2022-2023 Labor Studies Scholarships and Prizes

Idanis Cruz, Nursing

Coming from an agricultural background, Idanis’ commitment to social and economic justice stems from the lived experiences of her family and herself. For the past four years, Cruz worked at the Pacific Northwest Agricultural Safety and Health (PNASH) Center. While there, she identified gaps in worker protections for farmworkers related to health and safety and wildfire smoke, which will be used in efforts to change policy. As an aspiring public health nurse, Idanis is committed to advocating for farmworkers and increasing their accessibility to healthcare. Idanis also hopes to become involved in student activism around labor and social justice issues by joining clubs on campus.

Lukas Illa, International Studies

A current undergraduate student at the UW, Illa has been involved in multiple clubs that assists folks experiencing homelessness and supports newly established campus unions. Within International Studies, an analysis of capital’s inherent violence informs his activist efforts with a focus on US imperialism. Currently he works as a researcher for the UW Center for Human Rights where he focuses on abuses committed by Immigrations and Customs Enforcement (ICE). After graduation, Lukas hopes to stay within social justice and work for a legal justice project that focuses on marginalized communities and abolishing systems of oppression.

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Eulalie Mathieu, History

Mathieu is an undergraduate student double majoring in History and French and plans to continue her education through a graduate program. Coming from a union family, Mathieu has been actively involved in the labor movement since highschool and understands the transformative power of organized labor. During her collegiate career, Matheiu has assisted the Seattle chapter of Socialist Alternative in their efforts to build broader coalitions, specifically the newly unionized Starbucks locations. Matheiu currently works as a curatorial assistant at the Labor Archives of Washington.

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Amrine White, Political Science

White is an undergraduate student currently studying Political Science. Hailing from a union family, White understood, from an early age, the strength unions offer to workers. Furthermore, as a student-worker, White’s lived experience as an independent contractor highlighted the tumultuous nature of the labor market of which workers must navigate. While attending the UW, White has interned with the Washington State Labor Council, AFL-CIO through the Building a Movement Labor Internship. She has also written two research projects and successfully won the Pacific Northwest Labor History Association Best Paper in Labor Studies twice, for her papers, “Unstable Foundations: Poor Whites and the Fight for Economic Emancipation” and “My Neighborhood School: A geospatial analysis of the relationship between race, wealth, and segregation of Seattle Public Schools.”  After graduation, White hopes to use her education to better advocate for change and racial justice within the context of American labor.

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Ahshah Kennedy, Nutrition

Kennedy is an incoming undergraduate student with an intended major in Nutrition and plans to become a nutritionist. As a high school student, Kennedy had the opportunity to volunteer at Seattle’s Marra Farms to grow and preserve produce which were directed towards food insecure communities. Kennedy is passionate about food insecurity and understands that food accessibility is a right. During her first year, Kennedy hopes to hold food drives and share knowledge about maintaining healthy lifestyles despite environmental barriers in nearby communities. Building upon her studies, Kennedy wishes to extend her knowledge post-grad to her communities to bring about positive change.

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Jonathan Gonzalez, Political Science and International Studies

Originally from Kennewick, Washington, Gonzalez is an undergraduate student double majoring in Political Science and Latin American and Caribbean Studies. An aspiring organizer, Gonzalez hopes to use his time at the UW to build connections and be a part of  existing labor movements in the Pacific Northwest. As a student, Gonzalez has participated in the Winter/Spring 2022 cohort of the Building a Movement (BAM) internship where he helped organize academic student employees alongside UAW 4121. Moreover, he was able to organize and build meaningful relationships with different unions as an intern with the Washington State Labor Council’s (WSLC) Union Summer internship program. Especially interested in abolishing systems of oppression and opposing US imperialism, Gonzalez hopes to use these lenses in organizing. After graduation, he hopes to continue service through on-the-ground organizing alongside local unions/labor organizations.

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 Jamelah Jacob, History

Originally from Virginia, Jacob is an incoming graduate student in the department of history. Jacob is studying to become a professor and become an effective educator on social justice, power, and ethnic studies. As a scholar activist, Jacob is passionate about immigrant justice, specifically Filipino-Americans, and hopes to eventually end systems of oppression and achieve liberation. Prior to graduate school, Jacob had the opportunity to intern at OCA-Asian Pacific American Advocates, the 1882 Foundation, and the D.C. Mayor’s Office on Asian & Pacific Islander Affairs (MOAPIA) and conducted research on the structural barriers that AAPI businesses face in the D.C. area. As a student activist, Jacob also led a campaign to advocate for more protections for dining hall workers and returning students during the first year of the pandemic. As an aspiring educator, Jacob hopes to continue Silme Domingo and Gene Viernes’ legacy of courage and bravery through their own research and activism.

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Javier Silva, Public Health

Silva was born and raised in the Yakima Valley on the eastside of Washington. As an incoming graduate student to the School of Public Health, Silva hopes to use his education to focus on impacting legislation that optimize rights of workers in laboring industries. Coming from an agricultural background, Silva has dedicated his collegiate career to serving migrant farmworker communities. As an undergraduate, Silva was able to research the associations in low-income households between financial hardship and emotional support in an effort to address discrepancies in social services directed towards low-income households. Through public health, Silva hopes to advance the legacy of Silme Domingo and Gene Viernes by assisting in the unionizing of underrepresented agricultural workers.

