Team

Justice at Work’s attorneys, paralegals, trainers, and support staff work out of our Boston office. Our team has decades of experience in the movement for worker rights.

Maudeline Auguste

Community and Legal Partnerships Coordinator

Maudeline joined Justice at Work in May 2023. She came to the United States in 2019 with her family from Haiti. She has a Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science; and worked for a decade doing IT work for the United Nations. She loves doing community based work, and since arriving to Brockton she has worked for the Brockton Workers Alliance and the Plymouth County Family Resources Center. She joined Justice at Work in order to help people and ensure that she’s always learning something new.

Pablo Carrasco

Staff Attorney

Pablo Carrasco came to Justice at Work after nearly four years as an employee rights/wage and hour attorney at MetroWest Legal Services (MWLS) in Framingham, Massachusetts. His first two years at MWLS he was the Bart-Gordon fellow, a fellowship aimed at improving legal assistance for communities whose linguistic and cultural backgrounds are barriers to the delivery of aid. After two years at MWLS, Pablo was hired as a full-time staff attorney and continued the employee rights/wage and hour project until joining Justice at Work in late 2019. Pablo graduated from The American University, Washington College of Law and is a member of the Massachusetts and Federal bars. Pablo is a native Spanish speaker having been born in Santiago, Chile. When he is not in the office he can be found fishing, playing basketball, or refurbishing vintage bicycles.

Alex Galimberti

Director of Strategic Partnerships

Alexandre Galimberti is a food professional turned activist. After ten years working in restaurants, he became an organizer and advocate for workers in the food system. Prior to taking his current role in our team he served for seven years as Senior Advocacy & Collaborations Advisor at Oxfam America. Alex was the founder of the Boston chapter for the Restaurant Opportunities Center – United, where he also worked as National High Road Coordinator. His formal education includes an Associate Degree from the Culinary Institute of America in Hyde Park, NY and a Master of Liberal Arts Degree in Gastronomy from Boston University, with an emphasis on food policy and activism. Alexandre joined the Justice at Work board of directors in 2020 and transitioned to our staff in August of 2023.

Lídia Ferreira

Labor-Based Immigration Relief Coordinator

Lídia Gomes Ferreira is originally from Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Lídia graduated in marketing (ETEC) and studied psychology at (Liberty University, VA). Lídia worked for a decade at the Brazilian Women’s Group in Boston as a worker’s rights organizer. She is a board member of Source Hub (Fall River), and volunteers for Share Your Love Foundation (Revere) and AMO Acalentar (Associação de Mulheres Portadoras de Endrometriose) (São Paulo). Lídia is an activist, public speaker and columnist for the Brazilian Times newspaper. She authored Overcoming a Violent Past, Stories of Overcoming Domestic Violence (2018) and Se Ela Estivesse Aqui (If She Was Here) (2022); and co-authored Salmos Modernos (Modern Psalms) (2019) and Tráfico de Pessoas (Human Trafficking) (2023). During her free time, Lídia loves to spend time with her family and her two dogs, or dance, sing or volunteer at church.

Connie Rab

Development and Communications Coordinator

Connie Rab joined Justice at Work in 2021. She is a first generation Taiwanese immigrant. While at UMass Amherst, Connie served on the development team of the East Coast Asian American Student Union (ECAASU), pushing to inspire, educate, and empower those interested in AAPI issues. After graduation, she was the studio manager for an immigrant owned wedding photography company, managing their social media, curating content, and emphasizing the importance of diverse and culturally represented weddings. In both her professional and personal capacity, Connie seeks to be a part of social change through building collective power among communities of color. During her free time, Connie likes to make espresso drinks and expand her energy healing practice.

Thomas Smith

Co-Founder and Executive Director

Thomas Smith launched Justice at Work in 2011 along with co-founder Ingrid Nava. He graduated from Georgetown University Law Center in 2008 and is a member of the Massachusetts and Federal bars. After law school, as part of a Skadden Fellowship project, he supported Boston-area immigrant worker centers as an attorney with Greater Boston Legal Services‘ Employment Unit, where he worked under Nava’s guidance and gained deep ties to the region’s worker organizations allowing for the formation of Justice at Work. Tom is fluent in Spanish and Portuguese thanks to extensive work and travel in Latin America and to his work with migrant communities in the United States. He has a background in team sports, teaching and coaching and seeks to incorporate those experiences, along with other learning, including from the Strozzi Institute and the Kripalu Yoga Center, to support a strategic, sustainable model of law and organizing.

Support Team

Mike Felsen

Michael Felsen joined Justice at Work as an Access to Justice Fellow in 2018, following a 39-year career as an attorney with the Solicitor’s Office of the U.S. Department of Labor, concluding his tenure there as New England Regional Solicitor from 2010-2018. At DOL, Mike was part of a leadership team that developed innovative and strategic approaches to enforcement of federal worker protection laws, including safety and health and wage and hours laws. Those approaches included collaborations with worker centers representing immigrant and other workers in low-wage and high hazard jobs, with the goal of ensuring protection of their rights. Mike attended Harvard College and Northeastern University School of Law, and clerked for Justice Paul Liacos of the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court. Since leaving government service, Mike has done asylum applicant intake work in ICE detention centers in Eastern Massachusetts, consulted for the International Labor Organization, and served as a National Coalition on Occupational Safety and Health Advisor. He enjoys vegetable gardening, hiking, and writing newspaper opinion pieces, mostly on labor and worker protection issues.

Lourdes Alvarez

Lourdes Alvarez has provided invaluable human resources and administrative support to Justice at Work since 2020. She works full-time as the Assistant Director of Finance for the Massachusetts Area Planning Council. Prior to MAPC she worked for Greater Boston Legal Services (GBLS) for over 20 years as a Staff Accountant/Personnel Benefits Analyst. She graduated from Fisher College with an associate degree in Computer Science and a bachelor’s degree in Business Management.

Freddy Matute

Freddy Matute has supported Justice at Work since 2017, offering over 25 years of expertise in bookkeeping and general accounting. He works full-time as the Fiscal Director of the Massachusetts Legal Assistance Corporation, where he directs all aspects of fiscal policy, financial management and planning for MLAC; oversees automated information systems for fiscal administration; coordinates human resources functions; and provides technical assistance to recipient program fiscal directors.