Our work on behalf of Tsotsil and Tseltal Maya weavers in Chiapas, Mexico is based in Las Cruces, New Mexico on the lands of the original peoples and their descendents, including Jocome, Jumano, Manso, Piro, Suma, Tapaxkolmeh, Tigua (Tiwa), Tortugas Pueblo, and Mescalero, Warm Springs and Chiricahua Apache.
We are an all-volunteer, non-profit organization with many talented and dedicated people serving in different capacities. Our steering committee (see below) meets monthly and guides our organization and many volunteers help us in myriad ways. We also couldn’t do our work without over 250 members and donors who help sustain us with their annual support.
- Guillermo Acosta – Guillermo has deep roots in the Rio Grande valley and lives in Mesilla, New Mexico. A research scientist by training and a craftsman by trade, he works on a variety of projects technical and aesthetic, creating and repairing using both metal and wood.
- Susan Beck– New Mexico State University Librarian, returned Peace Corps volunteer/Morocco, and textile enthusiast.
- Lorena Cabatic – Retired from the State of Texas, currently working part time as a care-giver. She also volunteers for Veterans out of El Paso.
- Meghann Dallin – Has been a Volunteer with Weaving for Justice since the late 1990s. Meghann is a PhD candidate in Health Equity Sciences at the University of New Mexico. Meghann manages our Instagram account.
- Janet Darrow– Retired professor and research biologist, turned videographer who is now focusing on the art of indigenous Latin American communities and the border region.
- Christine Eber – Author, anthropologist, and co-founder of Weaving for Justice.
- Patricia Gonzalez – Retired from the manufacturing sector and volunteer with the Mesilla Valley Film Society at the Fountain Theater.
- Aurelia Holliman – Long-term volunteer with educational and social justice projects in Chiapas and Guatemala.
- Crystal Massey – Has long volunteered with asylum seekers in the borderlands and has held positions with the Immigration Justice Campaign at the American Immigration Council, the American Immigration Lawyers Association, Lutheran Family Services Rocky Mountains, and Kids in Need of Defense (KIND), the CARA/Dilley Project. She is currently the Director of Humanitarian Action with the Hope Border Institute in El Paso.
- Emerita members: Jean Bergs, Sally Meisenhelder, Kit Elliott, Elaine Hampton, Mary Kerwin, Anita Rodriguez, Sarah Murphy, Rebecca Wiggins-Reinhard, and Natille Zimmerman.
Are you interested in volunteering? We are always looking for new talent!