Read our featured short bios introducing you to the people who make up our team and board.
Carlos Gutierrez (he,el), 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 Children and Family Services, 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.
Area of Expertise: Outreach, Case management, Training Facilitation, Immigrant Advocacy and Support, Labor Rights.
Past Projects: NYC Department of Children Services, NY Department of Children and Family Services, Department of labor Unemployment Division, Tompkins County Worker Center.
Jorge DeFendini (he/el), Program Director
Jorge has worked in the retail, service, & nonprofit sectors. In addition to working as MCOSH’s Program Director, Jorge serves on the Ithaca City Council, where he drafts and helps implement citywide legislation around issues of worker and renter rights. Jorge has over 8 years of organizing experience, working on political campaigns at every level of government. He has created dozens of canvassing scripts and led just as many trainings on how to talk to voters and workers about elections and safety issues.
Area of Expertise: Grant writing & administration, program development, project management, and training facilitation.
Previous Projects: Interned on Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’s Congressional Campaign (2018), Field Organizer for Leslie Dnaks Burke for NYS Senate (2020), Program Director for the Committee on Us Latin American Relations (CUSLAR) (2023-2024), NY State Campaigner for Mothers Out Front (2024), Alderperson on Ithaca Common Council (2022-2023, 2026-Present)
Dakota Brooks (they/he/she), Youth Coordinator
Dakota has been raised in the Greater Ithaca area, graduating from Lansing in 2024. They have worked in the food service, & nonprofit sectors, joining MCOSH in early 2022 to get their start in advocacy. Starting as a Peer Leader in the Teens Lead at Work Program, Dakota is now a Youth Coordinator alongside Samara Clare, co-facilitating training and youth outreach to young adults and teen workers across the Midstate NY Region. In reflecting on their time as a Youth Coordinator, Dakota has demonstrated keen strategic thinking in assessing our programmatic efficiency, recommending many of the outreach & training tactics we now use organization-wide.
Area of Expertise: Outreach (planning + execution), Tabling, Curating Presentations, Public Speaking.
Previous Projects: Animal Science Graduate/TST BOCES 2024. Wegmans, NYPIRG
Personal Interests: Cellist, Bass guitarist + songwriter. Swim Team for 5 years.
