GLO Organizing Director

I am a graduate worker in the pathobiology department and have been a GLO labour organizer since 2025. I had the privilege of serving as my department’s steward and, subsequently, lead organizer for the life sciences, where I gained a deeper appreciation for the strength of our union. Our membership is incredibly inspiring, showing up to support fellow graduate workers and rallying around broader issues in Providence. I am proud to work with our members as GLO organizing director and cannot wait to see our union grow and enshrine safe/stable working conditions for citizen and non-citizen colleagues alike.

Lead Organizer for Humanities

I’m a third-year PhD grad worker in the English department, where I study trans poetics. Before becoming a Lead Organizer, I was a co-steward for my department and a member of my department’s organizing committee. I’m passionate about the ways we can leverage collective action to both protect and expand the rights that workers have won through GLO. Feel free to reach out!

Lead Organizer for Social Sciences

I am a third year PhD student and graduate worker in the history department. In my academic work, I research the history of finance and capitalism in early America. I have been organizing with GLO since 2024 and previously served as the history department steward. As the Lead Organizer for the Social Sciences I am excited to collaborate with my coworkers in the social sciences to protect the rights of graduate labourers and build a more just university for everyone.

Lead Organizer for Life Sciences

I am a third year grad worker in the School of Public Health, where I served as a steward for the last two years. I'm excited to step into the role of Lead Organizer for the Life Sciences and to continue advocating for our brilliant and inspiring grad workers.

Lead Organizer for Physical Sciences

Hey! I’m a fellow grad worker in the Computer Science department. I started organizing with GLO as a steward and am currently on our local’s Communications committee. As organizing lead, I'm committed to building community among STEM grads to pursue justice and liberation for all through collective action, with the same passion we bring to seeking truth in research. Nou genyen lè nou goumen! When we fight, we win!

GLO Communications Chair

Hi, I’m Adrianna. I am a grad worker in the Egyptology/Assyriology department. As an undergrad, my first ever protest was for my university’s graduate student organization, and now as a grad student myself my union journey has come full circle. I started organizing with the Palestine Solidarity Caucus when I got to Brown and from there I became GLO’s Secretary. Now, I get the privilege of serving our union as Communications Chair and member of the Bargaining Committee. In the coming year, I look forward to growing as a member of this union and as an organizer.

Local 6516 Executive Director

I am a PhD candidate in the Department of Classics working on a dissertation about life as a category in the political thought of 5th and 4th century Ancient Greece. I taught Latin, Ancient Greek, ancient philosophy, and Greek mythology during my time at Brown.

I began my union career as a steward for Classics, Archaeology, and Egyptology and Assyriology before becoming the union's second political director in November of 2021. I served as Organizing Director in 2023-2024 before becoming president of the union at the end of that academic year.

I have been proud to watch our local grow and win major improvements to the lives of Brown's workers. I constantly tell people about how my wages grew 75% over the course of my time at Brown and how, time after time, we fought successfully for colleagues facing unjust termination. In the words of Vergil, "Labor omnia vicit."

Local 6516 Vice-President

I'm a 6th year grad worker in Applied Mathematics, focusing on better understanding gene dynamics through single cell data analysis.

I've watched grad workers navigate unacceptable conditions alone, only to hit delays and dismissals from our employer. But when we've brought those same grievances collectively, backed by union membership and organizing, the university responds differently. We get begin to get accountability. We get movement. That shift from asking permission to demanding it as a collective is real power and at a time when higher education in this country is so turbulent, it is imperative we build such power.

Right now our employer like many ‘elite’ high ed institutions largely centers financial interests and administrators chasing grants over the real ‘stakeholders’ in our community- the students, the workers, and our RI community. In this moment of turbulence in higher ed, we have a choice: accept that institutions will continue prioritizing profit and prestige or demand that they prioritize us.

Local 6515 Communications Chair

I’m pursuing a PhD in neuroscience, where I seek to understand the roots of consciousness. I got my start in the labor movement while working at the National Institutes of Health where I helped lay the groundwork for their amazing Fellows’ union. I’ve witnessed firsthand the power of collective action and deeply believe that together we can ensure that workers are treated with respect, dignity and compassion.

Local 6516 Political Director

I have been a grad worker in Brown’s Sociology Department in 2022, and have served on GLO’s Organizing, Communications and Elections Committees. I’m excited to be serving as Political Director for a grad worker union that has a strong track record of engagement in progressive politics both on and off campus. I look forward to deepening our relationships with our allies in the labor movement, local government and the community to make Rhode Island more equitable, affordable and welcoming for all.

Local 6516 Social Justice Chair

II’m Eloy (EJ) Toppin, Jr. and I’m a fourth-year graduate student in political theory, where I research the intersections of structural racism and capitalism, as well as subject formation in racially hierarchical societies. Prior to Brown, I worked as a researcher for the Othering and Belonging Institute at the University of California, Berkeley. My research and my work as a union leader mutually inform each other. The fight for a more just society means struggling at the convergence of all forms of oppression and othering. This perspective is what I aim to bring to our work on the social justice committee.

Local 6516 International Organizer

I have been GLO’s international organizer since the fall of 2022. Overcoming differences drawn along nationality lines is key to solidaristic labor power, and the contract’s new international grad protection article reflects this belief. I am committed to fighting against discriminatory policies and practices at Brown and for an internationalist politics in the broader American
labor movement.