Carlos Gutierrez

Lead Organizer, Outreach Director

For forty years, Carlos has been working as an immigrant in jobs very similar to the workers we serve, working his way through college, and constantly working as an organizer and activist for immigrant rights.  When he came to the United States, he lived in Boulder, Colorado, where he worked in various restaurants, and eventually received a scholarship to attend Colorado University.  While in Boulder, he organized with Mexican immigrants and started a “Chicano Rights” newspaper which was distributed in Colorado and Texas.  He also worked for several years as a meat packer in Texas (while voluntarily organizing the Latinx community). 

Once he moved to New York City he worked various jobs to sustain his family such as in delivery, at a children’s home, and as a case worker and advocate in New York City Department of Children Service.  He then moved upstate to the Ithaca area, where he worked for sixteen years with the New York Department of Youth and Families, and the Department of Labor, while founding and organizing the Latino Civic Association of Tompkins County, an organization in which he is still active.  In 2008, he began working for the Tompkins County Worker Center organizing and advocating for Latinx workers in the County.  As part of the Workers Center, he met the board members at Midstate COSH, who were also involved in the Workers Center.  He has been working for Midstate COSH for the past ten years. 

Jorge DeFendini

Program Director

Bio coming soon…