Laura Garza, Executive Director

Laura Garza is the Executive Director of Arise Chicago, a role she began on Labor Day 2025. Her lifelong passion for workers’ rights is deeply rooted in her experience as an immigrant born in Monterrey, Mexico, and her decades of organizing in Chicago’s labor and immigrant rights movements. Laura first joined Arise Chicago in March 2021 as Worker Center Director, leading campaigns that uplifted immigrant workers across industries. For 23 years, Laura worked with the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) Local 1, where she fought for economic justice while centering racial, gender, immigrant, and environmental justice in all aspects of her work. Throughout her tenure, she held multiple leadership roles, always guided by her passion for organizing and empowering workers. A steadfast advocate for women’s rights, Laura has worked tirelessly to ensure that women, especially women of color, are represented, respected, and safe in their workplaces. She holds a B.A. in Sociology from the University of Illinois at Chicago.

Adam Kader, Public Policy Director

Adam Kader (he/him/él) served as Arise Chicago's Worker Center Director for 14 years before becoming Public Policy Director in 2021. He is proud of his Palestinian roots and his union-member parents who instilled an enduring commitment to social and economic justice that he has carried throughout his work. Before joining Arise Chicago, he worked as an adult English language learner instructor for a variety of immigrant community organizations in Chicago and taught a Labor and Social Movements course at the University of Illinois. Adam received a master’s degree in Urban Planning and Public Policy with a concentration in Community Development from the University of Illinois at Chicago. He received undergraduate degrees in Anthropology and Spanish, with a minor in Gender Studies, from Lawrence University.  Besides raising his daughter with his wife, Adam enjoys old-fashioned hobbies, including reading books, listening to vinyl records, and taking urban hikes.  Adam speaks English and Spanish.

Margarita Valenzuela Klein, Director of Member Organizing

Margarita Klein is the daughter of political refugees from Chile and has been dedicated to workers’ rights and social justice for over two decades. Margarita brings a culmination of 20 years of experience in the workers' rights and labor movement to Arise Chicago. She has experience training teams of workers to create workplace demands, win union representation, and make concrete workplace improvements. Having won awards for Labor Woman of the Year for the Chicago Federation of Labor, 100 of Chicago’s most influential women, as well as featured and profiled with the Chicago Tribune, Margarita brings her experience and passion for workers’ rights and organizing to Arise. Margarita is fluent in Spanish and English.

Moises Zavala, Worker Center Director

Moises Zavala is a seasoned labor movement leader with over 25 years of experience, championing workers' rights and empowerment. Born in Michoacán, Mexico, and raised in Chicago's Back Of The Yards neighborhood, he has a deep-rooted commitment to community issues. Beginning with grassroots organizing around housing and community safety, Moises transitioned into union organizing, joining Local 881 UFCW in 1998. He rose to become the Director of Organizing, overseeing significant union victories. His leadership extended beyond the local level, serving on the Executive Board of Local 881 and as Chair for the 4th Congressional District at the Illinois AFL-CIO. His advocacy for immigrant workers and collaboration with community organizations earned him a position in the Institute of Mexicans Abroad from 2009 to 2011, where he spearheaded efforts to establish Labor Rights Week across all Mexican Consulates in the U.S. His commitment to education and dialogue led him to obtain a bachelor's degree from the University of Illinois at Chicago and a master's degree from DePaul University School of New Learning in Organizing Through Dialogue in 2013. As an Organizer at Arise, Moises supports workers to learn their rights and how to enforce them, including by making collective demands and building workplace committees. Fluent in both English and Spanish, he continues to be a driving force for social and economic justice in his community.

Shelly Ruzicka, Communications & Finance Director

Shelly Ruzicka (she/her/ella) joined Arise Chicago in 2006. As Communications & Finance Director, she leads narrative strategy, press work, finances, and supports member leadership development. Shelly is passionate about supporting workers to share their stories as a powerful means to win campaigns. She has secured 100-200+ local, national, and international stories annually, including significant coverage of immigrant women in the #MeToo movement and the workplace COVID crisis. She is a 2021 alumna of the University of Chicago’s Civic Leadership Academy; a 2015 alumna of the ReFrame Strategic Communications Mentorship; and earned bachelor’s degrees in Political Science and Intercultural Studies at Elmhurst College, during which time she studied at Oxford University and Universidad Espíritu Santo in Ecuador. Her family’s roots in working-class Polish and Czech immigrant communities and being the daughter of a public school teacher inspire her focus on the workplace as a critical point of social change. Shelly speaks English and Spanish, and enjoys film festivals, tap dancing, and cooking elaborate dinners. 

Liz Haas, Development Director

Liz Haas (they/she/elle/ella) joined Arise Chicago in June 2024. As Development Director, they lead Arise Chicago’s fundraising efforts and cultivate and manage Arise’s relationships with donors and grantmakers. Previously, Liz has worked as Senior Grants Manager at Fair Fight Action, Development Manager at the National Asian Pacific American Women’s Forum (NAPAWF), and AmeriCorps VISTA Resource Development Associate at KAN-WIN. Liz received a Bachelor of Arts degree from Smith College in history with a focus on comparative colonialism. They grew up in the suburbs of Chicago, and their passion for immigrant rights and worker justice emerges both from their heritage as the grandchild of Taiwanese/Chinese immigrants and their own experiences with unionization and the power of workplace organizing. Liz also enjoys theater, speculative fiction, and building LGBTQ community.

