Hilary Abell
Executive Director
hilary (AT) wagescooperatives (DOT) org

Hilary Abell has been Executive Director of WAGES (Women’s Action to Gain Economic Security) since 2003. Her previous work covered a range of issues including fair trade, environmental health, women’s health, and immigrant rights. Her visits with fair trade farmers in Latin America inspired her commitment to cooperative models, environmental sustainability, and collective endeavors that give us space to dream. Hilary completed LeaderSpring’s two-year Executive Director fellowship in 2006 and holds a degree in religion and politics from Princeton University. She serves on the Board of Directors for Opportunity Fund, a non-profit organization based in San Jose.

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Derene Allen
San Francisco Co-op General Manager
derene (AT) wagescooperatives (DOT) org

Derene Joined WAGES as the General Manager of the soon to be launched San Francisco Cooperative. Derene is a senior manager with significant experience in developing marketing and public relations strategies for leading for profit organizations in the United States, Brazil, Mexico, and Peru.  Most recently, Derene was a Managing Partner with the Santiago Solutions Group, a multicultural business strategy consulting firm.

Derene has served as an adjunct professor in various Latin American universities, and her insights have been published in several Hispanic marketing and public relations books. She is a recent past Board Member of San Diego MANA, a non-profit Latina leadership organization, and is currently an Adjunct Professor at the University of San Francisco. Derene received her graduate degree in International Business from Thunderbird, The American Graduate School of International Management.

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Debi Clifford
Associate Director
debi (AT) wagescooperatives (DOT) org

On staff since January 2008, Debi leads development, communications, and administrative initiatives at WAGES.  She has more than twenty years’ experience in nonprofit management, having held a range of executive, consulting, and senior staff roles with environmental and women’s organizations in the Bay Area and New York.  Debi has spent half of her career helping low-income women build better lives:  highlights include her roles as a founder of WOMAN, Inc., a local domestic violence organization, and as co-director of Women’s Initiative, a women’s self-employment agency.  She holds an M.Div. from Princeton Theological Seminary.

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Irene Florez
Communications and Fundraising Associate
irene (AT) wagescooperatives (DOT) org

With WAGES since May 2008, Irene writes and produces communications and fundraising materials, manages the web site, and supports a range of development initiatives. Irene's experience includes marketing, public relations, and constituent services work with organizations such as Global Exchange, TranFair USA, SEIU, and the Mills College Art Museum. She is dedicated to empowering workers, improving the lives of disadvantaged people, and educating the general public. Irene has a B.A. in international Relations from Mills College.

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Steve Hicken
Director of Programs
steve (AT) wagescooperatives (DOT) org

Steve joined WAGES staff in the Spring of 2008 as the Director of Programs. He oversees the development of new cooperatives as well as the technical assistance programs and general support services provided to all WAGES’ affiliated cooperatives. Steve has a wealth of experience in a range of non-profit management roles and brings a significant network of contacts to WAGES. He has worked in the area of poverty alleviation and community organization in both the US and Latin America for over 25 years and has lived with his family in Venezuela and Mexico for nine years. Steve has founded or co-founded several organizations and programs while serving on several non-profit boards.

In 2008, he published a book, The Other Game, inviting readers to compare life practices and values of indigenous peoples of Oaxaca with the values and practices of dominant western culture. 

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Ellen Love
Special Projects Associate
ellen (AT) wagescooperatives (DOT) org

Ellen joined the WAGES staff in March 2005. At WAGES, Ellen works on administration, program evaluation, and community outreach. Ellen graduated from Brown University and wrote her thesis on women’s labor rights in Honduran clothing factories. Before coming to WAGES, Ellen worked at an association of colleges and universities, where she co-authored a college guidebook for politically engaged students.

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Ivette Melendez
Co-op Development Trainer
ivette (AT) wagescooperatives (DOT) org

Ivette studied journalism at the University of El Salvador and then worked in public relations and in local government. She arrived in East Palo Alto in l995 where she participated in Families in Transition and became president of the group Mujeres en Progreso. There she learned of WAGES. Soon after, she helped co-found and own Fantastic Fiesta, a retail party supply store started with WAGES' assistance, and worked as its Director of Finances and Marketing. Ivette joined WAGES in February l998 as an intern, developing and implementing curriculum for business planning. She became a permanent WAGES staff member in l999 as Cooperative Development Trainer. Ivette provides start-up and ongoing training in eco-friendly cleaning, constructive communication, cooperative principles, and leadership development. She also conducts outreach to recruit new co-op members and community partners.

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Josué Revolorio
Co-op Development Trainer
josue (AT) wagescooperatives (DOT) org

Josué Revolorio is originally from Guatemala and has lived in the San Francisco Bay Area since 2001.  He studied psychology and special education at the University of San Carlos of Guatemala and worked as a popular educator for 13 years with different social movements in Central America and Mexico, but most of all in his home country at a time of great violence and civil war that lasted 36 years. He also did work with men to lessen machismo and domestic violence. Today, Josué volunteers with the Guatemala News & Information Bureau (GNIB) and is a Board member of The Network in Solidarity with the People of Guatemala (NISGUA).

Josué graduated in 2007 from the School of Ethnic Studies at San Francisco State University, where he majored in Raza Studies and learned about WAGES and its cooperatives. He joined WAGES’ staff in February 2008. He provides training in constructive communication, cooperative principles, and leadership development to members of the WAGES network of eco-friendly cleaning cooperatives.

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