We at the Heartland Center for Jobs & Freedom, are deeply committed to justice for low-wage workers and we bring our many years of litigation and advocacy experience to bear in support of their movements for change.
Carol Smith, President
Carol is a life-long social justice advocate with a broad array of experience. Recently retired from United Way of Greater Kansas City, Carol spent the past two decades directing and advocating for programs and policies that fight poverty and create opportunity. Continuing this commitment to social and economic justice, Carol serves on the Missouri Coordinating Committee for the new Poor People’s Campaign: A National Call for Moral Revival. In the 1980’s, Carol played a critical regional role responding to the farm crisis, which devastated scores of Midwestern farmers. During that period, she worked with farmers, faith groups and others on behalf of the Jewish community to oppose the anti-Semitic and racist organizing that was exploiting the farmers' tragedies, and advocated for sound, sustainable policy solutions. Today, Carol is chair of the board of the Missouri Rural Crisis Center where she continues to advocate for progressive solutions to the challenges of family farmers and rural communities.
Pastor Donna Simon, Treasurer
Rev. Donna Simon is the pastor at Kansas City’s St. Mark Hope and Peace Lutheran Church. At St. Mark Hope and Peace, Pastor Donna puts her faith into practice by working for justice on many fronts. Not only does St. Mark Hope and Peace engage in feeding the hungry, its congregation asks why hunger exists and how to eliminate it. That is why Pastor Donna provided the critical support low-wage workers needed when they launched their campaign for $15 an hour and a union years ago. Pastor Donna continues to be a pillar in that movement today. Pastor Donna is also known for her work to raise the minimum wage and cap outlandish pay-day interest rates in Missouri.
Chekasha (Che) Ramsey, Secretary
Che Ramsey has been practicing law for nearly ten years. A seasoned criminal defense lawyer and civil rights advocate, she has dedicated her career to public service. Che began her legal career with the American Civil Liberties Union where she addressed cases involving constitutional violations. After law school, Che began working as a trial attorney with the Missouri State Public Defender System. She quickly became known as a staunch defender of constitutional rights, as she skillfully challenged unlawful searches and seizures, and other forms of police misconduct that arose in her cases. Today, Che has advanced to the Federal Public Defender system where she continues to vigorously advocate for justice and provide exceptional criminal defense.
Clarence Lang, board member
Clarence Lang is a professor of African American studies and Susan Welch Dean of the College of the Liberal Arts at Penn State. Previously, Dean Lang was the Interim dean of the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, Associate Professor and Chair of African & African American Studies at the University of Kansas. He is the author of Grassroots at the Gateway: Class Politics and Black Freedom Struggle in St. Louis, 1936-75 and Black America in the Shadow of the Sixties: Notes on the Civil Rights Movement, Neoliberalism, and Politics. He is also the co-editor of Anticommunism and the African American Freedom Movement: “Another Side of the Story” (with Robbie Lieberman) and Reframing Randolph: Labor, Black Freedom, and the Legacies of A. Philip Randolph (with Andrew Kersten). Dean Lang is a former member of the Davis-Putter Scholarship Fund for student activists, and he has been a supporter of Kansas City’s low-wage workers fighting for better pay and working conditions.
Quiema Spencer, board member
Quiema Spencer is a master pipe fitter, a member of the Local 533 Pipefitters Union since 2005 and President of the Heartland Women in Trades. Quiema was a leader in the statewide campaign against Right-To-Work in Missouri. In association with the National Association of Women In Construction (NAWIC), she has been an annual volunteer instructor in Camp NAWIC,
a week long summer program to encourage young high-school aged women to consider their options in non-traditional occupations in building trades. Born and raised in a blue collar family and life long Kansas City resident, she is a spirited advocate for workers rights.
Robert L. Swearingen, board member
Robert L. Swearingen has dedicated his legal career to public service. Rob presently works for Legal Aid in St. Louis. Since commencing work there in 2007, Rob has become known as an aggressive litigator who holds abusive car dealerships, finance companies, payday lenders, debt collectors and landlords accountable for violating the rights of low-income people. From 1991 to 2007 Rob represented autoworkers through the United Auto Workers’ legal services program. Rob has also worked for the Missouri Attorney General and the Missouri Public Defender System.
Lois Swimmer, board member
Lois Swimmer is a member of the Lakota nation raised on the Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe reservation in South Dakota. Lois has been a long-time advocate for racial and economic justice. Lois is active with the Poor People’s Campaign and has traveled twice to DC representing Missouri at national conferences. Lois is a leader and volunteer at Cherith Brooks Catholic Workers House where she mentors and advocates for homeless people.
Axel Fuentes, board member
Axel Fuentes is a long-time organizer with the Rural Community Workers Alliance in Mid-Missouri and a human rights champion in his native country of Guatemala. Axel’s organizing efforts focus primarily on the mostly-immigrant workforces of the meat processing and production plants in northern Missouri. Axel has led several campaigns and actions seeking to improve health and safety, wages and other conditions on the job.