Kristi grew up in a conservative, working class town in Ohio, during a time corporations accelerated factories closing and union busting. Her family was lucky: her mom and mom’s partner worked at the hospital, one of the few places not laying people off. At 18, she got a Rotary Scholarship to Argentina, an experience that led her to question the ideology that America knows best, to begin to understand that the meritocracy is a lie, and to become really curious about American foreign policy.

Like a lot of Ohioans, Kristi moved to Chicago for a job after college. She spent 20 years doing organizing and communications work, starting with the organizations that are now Arise Chicago and Interfaith Worker Justice. She’s lived in Rogers Park the entire time. When she needs to get pumped up and moving, Kristi loves to listen to anything by James Brown, starting with “Get Up Offa That Thing.”

Bryce was born and raised in rural Wisconsin. Both of his parents were small business owners without access to employer provided health insurance. Due to a pre-existing condition, his family was often denied coverage or charged exorbitant rates until the ACA allowed them to enroll in a marketplace plan. From a young age, Bryce knew that access to healthcare should be a human right. He has worked on electoral campaigns ranging from State Rep to President, including in organizing and finance. If you want to get his attention, just put on “Do Somethin’” by the one and only Britney Spears.

Shaddi brings over a decade of experience in politics and electoral campaigns at the national, state and local levels. Highlights include organizing for Bernie Sanders during the 2015/2016 primary campaign in Iowa, Nevada, Illinois, and Indiana, and on Hillary Clinton’s Digital Media Team for the 2016 general election. After the 2016 election, Shaddi worked for New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio from 2017 to 2019, focusing on outreach, legislative policy, stakeholder relations and board appointments. Wanting to take a break from politics, he transitioned into criminal justice-related areas and worked as a Data Analyst in community development and violence prevention at Acclivus Inc. Chicago. He also brought his expertise to the Illinois Criminal Justice Information Authority (ICJIA), where he conducted research on pretextual stops and victim studies. He holds a master’s degree in Public Administration from Virginia Commonwealth University, with a concentration in environmental policy and justice. He enjoys running, soccer, and playing guitar, bass, and drums.

Nika Lofton has always been a curious person and a vocal justice advocate. Nika was born and raised in middle Georgia, a few miles from a paper mill that gave Macon its terrible air quality and distinct sulfurous odor. Growing up in a Black, immigrant, and low-income household, Nika experienced firsthand the damage of structural injustice, isolation, and environmental degradation. Their background fostered a passion for history and politics, which they further explored studying political sociology at the University of Chicago. Here they began to use their understanding and context of their experience to organize students around environmental justice. They became an active lead organizer working on political education, lobbying for the Climate and Equitable Jobs Act, and building a base on their campus to fight for just climate legislation. It was through this community organizing that they learned the power of not just knowing why things are the way they are, but using that knowledge to build a movement with people who are committed to making meaningful differences. Nika wants to continue to challenge the status quo of America’s disconnect between politics and everyday people by bringing people to the table to understand, draft, and enact equitable policy that puts people and the planet first.

Deana is a lifelong Chicagoan who has managed to turn her inability to shut up about systemic injustice into a career. She has worn a lot of hats at The People’s Lobby since signing up as a member in 2016. She transitioned from membership to staff in the spring of 2019 to start organizing Chicago gig workers to fight back against exploitation by big tech companies, an effort that has since blossomed into the Chicago Gig Alliance. In 2020, Deana used her experience in communications, organizing, digital organizing, and design to help The People’s Lobby transition to a quarantine-friendly model of relational organizing, and has since expanded her role into conducting speaker trainings, writing one-pagers/talking points/op-eds/emails/grants/etc, and shaping the public narrative around all of The People’s Lobby’s issue campaigns.

Deana also serves as the photographer for many of The People’s Lobby’s events. Her favorite pump up song is “Laugh, Love, Fuck” by The Coup.

Lori Simmons has always felt strongly about protecting the vulnerable and championing the underdog, and has been passionate about animal rights since childhood. Her family has operated A&S Rescue in the northwest suburbs since the 90’s. Lori attended college at University of IL at Urbana-Champaign and worked in HR for a decade, eventually deciding to leave the corporate environment permanently to work as an Uber/Lyft driver in 2015. Lori began organizing workers in 2018 after she witnessed firsthand the exploitative nature of the industry as it began to decline due to corporate greed and lack of regulation. She is a founding member of Chicago Rideshare Advocates, and became a full-time organizer with People’s Lobby in 2020. She is working to build worker power for rideshare drivers through The People’s Lobby’s gig worker base, Chicago Gig Alliance. Lori currently lives in Andersonville, Chicago with her family including her partner, little sis and beloved dog. Lori fights every day to dismantle racist and sexist systems and create a world where people are more.

Born and raised on the Southeast side of Chicago, Emilio Rodriguez brings first-hand experience on the topic of environmental racism and advocating for underrepresented communities. Growing up, he played many sports and was often outdoors, but often wondered why there were so many industrial sites near the park and recreation areas.  Questions like these allowed him to notice the inequalities that his and many other communities in the Chicagoland area were experiencing.  As an Environmental Justice Organizer, he focuses on organizing people around the idea of climate justice and what benefits it can have for people in their daily lives.

Katrina is a life-long suburbanite with a dream to see the suburbs transformed into a place for all people to thrive.  Connecting primarily, but not exclusively, with churches and para-church organizations, her greatest energy for organizing comes from connecting with other suburbanites who share her values around anti-racism and mass liberation. She can probably throw a frisbee better than you can, and her not-so-secret love (other than her spouse) is almost any musical ever written. Pump song? “Don’t Nobody Bring Me No Bad News” as sung by Mary J. Blige. 

Prior to working for The Peoples Lobby, JC was an urban planner and policy associate for several different nonprofits on Chicago’s South Side, working specifically in the Bronzeville and Englewood communities. JC has always been laser focused on addressing the needs of poor and working-class people of Chicago, especially Black and Brown populations. His “protector” personality led him to later becoming a domestic violence counselor, working directly with male perpetrators to help them to overcome abusive behaviors towards women, which were rooted in misogyny, male privilege and deeply ingrained chauvinism. In keeping with those overall themes and values, JC’s work at TPL focuses on two areas: organizing pastors and faith-leaders to impact public policy in ways that prioritizes the needs of vulnerable populations and eliminate oppression and inequality; and organizing struggling wage-earners to help them fight against unbridled corporate power in the “gig economy.” JC is a proud graduate of Morehouse College in Atlanta, Georgia (B.A) and UIC College of Urban Planning and Policy (M.A.)