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Introducing our new Alumni Community Manager

We’re thrilled to announce our newest staff member, Sagal Handulle! Sagal joined re:power in September 2023 as our first ever Alumni Community Manager. She will be working on the Strategy & Engagement Team to deepen our relationship with re:power alumni and help build a tighter network of incredible BIPOC women, trans & gender expansive people of color leaders.

Sagal Handulle
Alumni Community Manager

Sagal Handulle

Raised in central Ohio, Sagal Handulle graduated from The Ohio State University with a B.A. in Political Science. She got her start in politics as a Progressive Pipeline fellow with the PA Working Families Party and was shortly promoted to digital organizer. In her role, she developed digital strategies for campaigns and candidates—and found comfort in an organizing space that valued the need for a diverse point of view. Inspired by her own experience, she returned to Progressive Pipeline as the Fellowship Director, managing the flagship fellowship program and placing 400+ fellows with over 80 different employer partners.

Sagal completed re:power’s WOC leadership track this summer and felt a sense of safety, community, and kinship for the first time in her professional life. She joins the re:power team, ready to build on the momentum and deliver programming that taps into the unique experiences, challenges, and concerns faced by our alumni community. When she’s not working, you’ll find her at the gym, baking late at night, or writing short stories.

re:power Welcomes New Board Members, Kelley Robinson and Angela Ferrell-Zabala

re:power, a national training and capacity-building organization that exists to build a critical mass of social justice movements and their leaders who embody the ideology and practice of liberatory organizing, is excited to announce two new additions to our Board of Directors: Kelley Robinson and Angela Ferrell-Zabala. 

Robinson and Ferell-Zabala embody our core values of community, collective action, and abundance through their years-long commitment to organizing for material change in the lives of the most impacted. Most importantly, Robinson and Ferell-Zabala are both leading organizations that have built strong organizing coalitions and fought for necessary legislative and narrative change on issues that affect so many of us: Gun Violence Prevention and LGBTQIA+ rights. re:power’s Executive Director Karundi Williams shared, “In this critical time where states are rolling back human rights and gun violence is soaring, Kelley and Angela’s work is more critical than ever and their leadership on re:power’s board is in recognition of the need for more training and infrastructure support for their movements.”

Kelley Robinson

Kelley Robinson is the ninth president of the Human Rights Campaign — the first Black, Queer woman to lead the organization. The Human Rights Campaign is America’s largest civil rights organization working to achieve equality and liberation for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer people. Robinson is widely respected for her work over the last 15 years creating and leading winning campaigns and programs and has been at the forefront in the fight for bodily autonomy and racial and gender equity. 

“At a time when LGTBQ+ people face a State of Emergency and our basic freedoms are on the line, I’m honored to join re:power on the frontlines of the fight for social, racial, and economic justice. Together with activists, organizers and advocates, re:power is building a collective of effective leaders who are committed to the fight for liberation without exception.” 

Kelley Robinson

Angela Ferrell-Zabala serves as the first ever Executive Director of Moms Demand Action where she is responsible for leading and growing the largest gun violence prevention grassroots network in the country . Angela has been with the organization since 2019 leading its movement building work and overseeing grassroots organizing, external, cultural and corporate engagement, and national partnerships and programming.

Angela Ferrell-Zabala

“As an organizer at heart, I am deeply honored to join re:power’s board and to help develop a powerful community fighting for our collective liberation. We don’t have to accept a reality where people’s livelihoods are threatened simply for existing. In order to realize the better, safer world that we all deserve, it’s critical that we invest in strong organizing training for leaders across movements — and re:power is doing exactly that.”

Angela Ferrell-Zabala

Our two new board members will bring their powerful leadership and deep experience to our already dynamic board.  Their vision will be invaluable as we continue to move toward our northstar of a multiracial democracy, liberated from the oppressive systems of white supremacy and patriarchy.

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Continuing to grow in service of our movements

We’re so excited to announce that the re:power team has added two new incredible members to our team. Get to know Lee Anderson and Ali Brusch and keep an eye on our careers page for new openings!

Lee Anderson
Director, Movement Technology Programs

Lee Anderson

Lee Anderson is a digital and cultural strategist, a storyteller, and an artist. Lee made a name for himself over the last 16 years running electoral and political campaigns for national organizations like the AFL-CIO, CREDO SuperPAC, and the Center for Popular Democracy. Lee has also managed international digital advocacy strategy, and led communications functions in the philanthropic sector. Even with those achievements, Lee thinks of himself as an artist first.

A classically trained vocalist and music producer, Lee has been able to apply his love for the arts to his passion for social justice and activism and has helped plan and execute creative actions, performances, art installations, and touchpoints that use culture to mobilize communities into action. Originally from Brooklyn, New York, Lee spent way too much time in Washington, DC, and now lives in Seattle, Washington with his wife and their mini Labradoodle, King T’Challa.

