April 9 , 2026 th
Sheraton Downtown Phoenix
AMessagefromour ExecutiveDirectorandBoardChair
Dear Friends of Worker Power Institute,
With great excitement, we welcome you to our 3rd annual Democracy & Justice Award Gala. As an organization dedicated to advancing economic, social, and racial justice for working people, we're proud to celebrate the accomplishments of five outstanding individuals for their dedication to improving the lives of working people and standing up to authoritarianism. Time and time again, these four individuals remind us that our nation’s democracy and working people’s dignity is not self-executing; both must be actively defended.
We are thrilled to recognize the U.S. Senator Mark Kelly with the Worker Power Hero Award; Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes and Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison with the Worker Power Democracy Award; Marisol Garcia, President of the Arizona Education Association with the Worker Power Good Trouble Award; and Pablo Alvarado, Co-Executive Director of NDLON, with The Reverend James M. Lawson People Power Award.
All of them have bravely stood on the front lines to defend working people’s rights and democracy at a moment when both have been under direct and sustained attack. For years, their collective work has helped protect our most vulnerable community members and ensure that the government remains accountable to its people rather than to political extremism. Worker Power Institute is proud to honor their collective work, shared courage, and fierce commitment to our country and its working people.
As coordinated efforts to erode civil rights and elevate political loyalty above the rule of law intensify, we are proud to convene some of the nation’s fiercest labor and civil rights leaders not only to celebrate our work, but to issue a clear call to action. That call is clear: rise against authoritarianism and fight for the dignity and power of working people. At a moment when corporate power and right-wing extremism are accelerating their assault on working families defunding public education, driving up housing costs, stripping labor protections, and undermining democratic institutions we cannot afford silence or fragmentation. We must meet this moment with bold, united resistance rooted in solidarity, courage, and an unshakable commitment to justice.
Democracy is not given it is won. It is built in the streets, at the doors, in workplaces, in communities where ordinary people refuse to bow to fear. Thank you for standing with us in this fight to defeat authoritarianism and build real power for working people.
In solidarity,
Beatriz Topete Board Chair
Brendan Walsh Executive Director
SolidarityCircle
Worker Power Institute thanks the following sponsors who have made the 2026 Democracy & Justice Awards Gala possible*:
*As of April 6 , 2026 th
Hero
UNITE HERE!
UNITE HERE Local 11
Visionary
UFCW Local 99
Benefactor
AFSCME Arizona LUCHA
Ally
Arizona AFL-CIO
Arizona Education Association
Barton Medez Soto PLLC
Councilwoman Betty Guardado
Hadsell Stormer Renick & Dai LLP
Our Voice Our Vote
United Domestic Workers of America
UAW Region 6
Advocate
Arizona List
Chispa Arizona
Gilbert and Sackman
Kaufman Legal Group
One Arizona Friend
CIMA Law Group, PC
Maricopa County Democratic Party
Progress Arizona
Reproductive Freedom for All
Resilient Strategies
Jeffrey Robinson
Dr. Teresa Ruiz
United Steelworkers Local 675
EveningProgram ParticipantsandHonorees
Welcome
Councilwoman Betty Guardado
City of Phoenix
Board Member
Worker Power Institute
Land Acknowledgement
Brian Garcia
Arizona State Representative
Executive Director Remarks
Brendan Walsh
Executive Director
Worker Power Institute
Special Presenter
Erika Andiola
Political Director
National Day Laborer Organizing Network
The Reverend James M. Lawson
People Power Award
Pablo Alvarado
Co-Executive Director
National Day Laborer Organizing Network
Special Presenter
Beatriz Topete
Board President
Worker Power Institute
Vice President
UNITE HERE Local 11
Worker Power Good Trouble Award
Marisol Garcia
President
Arizona Education Association
Special Presenter
Susan Minato
Board Chair
Worker Power Co-President
UNITE HERE Local 11
Worker Power Democracy Award
Special Presentation
Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes
Special Presenter
Gwen Mills
President
UNITE HERE! International Union
Worker Power Democracy Award
Minnesota Attorney General
Keith Ellison
Special Presenter
Arizona Governor Katie Hobbs
Special Presenter
Mayor Kate Gallego City of Phoenix
Worker Power Hero Award
Senator Mark Kelly
United States Senator, Arizona
Musical Performance
La Santa Cecilia
PabloAlvarado
The Reverend James M. Lawson People Power Award
Pablo Alvarado is a founder and co-executive director of the National Day Laborer Organizing Network (NDLON), which works to improve the lives of day laborers, migrants, and low-wage workers.
