Champions of Change

Champions of Change: Cesar E. Chavez Champions Of Change

The White House honors 10 community leaders who embody the spirit of Cesar E. Chavez’s legacy. Each of the Cesar Chavez Champions of Change have committed themselves to improving the lives of others in their communities and across the country. All of our honorees represent the values and steadfast determination of Cesar E. Chavez to organize ourselves for a more just tomorrow.

Khin Mai Aung, JD, is the Director of the Educational Equity Program at the Asian American Legal Defense and Education Fund (AALDEF) in New York City, NY. AALDEF's Educational Equity Program...

Germain Castellanos is Program Director for the SHINE Educational Leadership Program, a workforce development program serving over 300 at-risk youth at Waukegan High School—where the student...

Armando Chavez serves as principal of Columbus Elementary School (Deming Public Schools) in Columbus, NM. The school serves a population in which 99% of the students enter as monolingual Spanish...

Sandra Gutierrez is the National Program Director of Abriendo Puertas/Opening Doors (AP/OD), the nation’s first, evidence-based comprehensive training program for Latino parents with children aged...

Helen Gym is a community and education leader whose work across different organizations supports the right to a quality public education for all children. A former school teacher and journalist,...

Nahla Kayali serves as the Founder and Executive Director for Access California Services (AccessCal) in Anaheim, California. AccessCal is a health and human services non-profit culturally and...

Herb Lee, Jr., is the Executive Director of the Pacific American Foundation (PAF) and a Native Hawaiian that has led multiple, highly successful youth leadership programs, career planning and...

As an AmeriCorps member with the Literacy Council of Northern Virginia, Xavier Munoz has been teaching English to adult immigrants and refugees in family literacy and beginning-level ESOL classes...

Diego Uriburu is originally from Argentina, and has promoted the rights of Latino, immigrant, and LGBT communities in the Washington, D.C. area since immigrating to the U.S. In 1998, he co-founded...

Luis Urrieta, Jr., Ph.D. is the Associate Professor and Program Director for the Cultural Studies in Education Program at The University of Texas, Austin and Coordinator of the Cultura en Acción...