizing program to serve as Executive Director for a Chicago grassroots community organization, steering them through an organizational transition, shifting their organizing work to lead with a racial justice analysis.
She has also served as a trainer, facilitator, and independent consultant assisting community organizations in the areas of strategic planning and evaluation, staff training and development, and implementing organizational practices that align with movement building. Irene honors her warrior ancestry by uplifting BIPOC leadership and centering practices that cultivate the capacity for liberatory visioning and collective action.