We are proud to announce that 9to5 organizer Yomara Velez has won the National Organizers Alliance Respite Award which honors the tireless activism of two organizers each year by sending them on a week long vacation.
Yomara was chosen for the award in recognition of her 15 years of organizing for social and economic justice. She currently works as an organizer at 9to5 Atlanta as well as Georgia Latino Alliance for Human Rights (GLAHR). Yomara began her career in the field as a young single mother in the Bronx when she founded the organization Sistas on the Rise and worked with organizations such as Mothers on the Move and Youth Ministries for Peace and Justice.
The Respite Award also highlighted Yomara's committment to creating a culture that honors connections to families and communities in the workplace. In her own neighborhood in the West End, she heads up Friends of the West End Park planting fruits and vegetables, cleaning the park, and making it a safe space for kids to play with her neighbors. With her two sons, 14 year old Keanu and 4 year old Diego, she knits, crafts, and gardens.
Yomara and her family will get to spend a week in a mountain resort in the Smoky Mountains of Tennessee. Congratulations Yomara on this well-deserved award!
See her profile along with the other 2009-2010 Respite award winner here: http://tinyurl.com/yemqmol
