Please join us in welcoming Liliana Giffen to CDM’s Board of Directors!
For more than 15 years Liliana has worked with international organizations furthering their missions to advance social change. To CDM, she brings an exciting combination of experience, skills, and energy relevant to our work. Currently, Liliana is the Director of Communications at Humanity United, a philanthropic organization that works to challenge the systems that enable human exploitation, forced labor, and violent conflict.
In this role, Liliana has had the opportunity to support efforts to protect workers rights and address forced labor in global supply chains.
In the past, Liliana has also executed a global health burn awareness campaign, helped lead the branding of several organizations and initiatives, and provided services to immigrants. Throughout her career she’s been a strategic advisor to executives and programmatic staff, but above all, she’s been a true champion for social justice.
You can learn more about Liliana by scrolling down to read a brief Q&A with her. We are thrilled to have her on our team!
Q&A with Liliana Giffen
What prompted you to join our Board?
The work CDM does is extremely important. Our labor migration policies make migrant workers vulnerable to abuse and exploitation. CDM provides organizing, legal and advocacy support to ensure that all workers are treated with dignity and respect.
I’ve been impressed and inspired by CDM’s capabilities, commitment, and approach. CDM works tirelessly alongside migrant workers, always keeping their best interest at heart. The CDM staff is smart, courageous and kind—an unstoppable combination which the world needs more of and I’m humbled to now be part of the team!
Additionally, as someone born in Mexico, I feel a deep sense of responsibility to give back to my community. Joining the board I hope to do everything I can, including lending my voice and abilities, to support CDM and the workers they serve.
How do you see migrant worker rights issues evolving, especially from a communications perspective?
In my time at Humanity United, I developed an increased awareness of the labor that goes into the products we use and consume everyday. I think it’s important to continue to build public awareness and support for migrant labor and create greater recognition of how integral migrant workers are to not only the economy, but our daily lives.
Migrant workers are caught in the crossfire of so many different crises: climate change, economic conflict, gender discrimination, anti-immigrant sentiment. We have a great opportunity to point to the intersection of migrant worker rights and these crises and make these connections apparent to new allies.
What inspires you?
Community. I strongly believe we’re all interconnected, so I’m inspired by the idea that we can exist in a way in which we’re in support of one another and thinking beyond ourselves—developing a strong and supportive social fabric. Now that I have two children, I’m eager to build a community around them, one in which they can feel a sense of belonging and support. The idea that family, friends, neighbors can come together and think and act in the best interest of the collective truly inspires me.