Staff

Bjorn Skorpen Claeson, Ph.D., Director of SweatFree Communities, was lead organizer of PICA's Bangor Clean Clothes Campaign, a national model for community-based anti-sweatshop activism, from 1996 to 2005. Claeson is a cofounder of SweatFree Communities and became SweatFree Communities' first staff person in July 2003. He is the recipient of the Maine Initiatives Social Landscape Artist Award 2006 and the Dirigo Social Movement Leader Award in 2004. As of June 2010, he is the Interim Coordinator of the Sweatfree Purchasing Consortium.

Contact Bjorn at:
30 Blackstone St., Bangor ME 04401, USA
ph: 207-262-7277    fax: 207-433-1600
bjorn [at] sweatfree [dot] org

Liana Foxvog joined SweatFree Communities as National Organizer in 2004. By leading workshops and strategy sessions, she has played a critical role in helping launch new grassroots campaigns for sweatshop-free purchasing. Her presentations have included venues such as the U.S. Social Forum, the international Fair Trade Action Network convening meeting, and dozens of colleges. In 2003-2004, she worked with American Friends Service Committee in New Hampshire, educating high school students about globalization and "bird-dogging" presidential candidates to support fairness in trade agreements; National Public Radio, among other media, featured a story about the creative youth-led actions. Liana has a B.A. in Political Science and an M.S. in Labor Studies. She is a part-time lecturer at University of Massachusetts on Labor and the Global Economy and volunteers as a Spanish interpreter for immigrant rights and social justice organizations.

Contact Liana at:
2 Conz St., Suite 2B Northampton MA 01060, USA
ph: 413-586-0974    fax: 413-584-8987
liana [at] sweatfree [dot] org

International Labor Rights Forum contributing staff members:

Trina Tocco, Deputy Director, began at ILRF in February 2005 and focuses on ILRF's work in the garment and food industries. Directly after college, she spent a year organizing with the Service Employees International Union. Other labor movement experience includes working with American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME) and United Students Against Sweatshops (USAS). Tocco is currently pursuing a Masters degree from Michigan State University for Supply Chain Management.  She is a 2003 graduate of Western Michigan University, with degress in Environmental Studies and Nonprofit Administration. [Interested in Ms. Tocco speaking in your community? See the ILRF Speakers' Bureau.]

Get to know the rest of the International Labor Rights Forum staff here.