Alvarado, who was born in El Salvador, fled that country's civil war to the U.S. in 1990, when he was 22. He was a day laborer, or jornalero, in Los Angeles and learned English in night school. He taught literacy to immigrant workers in the early 1990s, then began organizing day laborers, bringing them together to fight workplace abuses, set wage standards, improve relationships with the community, and defend their rights to speech and assembly. He led many successful court battles against anti-soliciting ordinances that banned jornaleros from standing on sidewalks.
The rapid spread of jornalero organizing in California and on the East Coast led Alvarado and others to plan a national coalition of worker centers. NDLON was created in July 2001 in Los Angeles. They defend labor and civil rights, fight workplace abuses, provide job-site health and safety training, and organize jornaleros as "second responders" to rebuild after disasters like hurricanes and wildfires. Today, it has more than 70 member organizations nationwide.
This year, NDLON has been organizing nonviolent resistance against authoritarianism and racist anti-immigrant campaigns. As masked vigilantes from ICE and other agencies have staged raids on jornaleros at Home Depot and other places, NDLON has stood firm against violence, racial profiling, unlawful arrests, mass deportation, and other violations of immigrants' human, civil, and labor rights.
Alvarado lives in Pasadena with his wife, Sharon Nicholls, and their two children.
MarisolGarcia
Worker Power Good Trouble Award
Marisol Garcia, President of the Arizona Education Association, embodies the spirit of the Worker Power Good Trouble Award through her willingness to challenge unjust systems and stand up to powerful interests on behalf of working people.
Elected in 2022 as the first woman of color and Chicana to lead AEA and reelected in 2025 she represents more than 22,000 public school educators statewide and has helped transform their collective voice into a force for change Marisol knows firsthand the challenges public schools face on a daily basis.
She helped mobilize tens of thousands of educators to win major gains in teacher pay and school funding in the historic #RedForEd movement. Under her leadership, AEA has strengthened its organizing power across the state, expanded member engagement, and built a more inclusive union that reflects Arizona’s working communities. She has been a leading voice against the expansion of school vouchers, even bringing Arizona’s fight to the national stage, while consistently defending educators from political attacks that seek to undermine their profession.
In her fight to create a brighter future for our children,and their educators, Marisol has gone toe-to-toe with powerful interests to win sustainable school funding, including fighting for the continuation of Proposition 123, and has pushed back against unfunded mandates that shift the burden onto workers and communities. She has also publicly opposed legislation that would restrict educators’ ability to organize, limit union activity, and weaken collective voice standing firmly on the side of workers’ rights.
At the core of her leadership is a belief that real change comes from organized people. Marisol Garcia has helped build a growing movement of educators and working people fighting for fair pay, fully funded public schools, and the fundamental right to organize to advance justice for communities across Arizona.
U.S.SenatorMarkKelly
Worker Power Hero Award
A decorated combat pilot, NASA astronaut, and a staunch defender of our democracy, U.S. Senator Mark Kelly is an American hero.
At a time when democratic institutions face sustained attacks, Senator Kelly has stood firmly against political extremism, election denialism, and efforts to erode public trust in our electoral system, choosing country over party and truth over political convenience
Most recently, amid mounting concerns about federal overreach including the murder of two innocent U.S. citizens by U.S. government agents Kelly urged public officials and service members to refuse unlawful orders, grounding his stance in the principle that allegiance belongs to the Constitution, not to a single person or any one administration In the aftermath, his words became a clear reminder that protecting democracy requires people to stand up and say no to government overreach.
