RMM Staff

Rural & Migrant Ministry Main Office
PO BOX 4757
Poughkeepsie, NY 12602
(845) 485-8627
(845) 485-1963 (fax)
Western New York Office
c/o Grace Church
9 Phelps St.
Lyons, NY 14489
Central New York Office
c/o Albany Presbytery
1915 Fifth Avenue
Troy, NY 12180

Vassar Interns on Alternative Spring Break
with Katia Chapman, RMM Youth Empowerment Assistant Coordinator and Intern Coordinator
Click here to read article

Brooklyn Food Connections
newsletter's featured article: "Labor Activists, Community Members, and Ethical Eaters: Join the Justice for Farmworkers Campaign" Click here for article.

Youth Economic Group in the news
Click here for article.

Youth Arts Group delegation to Peru.
Press Release
Media Coverage

Dairy Farmer calls for equal rights for farmworkers
Click here for full statement

staff

Andres Chamorro, Youth Empowerment Coordinator, artist / educator / activist, has led the Youth Arts Group of the Rural & Migrant Ministry since 2004, where he guides young people in using the arts to create social justice. Prior to joining RMM, he spent 8 years at the Village of Arts and Humanities in Philadelphia, providing arts education to inner city youth, teachers, and adults. Mr. Chamorro also formed Art for Change, a coalition of artists who brought arts workshops to the community and educators in the U.S. and his native Ecuador. His mission as an artist is to empower others with the transformative nature of art.

Katia Chapman joined RMM as the Youth Empowerment Assistant Coordinator and Intern Coordinator after graduating from Vassar College with a BA in Latin American/ Latino Studies and Education. Besides several internships with RMM, she also has worked on community projects in Poughkeepsie. These include the Initiative for Immigrant Health, and Let’s Get Ready, a free college preparation course. Katia believes that no youth should be denied their dreams on the basis of class, gender, race, citizenship, or any other factor. She works for RMM in order to live into this belief.

Wayne Downing recently joined RMM on a part time basis to coordinate the middle school leadership program in Sullivan County. Wayne is a gifted musician and long time youth group leader. Wayne also serves as Music Director for St. John's Episcopal Church in Monticello.

Ruth Faircloth, Director of the Overnight Leadership Camp and the Rural Women’s Conference (pt) was born in Florida to a pair of remarkable farmworking parents. Ruth migrated with her family to the fields of New York. She has been in the forefront of empowering rural communities for decades having helped found a youth organization called UNITY and the Daughters of Sarah, an ecumenical women's leadership development and support organization. Ruth was also instrumental in creating RMM's Overnight Camp, where she has served as Director for twenty years.

Pastor Rolfi Elivo, WNY Community Outreach Education Coordinator was born and raised in the Dominican Republic, where he received his degree in Industrial Engineering from Interamerican University in 1984. Responding to God’s call, he earned his Bachelors in Theological Studies from Evangelical University in 2000. In addition to coordinating the Liturgia Education Center, Rolfi performs outreach in the Wayne County area, visiting with farmworkers in the camps, assisting and serving them and their children. Rolfi teaches music as a foundation to building relationships with farmworkers from a diverse background - music being a universal language. Pastor Rolfi is also currently ministering to a growing Latino community in Warwick, NY.

Gerardo Gutierrez Jr. Esq., Justice for Farmworkers Campaign Coordinator, is the founder of the Gutierrez Law Firm which provides legal counseling and representation to the immigrant/Hispanic community of the Hudson Valley, as well as educating the community about their civil rights. His experience spans a broad range of government, federal and state agencies as well as the public and private sectors.

Jane Konitz, Special Projects Coordinator (volunteer), is a retired Christian Educator having worked for the New Hackensack Reformed Church, Wappingers Falls, NY for 27 years. She is a Certified Associate in Ministry for Christian Education of the Reformed Church in America, and was the RCA's representative to the formation committee of Rural & Migrant Ministry. Jane served as RMM's first secretary and has served on the Board of RMM since its inception in 1981. After retiring from the church education job, Jane returned to the RMM office to help coordinate special projects and work with the program staff on summer camps; the Daughters of Sarah Holiday Toy Store and Black Heritage Dinner; and Farmworker Advocacy.