Ali Brusch
Managing Director, Finance & Operations

Ali Brusch

Ali is a New York native who has worked in finance and operations at local and global nonprofits since 2008. She has worked with staff to build comprehensive budgets and to strengthen and maintain the operational health of the organization. Her goal is always to create anti-oppressive practices and policies that center staff and that make finances accessible to all. Ali is so excited to be joining re:power in the role of Managing Director, Finance & Operations as we embark on our strategic plan and continue to uplift and support BIPOC leaders.

Ali currently lives in Fairfield, CT with her partner and two kids. When she’s not working, she enjoys a healthy dose of reality tv, along with cooking and being outdoors.

2023: A year of growth for re:power!

2023 is a year of growth for re:power and we’re thrilled to deepen our impact with the addition of three new team members. Learn more about our new incredible team members below!

Krystal Garcia Centeno
Administrative Coordinator, Development & Communications

Krystal Garcia Centeno

Krystal brings a wealth of experience from advocacy organizations like Warehouse Workers for Justice and the Sierra Club where she was an organizer and operations professional building power with working people across intersectional social justice fights. Krystal was a 2020 At-Large Delegate for Bernie Sanders’s presidential campaign and a community college school board candidate during the 2023 consolidated election cycle, where in both cases she championed progressive policies and advocated for more inclusive democracies.  

Krystal is particularly excited to join the Development and Communications team because she is passionate about redistributing wealth and is eager to reimagine philanthropy through a community centric framework. Outside of work she’s a dog mom of two girls (Olivia and Blue), a graduate student, and is usually watching films with Pedro Pascal in them.

Adriyanna R. Andreus
Program Coordinator, Progressive Governance Academy

Adriyanna R. Andreus

Adriyanna joins the re:power team after working on the Made to Save team at Civic Nation mobilizing efforts to get shots in arms in communities of color and building stronger and more resilient ties between communities of color and their public health ecosystem—all in service of building long-term community power.

Previously, Adriyanna worked on the Voter Registration Quality Control Project and on Vice President Kamala Harris’s 2020 presidential campaign in accounting and compliance. Adriyanna was a 2020 Maryland At-Large Delegate for President Joe Biden while serving as the Coordinator for the Haitian Ladies Network. 

In her free time, Adriyanna loves to cook her favorite Haitian recipes, cuddle with her dog Tokyo and cat Furiosa, travel the world with her partner Tiff, and keep her community civically engaged through her social media platform Decipher TV.

Tina C. Hines
Executive Assistant & Board Liaison

Tina C. Hines

Tina C. Hines is a seasoned Executive Assistant with over 35 years in the field. She began her administrative career as a secretary in the offices of Johnson & Johnson. There Tina held executive assistant positions in the areas of safety and industrial hygiene, sales and logistics and business development. She was the recipient of several awards for her work at Johnson & Johnson. 

Tina continued her career supporting the founder/owner of Black Enterprise Magazine. It was during this time where she enhanced her skills which eventually led her to the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. At the foundation, Tina managed the executive office of the President and CEO, as well as worked closely with the board of trustees. More recently, Tina has served as office manager of Extra Hands VAS where she supported the founder with daily operations.

Tina is a graduate of the University of Phoenix with an Associates of Arts in Business. She is also certified as a life and transformational coach. She is passionate about helping women live their best life without limits.

Welcoming our new Leadership Giving Manager

Mia S. Willis

We’re excited to welcome our new Leadership Giving Manager, Mia S. Willis (they/them)! 

Mia is a fundraiser, popular educator, and artist based on unceded Muscogee Creek territory (so-called Atlanta, Georgia). They are a lifelong Southerner whose family lineage includes laborers, union stewards, teachers, and civil servants.

Mia was a graduate student in Classics at The Florida State University when they left academia to design the youth volunteer curriculum at the Atlanta History Center and embark on their first North American poetry tour. They have received fellowships from Cave Canem, La Maison Baldwin, and Lambda Literary for poetry featured in The Slowdown, Palette Poetry, and others.

By the summer of 2020, Mia was eager to support movement organizations with the skills they acquired as a self-employed performance artist and workshop facilitator. They have since served in development and popular education roles at Reading In Motion, Highlander Research and Education Center, and Southern Movement Assembly.

When Mia isn’t fundraising for change or writing toward tomorrow, they enjoy collecting vinyl records and producing sample-based music.

“I come from a family of community-centric fundraisers; individuals who understand that fundraising is just one way marginalized people build power under capitalism and that all contributions, regardless of nature or size, are invaluable in the struggle toward self-determination. I’m looking forward to talking with the folks who support our work and building with them!”

Mia S. Willis

October 2022 Newsletter

Preview - Oct 2022 Newsletter