The AAUP has added staff in the Department of Organizing and Services, the Legal Department, and the Department of External Relations in recent months. These new hires will help the AAUP build power and organize higher education to counter the second Trump administration’s assault on our institutions.
Two lead organizers joined the Department of Organizing and Services during the summer. Kim Piper, based in Connecticut, worked most recently for the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) to organize workers in the greater New England area. Lena Solow, based in New York City, comes to the AAUP after having previously worked for the NewsGuild, the Communications Workers of America (CWA), and the Federal Unionists Network. Kim and Lena will play vital roles in external and internal organizing campaigns, advocacy organizing campaigns, and other projects.
The Department of Organizing and Services also added three new organizers in recent months. Brian Allen, based in New York City, has previously organized higher education workers through both the CWA and the United Auto Workers; he recently helped organize AAUP members at Columbia University and will continue to serve chapters nationwide. Max Friedfeld, based in Seattle, has a background in STEM advocacy and bargaining and will work primarily with AAUP chapters on the West Coast. Lukas Moe, based in Providence, joined the AAUP’s staff after having served as a part-time organizer for the AAUP’s Organize Every Campus initiative; he was also previously involved in organizing efforts at Yale University, at Wellesley College, and in the hospitality industry.
Johnda “Jonnee” Bentley joined the Legal Department in the AAUP’s Washington, DC, office. As associate counsel, she will help the AAUP pursue concrete victories in the courts by supporting litigation and amicus brief filings. Jonnee has worked previously for the US Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Division as well as the National Labor Relations Board and the SEIU.
The AAUP has also made four special one-year appointments to support the Labor for Higher Education campaign. Campaign director Sean Rudolph, based in Albuquerque, comes to the AAUP with fifteen years of organizing experience in both the private and the public sectors as well as experience with political organizing and grassroots mobilization. He will work in the Department of Organizing and Services along with project organizers Jawuanna McAllister, based in North Carolina, who comes to the AAUP with experience organizing graduate workers and building coalitions with faculty as a member of the Cornell AAUP chapter and the Cornell Collective for Justice in Palestine, and Alejandra Granado, based in Miami, who formerly organized with the NAACP Legal Defense Fund. Finally, Nico Millman, based in Chicago, is supporting the campaign as a media and communications specialist in the Department of External Relations. Nico previously worked as a graduate student organizer and liaison to the University of Pennsylvania AAUP chapter.