Laura Lecour, Managing Director, has worked for over 15 years as an advocate on behalf of children and migrant farmworkers beginning as a Daycare Provider, then a Tutor/Advocate with Migrant Education, an Interpreter/Translator and currently as Managing Director of RMM. She has a B.S. in Marketing and Management from New York University, and is currently working toward her M.P.A. at Marist College. Laura is the proud mother of three children, Isabel, Aaron and Anthony.

William McKee recently joined RMM (pt) as the Administrator of the Liturgia Worker Education Center in Lyons, NY. Bill is retired from Bank of America where he administered investment accounts for private foundations and public charities. He comes from a farm family and has a degree in Agricultural Economics from Cornell University. He currently devotes much of his time to growing wine grapes on a small vineyard in Sodus, NY.

Nydia Medina has been part of the RMM staff since 1998. Her first positions were as Administrative Coordinator for 10 years and Assistant Resource Development Coordinator for 2 years. She has since retired and has settled in her native island of Puerto Rico. Nydia has a passion for the arts and is a gifted artisan. Her work demonstrates the art of her Puerto Rican heritage. She continues to maintain our computer data base as a part-time staff person.

Jeannine Otis, officially became RMM's Music Director (pt) in 2010 having served as Music Director of the Overnight Camp for several years. A graduate of Wellesley College and Emerson College (Masters of Arts) Jeannine's beautiful voice and talented piano playing can be heard at many of RMM's events, including the Rural Women's Conference and the Sowing Seeds for Justice Dinner. A noted performer across the globe, Jeannine has recorded on the WARNER EUROPEAN Label and with Eliot Goldenthal, been featured in the New York Times and has performed with Grover Washington, George Brown and KOOL and the GANG, and Pete Seeger. She has also appeared in productions with the American Repertory Theater and the Public Theater. On top of all of this, Jeannine is also an author (THE GATHERING, Seabury Press) and a great youth educator involved in programs with RMM and countless other organizations across New York City. We first met Jeannine through our dear friends at St. Mark's Church-In-the-Bowery, where Jeannine serves as Music Director.

Jillian Rahm is the Youth Economic Education Coordinator for Rural & Migrant Ministry. She has recently helped launch the Youth Economic Group (YEG) in Sullivan County, N.Y. YEG utilizes a very creative and vibrant curriculum designed for local high school students, which through experiential learning teaches empowerment, business skills, leadership, communication, finance, economics and a full spectrum of life skills to its nine core participants. The goal of the program is to begin the first-of-its-kind, youth-run cooperative business in Sullivan County in the Spring of 2011. Jillian brings 20 years experience as a teacher, educator, and creative consultant, and is the former Area Director for the Boys & Girls Club. She is also the owner of Bliss Art Creative. Jillian received her BFA from the Parsons School of Design in NYC and The New School for Social Research. Her mission is to offer vision, faith, and inspiration to young people everywhere by helping to create and direct the process of positive change in the local community.

Richard Witt, Executive Director, has been blessed to serve as Executive Director of RMM since 1981. Ordained as an Episcopal priest, Richard has served in congregations in New York and Massachusetts and as a chaplain at Vassar College. He has also worked for a number of non-profit organizations in Massachusetts and New York including: Greater Boston Legal Services, Oficina Hispana, and the Episcopal City Mission. Richard has helped to co-found several organizations including: The Larry B. Timm Fund, Winchester Interfaith Housing and the Justice for Farmworkers Campaign. Richard is also a Trinity Transformational Fellow with Trinity Church Wall Street. He has been honored with the Kennedy-Sam Hirsch Award from the New York State Labor-Religion Coalition, the President’s Award from Marist College and by the Westchester ACLU.

We are grateful to work closely with two wonderful independent contractors:

Linda Gluck of Linda Gluck Graphic Design, who is responsible for RMM's appearance, has done artwork of one kind or another since childhood - beginning with school yearbook and prom decorations. Early on, she was apprenticed as a picture frame maker and gilder; from there, she became a sign painter and graphic designer. She has worked in the capacity of magazine editor, magazine art director, and production manager in an advertising agency. For 20+ years, she has operated independently as Linda Gluck Graphic Design, and has been lucky to be able to focus on social justice and environmental organizations. She holds a BA in studio art, has one daughter, and three stepchildren..

Alan Nebblett of Alan Nebblett Management, who manages RMM's books, offers certified full charge bookkeeping and income tax preparation and has been doing business with a conscience since 1976.