The Peggy Browning Fund Summer Newsletter 2021

3 PBF Alumnus Becomes General Counsel of CIW Since becoming general counsel in 2020 of the Coalition of Immokalee Workers (CIW) – a worker-based human rights organization, grounded in the farmworker community of Immokalee, Florida – PBF 2006 Alumnus Matt Blumin has supported the CIW’s inspirational work, protect- ing the health and safety of essential farmworkers during the COVID-19 pandemic. The CIW’s internationally- recognized Fair Food Program (FFP), enforces farmworkers’ rights on participating farms through worker- to-worker education, a 24/7 trilingual complaint hotline, and in-depth audits, all backed by legally-binding Fair Food Agreements between the CIW and major food retailers who purchase from those farms such as McDonald’s, Wal-Mart, and Whole Foods. Evenasthefederalgovernment failed to issue mandatory regulations on COVID-19 safety for farmworkers, the CIW moved quickly to protect farmworkers on FFP farms with COVID-19 safety protocols that – like the other protections enjoyed by FFP farmworkers – are binding and enforceable. At the same time, the CIW worked tirelessly to mitigate the impact of COVID-19 in the larger Immokalee community through community education, PPE distribution, and mobilizing public opinion and national attention to advocate for and ultimately achieve testing and more equitable vaccine distribution for farmworkers, which the CIW helped execute with extensive community organizing and language interpretation. All of this work was led by the CIW, with counsel playing a supporting role. In that respect, Matt expresses that he is extremely fortunate to have had the opportunity to work with the CIW’s previous (and first) GC, Steve Hitov, who spent many months training Matt before passing away during the pandemic, leaving shoes impossible to fill. Hitov was often fond of saying that the lawyer’s role is to be a “left tackle for justice,” not a quarterback, which is advice Matt has tried his best to take to heart in representing the CIW at this critical juncture. It is also a lesson resonant with his experience as a PBF fellow and a member of the larger PBF alumni community, many of whom have also been excellent mentors to Matt in his previous work for PBF supporters AFSCME, Bredhoff & Kaiser, and Justice at Work (known as Friends of Farmworkers at the time). A labor bus drops off dozens of workers directly from the fields at a vaccination clinic in Immokalee as part of a massive campaign in the farmworker community. Since efforts began, more than 6,000 workers have received the vaccine. Not Going Quietly Since our founding, PBF reports to and stays in touch with all of our summer fellows who have become our alumni. Many have gone onto make a real difference in the labor movement. We’ve reported on their challenges, opportunities and successes each year in our newsletters. This year, PBF 2008 alumnus Ady Barkan has made tremendous inroads through his healthcare advocacy group ‘Be A Hero’ and his campaign for healthcare reform. Ady, a graduate of Yale Law School, worked at Service Employees International Union (SEIU) for his summer fellowship. Diagnosed in 2016 with ALS (Lou Gehrig’s Disease), Ady is the subject of a new documentary entitled Not Going Quietly . The movie, with Bradley Whitford and the Duplass brothers as executive producers, follows Ady as he battles his disease and continues his activism on healthcare and other progressive causes. Not Going Quietly premiered at the South by Southwest Festival in March where it won the Special Jury Award for Humanity in Social Action and the Audience Award in the Documentary Feature Competition. The theatrical release is scheduled for August 13, 2021 in New York. Not Going Quietly For more information, contact: www.notgoingquietlyfilm.com Instagram: @notgoingquietlyfilm Twitter: @notgoingquiet Facebook: @notgoingquietlyfilm Alumni Highlights