In each of her four years at the College, Liz Otero has worked with the Institute for Policy Alternatives (IPA), an on-campus social movement organization that connects Sarah Lawrence students with the greater Yonkers community. “IPA gives students a hands-on way to apply social movement theory and see the effects of global policy they may be learning about in class,” says Liz.

Her work has focused on helping a group of predominantly Latino day laborers—who currently gather at a busy intersection, hoping to be hired for manual work, and facing harassment by local authorities and shopkeepers —to obtain a hiring site, organize English classes, and gain community acceptance. By lobbying politicians and organizing community outreach events, she has been an agent of change for the workers, recently helping to obtain a Federal Community Block Grant to fund the creation of a hiring center. “It’s great to walk into Yonkers City Hall and know all the politicians and have them know why I’m there,” says Liz. “Working on this vision for a sustained amount of time has been really integral to my experience here.” This year, for her Workers, Law, and Social Justice conference project, Liz archived the past four years of the IPA’s work and created an organizer’s handbook to guide the efforts of future student volunteers.

Liz also completed an internship with the World Organization for the Right of the People to Health Care and another in Manhattan with Planned Parenthood Federation of America, where she hopes to continue working after graduating from Sarah Lawrence.