Long before entering public office, Kelly risked his life in service to the nation. He flew 39 combat missions during Operation Desert Storm as a U. S. Navy combat pilot, operating in hostile airspace to defend American and allied forces He later served as a Navy captain and test pilot before becoming a NASA astronaut, commanding four Space Shuttle missions, including the final flight of Endeavour. Following the 2011 assassination attempt on his wife, former U.S. Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords, Kelly did not retreat from public life. Instead, he became a leading advocate for protecting communities from political violence and extremism, speaking about the dangers of inflammatory rhetoric
Senator Kelly has defended the integrity of American elections since his election to the U.S. Senate in 2020 when he supported legislation to protect voting rights and ensure election security, and opposed efforts to undermine lawful electoral outcomes. He has consistently rejected conspiracy-driven politics and has worked to strengthen democratic institutions through bipartisan governance and factbased policymaking.
In uniform and in the Senate, Mark Kelly has demonstrated that defending democracy is not symbolic it is a lifelong mission grounded in service, truth, and justice.
AttorneyGeneral KrisMayes
Worker Power Democracy Award
Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes has spent her career fighting for Arizona’s working families and defending democracy against tyranny and oppression.
Since her election as Attorney General in 2022, Attorney General Kris Mayes has carried that same fierce commitment into action for working people. When Worker Power Institute uncovered racial disparities in hiring and promotion at Phoenix Sky Harbor Airport, she immediately launched an investigation that helped food service workers at SSP America win long-overdue justice and respect. Amidst Arizona’s deepening housing crisis, Attorney Mayes filed a groundbreaking lawsuit against corporate landlords colluding to inflate rents for hundreds of thousands of renters. When supermarket giants Albertsons and Kroger proposed a merger that would eliminate jobs and raise food prices, Attorney General Mayes joined eight other state attorneys general and the Federal Trade Commission to block the merger, saving thousands of good union jobs with UFCW Local 99 and preserving affordable food access for working Arizonans.
As a Commissioner and Chair of the Arizona Corporation Commission from 2003–2010, Attorney General Kris Mayes helped create tens of thousands of high-paying clean energy jobs, expanded solar and wind power, and saved consumers billions by holding utility companies accountable. Her leadership made home energy more affordable, protected Arizona’s vital water resources, and opened new pathways to the middle class for working people across the state.
AttorneyGeneral KeithEllison Worker Power Democracy Award
Often referred to as the “people’s lawyer,” Attorney General Keith Ellison has dedicated his life to improving the lives of working people and defending our democracy in his home state of Minnesota. He established a dedicated Wage Theft Division, prosecuted employers who steal workers’ pay, securing settlements that protect the fundamental right to organize, and took on monopolies and predatory corporate actors that exploit consumers and undermine communities.
Attorney General Ellison’s commitment to working people and democracy were sorely tested earlier this year. When aggressive federal immigration enforcement actions during “Operation Metro Surge” swept through Minnesota, Ellison did not stay silent he went to court, filing a federal lawsuit asserting that no administration is above the Constitution and that civil liberties do not disappear because authoritarians want to abolish them.
In one of the most consequential moments in modern American history, Attorney General Ellison stepped forward to personally lead the prosecution and secure the conviction of George Floyd’s murderers. He has defended election integrity, protected women’s rights after the fall of Roe v. Wade, and joined multistate efforts to uphold constitutional norms. But he didn’t rest there.
Before becoming Minnesota’s Attorney General, Attorney General Ellison served in Congress, where he championed labor rights, consumer protections, and voting rights, consistently aligning himself with working families over corporate power.
Attorney General Ellison is the first African American and the first Muslim American to be elected to statewide office in Minnesota.
Minnesota has become a symbol of how to resist authoritarianism, in large part because of Attorney General Ellison's leadership. At moments when democracy itself has been tested, Attorney General Ellison has confronted authoritarian threats head-on.
