Champions of Change

Champions of Change: Cesar Chavez Legacy

The White House honors ten local leaders who exemplify Cesar Chavez’s core values, including service to others, knowledge, innovation, acceptance of all people, and respect for life and the environment, and have dedicated themselves to improving the lives of others throughout their community and across the Nation.

Rev. Eve Nunez has dedicated her life to public service and has embodied the values of Cesar Chavez since she was a young adult. At the age of 17, Rev. Nunez volunteered and protested alongside...

Mary Jo Dudley is a faculty member in the Department of Development Sociology at Cornell University and is the Director of the Cornell Farmworker Program. As director of the Program her work...

Rob Williams is the director of the Migrant Farmworker Justice Project. Established by Florida Legal Services in 1996, and funded by the Florida Bar Foundation, the Project’s mission is to provide...

Nita Gonzales, of Denver, Colorado, is a noted community activist, educator, and nationally recognized leader in the struggle for social justice and equality. Nita is the President/CEO of Escuela...

Rogelio Lona is a farm worker, activist, community organizer and a leader. He has worked in the fields of California for more than 47 years and for 32 of those years he has been a member of the...

Bernarda Wong, better known as “Bernie,” is a founder and the President of the Chinese American Service League (CASL). Under Bernie’s leadership, CASL has grown from a one-person shop in 1979 with...

For over 15 years, Melinda Wiggins has served as the Executive Director of Student Action with Farmworkers (SAF), a nonprofit whose mission is to bring students and farmworkers together to learn...

Rose Garcia is the Executive Director of Tierra del Sol Housing Corporation, a New Mexico nonprofit corporation and a leading regional affordable housing and community development organization....

Nancy M. Cubano is a native of Puerto Rico. She was born in Arecibo but grew up in the small town of Utuado where she lived with her family. She is a graduate of the University of Puerto Rico and...

Elvira Diaz was born in México City, immigrated to the United States in 1986 and became a US citizen in 1992. Elvira has two children, Shirley Diaz and Jessica (Christian) Arroyo. Committed to...