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Bridges Center Updates

With the 2021-2022 Scholarships and Prizes application coming to a close, the Bridges Center is excited to share updates regarding the 2020-2021 Labor Award recipients. These students have had to pursue their academic and career goals in times unlike any other, yet they have continued to push forward with the labor movement. We are proud to honor such students with scholarships and we look forward to receiving all of this year's scholarship applications.

Note: This page does not contain the full list of 2020-2021 scholarship recipients. The full list can be found in the "Related Information" section.

 

Labor Award Recipients

Maria Itzel Soto

"Receiving scholarship aid from the Bridges Center has been transformative. As an undocumented MSW graduate student, I face a number of disparities and barriers that other students do not have to face, making higher education almost unreachable. The Bridges Center has made it possible for me to continue my education without experiencing financial distress. Receiving the opportunity to continue to my education not only transforms my life, but it also changes that lives of my family who have sacrificed their way of life to give me a better future. I am grateful that I will be the first in my family to graduate with a master’s degree in social work this June. I will always be grateful for the Bridges Center for giving the opportunity to reach my dreams regardless of my citizenship status.

One of the main projects that I have been focusing on is the Population Health Initiative research project. This community-based research project focuses on the experiences of organizational leaders in the Yakima Valley that have been providing services for members of the community during the COVID-19 pandemic. I have been collecting data by facilitating interviews, recording them and also transcribing them so that they can be analyzed by researchers. In addition, this information will later be used to support legislation that is inclusive of the immigrant Latinx population in Washington state. As a student that is concentrating in policy and administration, I have been able to gain the necessary tools to transition out of the MSW program and into aiding my community as a social worker."

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Jordan Naini

Jordan Naini, a recipient of the "PNHLA Best Videos in Labor History Prizes," first received his scholarship when exploring the role music played in labor movements in the 20th century United States. His award-winning video followed the history of folk songs in labor from the early 30s to the late 70s. More recently, Jordan has just finished a larger video project for his African history course (HSTRY 494). The following message comes from Jordan himself:

"I used the scholarship to get a new computer so I could ramp up the size of my projects, with this latest one being over 30 minutes. The award granted by the Harry Bridges Center really inspired me to keep pushing myself in creating new videos throughout my studies, and I plan to continue making video projects in my own time outside of university."

Picture of Jordan Naini

 


Greta Dubois

Greta received one of the two "Best Papers in Labor Studies Prizes," writing about organized labor and the anti-Chinese movement in the late late nineteenth century. The following message comes from Greta herself:

"As for some updates, I have been keeping busy with my Architectural Design classes, and have been putting a lot of work and love into a design for a photographer’s studio in Ballard. I spent the last two quarters working as the illustrations editor for the UW Daily, which although completely remote helped me stay engaged with the UW community and current events and make connections with the Illustrations staff and publication team. I recently began an internship at a sustainably-focused Design Build called Ninebark where I am working as an Emerging Designer and Constructer. I put my award money towards buying a car which is something I have been saving up for for some time and I successfully was able to make the purchase this summer."

Picture of Greta Dubois

 


Tiana Mae Andresen

"As for updates:
The quarter is definitely a struggle BUT I still finished the quarter with a 3.9! Ive been more intentional about taking breaks and I even started doing more creative hobbies <3

I am chipping away at my labor studies minor and have been attending a lot more conferences/webinars, the most recent one being the South East Asian Students for Organizing, that have had portions centered around labor rights and activism.

I also am recently apart of a team of organizers for the 2020-2021 Pilipinx-American Leadership Summit, a conference for Pilipinx American high school youth who are our next generations leaders.

I recently collaborated with Unite Here Local 8 on a political corner for the Asian Student Commission on Labor Organizing! for ASC (@asuwasc on IG), we are getting ready for Asian Identity Week as well as other collaborations with diversity commissions and RSOs surrounding social justice issues such as deportations, abolition and solidarity with the Black community, and more.

For FASA, we are getting ready for our flagship event, Filipino Night! This year it will be an animated play featuring many student artists, singers, actors, and community members. It has been a two year production in honor of our friend and past cultural Chair Steven Santos, so it would mean a lot to have community support! (@fasasauw on IG for more updates about how you can support Filnight)"

Picture of Tianna Andresen

 


Frances O'Shaughnessy

Frances received one of the two "PNLHA Best Papers in Labor History Prizes," writing about how the Gullah people of the Southeastern United States challenged the status of land and labor as property. The following message comes from Frances themself:

"Since receiving the essay prize, I have presented the essay within the Labour Studies and History colloquiums where I received fabulous feedback from activist-scholars across the academic and labour community. My year has largely been in preparation for my comprehensive exams and my dissertation prospectus, which I am on schedule to complete in Spring 2021. I have continued to be involved as a union steward within UAW 4121 and as a member of History Healthcare Collective within my department. The funds from the essay prize and my engagements with the Bridges Center community have truly been a highlight of year under COVID-19!"

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Thomas Kaplan

"Following my receipt of the LERA-Bassett Scholarship in Labor Relations in Fall 2020, I have redoubled my commitment to the labor movement. This year, my second year of law school at the University of Washington, I explored labor and employment issues both inside and outside the classroom.

After spending Summer 2020 working at Seattle’s leading labor law firm, Barnard Iglitzin & Lavitt LLP (coincidentally the firm of my scholarship’s namesake, Samuel B. Bassett), I was invited to continue working with Kathy Barnard, Principal Partner of that firm, in her pro bono representation of farmworker union activists that I have worked with, in various capacities, since 2013. I am continuing this work as a Laurel Rubin Farmworker Justice Fellow to the present. In this role, I have been involved in projects ranging from legislative efforts by unions to union-organizing campaigns. The experience has been both challenging and rewarding.

Scholarships like LERA-Basset, as well as the Peggy Browning Labor Law Fellowship, have helped me transfer my experience as an activist into a career in which I am developing legal skills that will help me be a stronger advocate for the working classes. In my case, a journey that started in a rare opportunity to volunteer with farmworker union organizers has now led to several internships in which I have been able to serve those same communities as a soon-to-be lawyer. In Summer 2021, I will intern with Columbia Legal Services, an organization defined by its fierce advocacy for farmworkers and other marginalized communities in Washington. The through-line in all my work is that I have been supported by community-based organizers, allies, and more recently, the Harry Bridges Labor Center, in pursuing opportunities to develop myself as a professional and activist and use the skills I acquire along the way to further efforts led by low-income communities to improve their own quality of work and life.

Finally, I have become increasingly involved in my own union, UAW 4121, over the past year. As we plod through challenging contract negotiations with our employer, I have engaged in outreach and organizing work with my co-workers. This experience has helped give me an inside-view of the difficulties inherent in union-organizing. In all, the networking and educational opportunities afforded to me by the Harry Bridges Center for Labor Studies and my generous mentors in the labor movement have been nothing short of life-changing. I look forward to continuing my journey and exploring the connections offered to me by the Center to find my place in a labor movement fighting to revitalize itself and the American working class."

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Clara Lemme Ribeiro

"As an international student starting a new academic program, these last two quarters have been exceptionally challenging. In the first two quarters of my Ph.D. program, I focused on adapting to the UW and on-line learning. Due to a pandemic-related travel ban, I was only able to move to Seattle during Winter break and have been adjusting to life in the city ever since. Additionally, I have been developing my Ph.D. research proposal to continue my work with Bolivian immigrant labor in garment-industry sweatshops in São Paulo, Brazil. The Harry Bridges Center for Labor Studies recruitment award provided me with extra and much-needed support for my international move during these unprecedented trying times."

Picture of Clare Lemme

 


 

Related Information