LaSantaCecilia
Entertainment
La Santa Cecilia is a Grammy Award–winning band whose vibrant, genre-blending sound reflects the heart and soul of Los Angeles’ immigrant and working-class communities. True to form, some of their first performances occurred on the streets of Los Angeles’ famous Olvera Street.
Formed in 2007 and named after the patron saint of music, the group draws deeply from Latin American traditions cumbia, bolero, ranchera, and bossa nova while seamlessly weaving in rock, jazz, and soul influences to create a sound that is both timeless and unmistakably modern.
Led by the powerhouse vocals of Marisol “La Marisoul” Hernández, alongside José “Pepe” Carlos (accordion and requinto), Miguel “Oso” Ramírez (percussion), and Alex Bendaña (bass), La Santa Cecilia first rose to international prominence with their 2013 Grammy Award for Best Latin Rock, Urban or Alternative Album. Since then, they have continued to captivate audiences around the world with music that celebrates cultural identity, resilience, and love across borders
Beyond their musical achievements, La Santa Cecilia has consistently used their platform to uplift immigrant stories and advocate for social justice. Their songs speak to the lived experiences of families navigating displacement, labor, belonging, and hope turning personal narratives into collective anthems. Whether performing at major festivals, historic theaters, or community gatherings, the band brings a spirit of joy, solidarity, and cultural pride to every stage. They have collaborated with Elvis Costello, appeared on Conan, and most recently shared the stage with Led Zeppelin’s John Paul Jones.
Through their artistry and activism, La Santa Cecilia embodies the power of music to build bridges, honor heritage, and strengthen movements rooted in dignity and democracy.
About Worker Power Institute
Founded in 2008, Worker Power Institute is a (501c3) multi-racial, multigenerational organization dedicated to achieving economic, social, and racial justice in Arizona and nationwide through civic and policy engagement. We draw on the best traditions of union organizing and non-violent direct action to execute advocacy and policy campaigns that have a decisive and national impact on issues affecting our lives.
Worker Power Institute drives lasting change through leadership development, worker organizing, worker rights, voter engagement, corporate accountability programs, advocacy, and direct support. Through our leadership-building programs, we have trained thousands of social justice advocates, many of whom now hold leadership and public office roles. Since 2012, our voter engagement efforts have helped over 100,000 voters, primarily people of color and youth, enroll in Arizona’s Permanent Vote-By-Mail list, significantly increasing civic participation.
Over the years, we have fought for immigrant rights, just economic policies, and voting rights, securing better wages and working conditions for thousands of service workers in Phoenix. Our economic justice and direct democracy programs have successfully led efforts to overturn hundreds of millions of dollars in corporate tax giveaways in Arizona.
OurStaff
Jawaher Abbas Field Organizer Morningstar Bloom Communications Organizer
Jordan Greenslade Senior Field Director
Margaret Schultz Research and Policy Analyst
Kort Turner Data Manager
Magdalena Acosta Field Director
Cat Castaneda Logistics
Henry Griffith Computer Engineer
Rachele Smith Communications Lead
Azra Variscic Development Director
OurBoard
Beatriz Topete, Chair
Arizona Organizing Director UNITE HERE Local 11
Ian Danley Vice President of Civic Engagement League of Conservation Voters
Rebekah Friend
Labor's Community Service Agency
Yolanda Bejarano Political Organizing Director
Jessica Castro Administrative Assistant
Isabel Rose Operations Coordinator
Mike Martinez Field Organizer
Brendan Walsh Executive Director
Aubrey Barnwell, Treasurer Pastor First New Life Missionary Baptist Church
Betty Guardado Phoenix City Councilmember District 5
Jim McLaughlin President UFCW Local 99
T hank Yo u
To all of the presenters, honorees, sponsors, staff, and attendees who power our work, we are honored to be in the fight with you and grateful for all you’ve done to make tonight possible.
