Jollene Levid

Jollene Levid, from Northeast Los Angeles, is a community organizer with over 16 years in the women color feminist movement and the labor movement. Jollene received her BA in Political Science and Asian American Studies at UC Irvine and got her Masters in Social Work from the University of Southern California, with a concentration in Community Organization, Policy, Planning, and Administration.

She is the Founding Chairperson of AF3IRM, an anti-imperialist, transnational feminist women’s organization, originally a Philippine mass-solidarity organization. AF3IRM has three campaign areas: anti-trafficking of women and children, immigrant women’s rights, and anti-militarism. She has organized in the Philippines after Typhoon Haiyan via AF3IRM’s “Justice Not Charity” campaign, opened multiple AF3IRM chapters, and engages in direct action organizing as an AF3IRM member.

In June 2020, during an interview about the Filipino community's role in civil rights, Levid told the Asian Journal that "[e]very mass movement in our history that has changed the way a state or government or a country has been run, including the Philippines and the toppling of Marcos. People have found a way to contribute in ways that go beyond what you see as a normal protestor on the street.” (Medenilla, 2020).

For her paid work, Jollene has been a union organizer and former union director for over 15 years across the US in majority-women industries: healthcare and education. Jollene is currently a Regional Organizer for United Teachers Los Angeles, the second largest teachers union in the country, which is now getting strike-ready. She specializes in building issue-based workers’ campaigns, training workers, and leadership development. She is also a trained union contract negotiator who has negotiated several contracts with the doctors' and nurses’ unions (Levid, 2018).

Sources:

Medenilla, K. (2020, October 8). Social justice, activism and allyship: Filipino American History Month kicks off with calls to engage politically, culturally and socially - Asian Journal News. https://www.asianjournal.com/magazines/mdwk-magazine/social-justice-activism-and-allyship-filipino-american-history-month-kicks-off-with-calls-to-engage-politically-culturally-and-socially/.

Levid, J. (2018, August 28). Jollene Levid: Speakers Bureau. Everyday Feminism. https://everydayfeminism.com/speakers-bureau/jollene-levid/.