Christine Neumann-Ortiz
Christine Neumann-Ortiz is the founding Executive Director of Voces de la Frontera, a low-wage and immigrant workers center with chapters in Milwaukee and Racine, Wisconsin. Neumann-Ortiz is recognized as a national leader in immigration reform, serving on the board of a national coalition of the Fair Immigration Reform Movement (FIRM) and featured in national interviews on National Public Radio and CNN. She serves on the board of the Wisconsin Legalization Coalition (representing 44 allied organizations in the State), Wisconsin Citizen Action board and Interfaith Committee for Worker Justice board. Neumann-Ortiz has received community award recognitions from Labor Council for Latin American Advancement chapters in Milwaukee and Janesville, the 2006 “Do What is Just” Award from MICAH, the 2006 Public Service Award from the Wisconsin Chapter of the National Association of Social Workers and the 2006 “Education: A Family Affair Award of Excellence," presented by the University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee, the State Department of Public Instruction and the Marcus Center for the Performing Arts. Neumann-Ortiz also writes a regular column in the local Spanish Journal.
Prior to directing Voces de la Frontera, Ms. Neumann-Ortiz served as the Coordinator of the High School Equivalency Program at Milwaukee Area Technical College, advancing migrant education in Wisconsin. Neumann-Ortiz also previously worked as Director of the Wisconsin Committee on Occupational Safety and Health and as Coordinator of an Economic Development Project in the Printing Industry, supported by the Center for Community Change. Neumann–Ortiz earned her Masters Degree in US/ Chicano History at the University of Texas at Austin and her Bachelor of Art degree in English at the University of Wisconsin–Madison.