Veronica Tecsi, Nursing

Originally from Compton CA, Tecsi initially pursued a career in mechanics and worked on planes in Everett, Washington. However, Tecsi would later pursue studies in Nursing and aspires to become a leader that positively impacts patient outcomes and population health. Moreover, Tecsi hopes to develop programs that support career development for teens. Prior to continuing her education, Tecsi had to take a break and support her family through caring labor. As a result, Tecsi uses this experience to inform her own career path and understands the importance of this specific type of labor. More recently, Tecsi’s determination in pursuing higher education grew as she dedicated more time as a practicing nurse on the medical floor and worked in various roles. Focused on preventative measures, Tecsi hopes to recognize the social determinants of health that can negatively affect communities in an effort to reduce the need for caring labor which comes at the cost of the one providing it.

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Joshua Davis, Psychology

Davis’ academic path has been informed by his dedication to labor organizing. As an individual with little family support, Davis led the charge to form an independent union at his workplace while experiencing hostile management policies in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic. As a student at the UW, Davis hopes to dedicate his time with Labor Studies courses in order to better understand the role unions have played and avoid potential pitfalls. At the same time, he will be a part of the newly formed union’s bargaining team during this academic year. After completing his degree, Davis hopes to assist the labor movement through independent unions and tackle the social problem of wealth inequality.

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Elizabeth Lu Gao,  Sociology and Law, Societies, and Justice

Gao is an undergraduate double majoring in Sociology and Law, Societies, and Justice. A rising leader in student and community organizing, she has demonstrated an exceptional commitment to labor movements and the liberation of oppressed peoples. Gao has furthered her experience in the labor community by being part of the Winter/Spring 2022 cohort of the Building A Movement Labor internship, hosted by the Harry Bridges Center. Gao has also participated in UC Berkeley’s Labor Summer Internship and pushed housing legislation for working class communities of color in San Francisco. Gao is an experienced grassroots organizer and leader that uses anti-colonial abolitionist frameworks to inform her own organizing efforts in the hopes to start the process of transformative healing, liberation, and justice for all communities.

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Amber Pilgreen, History

Pilgreen is an undergraduate student majoring in History with a focus on a feminist perspective of labor history. Coming from a union family, Pilgreen is proud of her family’s working-class roots and aspires to highlight the contributions of women in labor activism while attending the UW. Currently, Pilgreen is a part of Students for a Democratic Society and is a former volunteer for the Stephanie Gallardo campaign. As a campaign volunteer, Pilgreen was inspired by Gallardo to pursue a future career of service to working-class communities.

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Yuying Xie, Geography

An international student, Xie is originally from China and is a current graduate student studying Geography. While at the UW, Xie is pursuing a comparative research project between the US and China’s service sector workers, labor regimes, and union culture. Furthermore, they have been active within the local labor movement and are currently organizing against a Trump executive order which targets Chinese students and scholars. After graduation, Xie plans to continue a career in academia covering topics such as labor history, contemporary labor issues, and broader social justice issues. Furthermore, Xie hopes to use resources within academia, labor organizations, and progressive policy institutions to best serve working-class people. 

Jamelah Jacob, History

Jacob hails from the College of William and Mary in Virginia and currently plans to study History at the UW. Jacob’s passion for immigrant justice led her to develop an activist-oriented research path. As an immigrant herself, she wishes to advocate on behalf of Filipino Americans. One research topic she currently hopes to study in-depth is the Filipino Diaspora in the 20th century. This research is an analysis of labor justice and the development of a Filipino-American cultural identity. Furthermore, as an activist, Jacobs wishes to battle against revision of Filipino history in order to uplift activist movements. While in Seattle, Jacobs is eager to connect her research with advocacy and community education initiatives in the area. 

Zhaomin Li, Political Science

A first-year Ph.D. student in Political Science, Li’s research interests lie in comparative politics and political economy, with a regional focus on China. Specifically, Li is interested in studying how grassroots labor organizations in China help migrant workers resist labor exploitation and institutionalized discrimination, and how state control shapes the dynamics of those civil society organizations.

Best Undergraduate Project: Sarah Lai

Violence Against Filipinos (1929-1930): A Close Study of the Racialization “Process”

Best Undergraduate Paper: Itai Segre

Bolshevism Versus Americanism: The Seattle General Strike and the American Invasion of Russia Through the Prism of the Mainstream Press

Best Undergraduate Paper: Amrine White 

My Neighborhood School: A geospatial analysis of the relationship between race, wealth, and segregation of Seattle Public Schools

Best Undergraduate Paper: Audun Holland-Goon

Being Good and Industrious: Indigenous Timber Work on the Late Nineteenth-Century Puget Sound

Best Undergraduate Paper: Nolan DeGarlais

Labor Law and the American Pandemic Response in Comparative Perspective

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Best Undergraduate Project: Arenjot Sanghera and Hannah Harris 

Essential Until Disposable: Exploitation Under the H2-A Program Zine and Policy Memo