MIAMI LEADER:
Marcia Olivo was born and raised in the Dominican Republic, at the age of 21 she immigrated to the United States. In the process of filling out immigration documents, Marcia had to identify herself with one of the ethnic groups listed on the form. Before this moment, she was not aware of her racial and ethnic identity. Within two years of arriving to the United States she began to work as a Community Organizer. Marcia Olivo is now a leader dedicated to improving the lives of working class communities in Miami.

WHY MIAMI?
There was very little happening in terms of social justice movements when I first moved to Miami. There were only the unions and some social services organizations, but very few organizations with a progressive vision of doing socially centered work. In recent years the movement for social, economic, and racial justice has grown. However, there is still a lack of gender focus in the development goals and victories of these movements. There is still a lacking gender analysis that recognizes the differences in roles between women, men and transgender people in society; the differences between the positions of power and opportunities assigned by society to each one of those groups; and the needs of each group and how their differences impact the lives of everyone.

WHAT IS THE MOST PRESSING ISSUE TO SOLVE ON YOUR LIST?
Build the collective strength of low-income people of color and working class communities.

HOW CAN WE SOLVE IT?
Four years ago, along with a co-worker, I founded Sisterhood of Survivors (SOS), an organization ran by women survivors of domestic violence and sexual assault. 2 Years ago, we merged with the Miami Workers Center. SOS became the gender Justice council and became the Executive Director of the Miami Workers Center, a community based organizations working on Miami working class communities for economic, gender and racial equality. Currently we are organizing domestic workers and on issues of housing discrimination, displacement due to gentrification.