Jorge Mujica, Strategic Campaigns Organizer

Jorge Mújica Murias joined Arise as Strategic Campaigns Organizer in 2012. Born in Mexico, Jorge participated in labor and popular movements until he emigrated to the United States in 1987. Has worked as a journalist for several newspapers, Univision, and Telemundo, and twice won the First Place award for Investigative Reporting from the Association of Hispanic Publicists. He is one of the main organizers of the 2006 immigrant rights marches and co-author of “Voces Migrantes, Movimiento 10 de Marzo”, a book about the immigration movement. Jorge has worked for several labor unions, is a member of the National Council of the National Union of Writers, and several community organizations that have fought for the interests of the Mexican community abroad. He was elected to the Mexican Federal Congress in 2021, representing the Mexican diaspora. As an Arise Organizer, he educates and organizes workers to improve their workplaces. Jorge is fluent in Spanish and English.

Jose Uribe, Workplace Justice Campaigns Organizer

Jose Uribe (he/him/él) joined Arise Chicago in August 2021 after spending nine years working as a Union Organizer with American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees (AFSCME). During his time at AFSCME, he organized home care providers in Vermont and New Jersey, advocated for the expansion of medical interpreter services in California, partnered with public employees in Northern Virginia to grow their union’s power, supported cab drivers in Chicago and New Orleans in their fights against unregulated competitors, and educated migrant farm workers on their rights at work in North Carolina. He earned his Bachelor of Arts in the Sociology of Law, Criminology, and Deviance from the University of Minnesota. As an Organizer at Arise, Jose supports workers to learn their rights and take action to enforce them, including by building workplace committees.  In his spare time, he enjoys baking, music, and playing & collecting video games. Jose is fluent in English and Spanish.

Ethan Aronson, Faith Community Organizer

Ethan Aronson (he/they/él/elle) joined Arise Chicago as the Faith Community Organizer in February of 2025. Ethan has been organizing faith communities around economic, environmental, and immigrant justice since 2017. As the Campaign Director of Never Again Action, Ethan organized Jewish communities around the country in campaigns to shut down detention centers, end police-ICE collaboration, and win driver's licenses for undocumented immigrants. They’ve also volunteered as a desert migrant aid worker with No More Deaths, a board member of the Midwest Immigrant Bond Fund, and an international accompanier with the Network in Solidarity with the People of Guatemala. Ethan received a bachelor's degree in Religious Studies at Oberlin College and is a founder of the Jewish prayer community Higaleh Nah and the Chicago klezmer band Upshtat Zingerai. As Faith Community Organizer at Arise, Ethan trains and organizes faith leaders and congregations to support worker-led workplace and policy campaigns. They speak English and Spanish.

Ania Jakubek, Domestic Worker Organizer

Ania Jakubek has been the Domestic Worker Organizer at Arise Chicago since 2010. Prior to Arise Chicago, she was an organizer for the Northwest Neighborhood Federation for five years, which partnered with SEIU’s Hospital Accountability Project. She also coordinated the New American Initiative program, which assisted immigrants in filing for and obtaining citizenship. Ania brings her passion for organizing Domestic Workers to Arise through recruiting, training, and providing workforce and leadership development to Arise members.  A trained interpreter, Ania is fluent in Polish and English.

Lisseth Cervantes, Immigration Coordinator and Membership Assistant

Lisseth Cervantes (she/her/ella) was born and raised in Chicago. She first connected with Arise while organizing alongside her mother and coworkers to address workplace abuses. Inspired by that experience, she joined the staff in 2023 as the DALE Coordinator and later earned a Fellowship in Immigrant Advocacy from Villanova University in 2025. Fluent in English and Spanish, Lisseth now helps members access trusted immigration support and understand their rights. Proud of her Latina roots, she is dedicated to empowering immigrant workers and their families to stand up for justice and dignity.

Francisco Hurtado Caicedo, Data & Operations Specialist

Francisco Hurtado Caicedo (he/him/él) joined Arise Chicago as the Data & Operations Specialist in February 2025. Born in Ecuador, he has lived in Chicago since 2023. His nineteen-year career has been dedicated to human rights. He has experience as a college professor and has volunteered and worked with grassroots collectives, nonprofit organizations, and public institutions. Although he began his professional journey as an attorney, his activism and a master’s degree in sociology shifted his focus toward research and operations. Over the past seven years, he has worked in social research and data analysis, team and project management, communications, graphic and website design, and administrative duties. Back in Ecuador, he served as the First Deputy of the Ecuadorian Ombudsman's Office and as a member of the Comité de Solidaridad Furukawa Nunca Más. He is a member of the Chicago Union of Tenants. He speaks Spanish and English and loves riding his bicycle.

Jenny Maoloni, Accounts Manager

Jenny Maoloni (she/her), the Arise Chicago Accounts Manager since 2012, received her master's degree in Library & Information Science from Dominican University and her bachelor's degree in Speech Language Pathology from Elmhurst College. Before joining Arise, she worked at a financial firm and a small business. Jenny manages all aspects of accounting at Arise, including processing donations, payroll, audits, government compliance forms, organizational insurance, and benefits programs.