Barbara López

Originally from California, Barbara learned about the importance of her community from her Guatemalan parents, who came to the United States in search of a better life. Barbara has been deeply invested in social justice for the over a decade. She organized with Service Employees International Union locals in Connecticut, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Minnesota and California. There Barbara was able to empower thousands of health care workers, home care workers and child care providers to form unions and secure contracts. Barbara received an Associate Degree of Liberal Arts from Santa Monica College, Bachelor of Arts in Sociology from the University of California, Santa Barbara and a Master of Science in Labor Studies from University of Massachusetts, Amherst. In 2015, Barbara became the second co-founding organizer and built Make the Road Connecticut. In 2018, Barbara bravely shattered the “glass ceiling” by becoming the first generation Latinx, womxn of color and radical feminist executive director of the second generation Make the Road Family and first ever in Connecticut. Under her leadership, Barbara has cultivated an organization that fosters leadership from community, oversees statewide campaigns that center people of color, conducted countless public actions, and formed a strong foundation for the next generation.