Board of Directors
Alejandra Ceja
Alejandra, “Aly”, is a proud Indigenous Queer Chicana, daughter of two migrant parents who left Mexico to escape poverty, oppression, and government corruption. Aly grew up in a small Chicanx community in Inglewood, CA, where she experienced and witnessed the obstacles and consequences her community faced due to structural, institutional, and systemic racism. She is a first-generation college graduate who earned a Ph.D. in clinical psychology. Aly provides bilingual psychological services to immigrants, refugees, and victims of crime. She is also an adjunct faculty at Fullerton College and is an active member in multiple social justice organizations. Her personal, familial, academic, and professional experiences drove her to partake in human rights activism in Strike For Our Rights. In her spare time, she loves learning from Indigenous teachers of ancient Mexico. She also enjoys spending time with nature, her family, and her pets.
Jen Christopher
Jen Christopher is a research scientist with a PhD in Experimental Psychology. After spending the last 10 years in academia, and with the recent overturning of the U.S. Supreme Court ruling on Roe v. Wade, she felt compelled to bring her research and behavioral and empirical data skills to an applied setting that focused on pushing for a more equitable and inclusive world. She is passionate about queer rights, equity, and bodily autonomy. By joining Strike For Our Rights, she has been able to combine her love of research with her desire to build a better future. In her spare time, she enjoys camping and hiking, reading and writing, and gaming of all kinds.
Hilary Houlette
Hilary Houlette is a Higher Education PhD student and a First-Year Fellow at the University of Arizona. Incorporating education, law, and international relations, Hilary’s research explores how federal and institutional policies both promote and limit global engagement and international collaboration. Additionally, she is interested in assessing the broader impact that educational policies have on promoting diversity, equity, and inclusion in academia. Hilary believes education should be accessible and affordable for everyone and comes to Strike For Our Rights with a purpose of supporting a more equitable system for all U.S. residents. In her spare time, she volunteers with the Pima County English as a Second Language (ESL) adult learner program and enjoys swimming, baking bread, hiking, and playing the recorder.
Briana Mandel
Briana Mandel is a licensed clinical social worker who has the absolute pleasure of engaging with some of the most vulnerable and incredible humans on Earth. Working on Skid Row in Los Angeles, Briana brings a unique and creative perspective to her clinical work in mental health, substance use, and trauma with unhoused communities. She has seen first hand the effects of systemic racism, oppression, and poverty, which drew her to Strike For Our Rights. Briana brings passion, humor, and an intersectional perspective to every aspect of her work. Originally from a small farm in Connecticut, Briana followed in her dad’s footsteps and received her B.A. in theater from Fordham University and Masters in Social Work from California State University, Northridge, where she discovered that working in restaurants for 14 years somehow did prepare her for life as a social worker in Los Angeles.
Victoria Sawicki
Victoria is a Detroit-born human rights activist and a chairperson on the Human Rights and Human Relations Commission in Richmond, CA. She graduated with a Social Science degree from Michigan State University and worked with emotionally disabled teens at a group home. She moved to San Francisco in 1972, where she continued her work with children. She’s been a proud member of the NALC union for 49 years where she was a shop steward, chief steward, EEO representative, and co-producer of the union’s local TV show and attended numerous national conventions. She joined Strike For Our Rights to advocate for workers’ rights, women’s rights, health care rights, environmental rights, nature’s rights, children’s rights, and the right to quality free education for all from crib through college. In her spare time, she embraces art, photography, clay (sculpture), and collage.
Caitlin Turner
Caitlin Turner is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker, currently working in health care. Through this lens, she has witnessed shortcomings and systematic biases in our socioeconomic systems, including women’s and mental health care, housing, gun control, and more. Caitlin believes our country is not addressing these issues in a way that enacts change or is just for everyone, and that a general strike is the best next step everyone can take together by joining Strike For Our Rights. In her spare time, Caitlin enjoys spending time with family, playing soccer, and creating new recipes.
Executive Director
Sarah Moe
Sarah Moe is a lawyer and software engineer with a background in universal healthcare advocacy. She spent over 7 years traveling and working abroad, stretching her assumptions of what was possible in the U.S. She realized universal healthcare, non-market housing, prison reform, etc. were all very, very possible and available around the world, so why not here? Inspired by watching populations around the world strike against unjust government policies and win, she started doing more research and learning, and eventually Strike For Our Rights was formed. In her spare time, Sarah enjoys reading, pottery, hiking, and playing board games.