Achievements
• Recovered over $575,000 in back wages for hundreds of low-wage workers who have experienced wage theft through legal and direct action.
• Successfully defended day laborers rights by defeating a citywide ordinance that sought to criminalize day labor through community mobilization of day laborers and allies. WDP also won the creation of a Day Labor Advisory Committee to make policy recommendations to City Council with a seat designated for a day laborer.
•Spearheaded the country’s most comprehensive study on construction working conditions. The study was successful in forcing federal OSHA inspectors to carry out targeted investigation of Texas’ construction industry.
•Directly educated 7,000 workers about their employment rights & how to defend them through weekly “Know Your Rights!” trainings.
•Graduated over 150 immigrant workers from WDP’s leadership development course that places a focus on building an analysis of the root causes of social inequality. The course uses popular education techniques to place a central focus on building an analysis of the root causes of social inequality. Additionally, graduates continue participating with WDP as community organizers.
•Defeated •Anti-Day Labor Bill HB 904 at the State Level that sought to prohibit government agencies from constructing or operating day labor centers that service undocumented immigrants. WDP spearheaded a campaign against this bill by forming a coalition with the ACLU of Texas, Mexican American Legal Defense Fund (MALDEF) and the Texas AFL-CIO to defeat this bill.
•Defeated an Anti-Day Labor Ordinance that was proposed by City Council that sought to make public solicitation, including seeking work, illegal, and would have adversely affected hundreds of day laborers. WDP formed a broad coalition and defeated the bill, and was successful in pushing City Council to pass a pro-day labor resolution, reaffirming their commitment to provide better services at day laborer centers and for the working poor.
• Helped Create a New Day Labor Hiring Center & Day Labor Best Practices Recommendations Report. WDP effectively advocated for the City of Austin to create a Day Labor Advisory Committee to make policy recommendations affecting day laborers. The committee was comprised of various stakeholders from labor, contractors, day laborers, neighborhood associations, and advocates. WDP used the report to push the city to pass a resolution to expand services to day laborers at City run hiring halls and open a new day labor center to service day laborers in South Austin.
•Trained dozens of sister organizations throughout the country on building programs on wage recovery, membership, and leadership development.

Who We Are
Workers Defense Project was founded in August 2002 by employees and volunteers of Casa Marianella, a local shelter, to address the problem of unpaid wages for Austin's low-wage workers.

WDP is a worker center, part of a national movement of organizations that seek to provide low-wage workers with the resources they need to fight to eradicate hazardous and unsafe working conditions. WDP provides a source of power and hope for many low-wage workers who have access to few resources to improve their living and working conditions. WDP is one of the few organizations in Texas working to address workplace abuse faced by low-wage workers. WDP is one of the most established worker centers in the south and a leader in fighting for fair conditions for working people.


Board of Directors
Yoly Davila, Board President was born and raised in El Paso, TX, and is a first-generation Chicana with a modest upbringing. She spent her college years in the northeast and graduated with a BA in Political Science from Williams College. Her interests expand across several disciplines, but they are all tied together with her passion for community development and asset-building opportunities for economically disenfranchised peoples. She graduated with a master's degree in public affairs from the University of Texas' Lyndon Baines Johnson School of Public Affairs in 2003. 
Her professional career includes working for community and economic development non-profit organizations, for a private bond rating agency and currently, for the Texas Legislative Budget Board. She is currently the vice president of the board of Foundation Communities, a local non-profit that is nationally recognized for its quality affordable housing and provision of residential services that encourage self-sustainability.

Krista Gregory, Treasurer is an Ordained Baptist Minister and a Board Certified Chaplin. She has worked internationally on immigration issues in Southern Europe and North Africa. She has worked as an administrator and consultant with the Baptist Immigration Services Network. She has previously served on several not for profit Boards of Directors, most recently on the Board of the Texas A & M Baptist Alumni Association. She has a B.S. in Economics from Texas A &M and a Masters of Divinity from Southwestern Seminary.

Maria Duque, Secretary is from San Luis Potosi, Mexico, where she and her family worked in agricultural, cultivating corn, squash, and beans. Maria came to the U.S. after the economic crisis in 1994 with the devaluation of the peso and the signing of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), which devastated the agricultural economy. Since living in the U.S. she has worked in the dry cleaning industry. She is mother of two, and an active volunteer at her church and children’s school. She has been an active member of Workers Defense Project since 2005. Maria is dedicated to ensuring the leadership of immigrant women in the immigrant rights movement, and has played a fundamental role in helping Workers Defense Project achieve this.

Yvonne Montejano is a Researcher at the Texas Juvenile Probation Commission and a recent graduate of the LBJ School of Public Affairs. Prior to her graduate studies, Yvonne engaged in community organizing and policy education on trade and migration issues with the American Friends Service Committee, a Quaker social justice organization. Yvonne's family is from Mexico. Her parents migrated to the U.S. thanks to the efforts of  Yvonne's bracero grandfather. It is this background that shaped her interest and work on social justice issues. Yvonne has volunteered with numerous organizations, including the Workers Defense Project, Inmigrantes Latinos en Accion and the Texas Fair Trade Coalition. She enjoys reading, cycling, yoga, and spending time with her nieces.

Hector Hernández is originally from El Salvador, and his lived in Austin for the last 27 years. Hector came to the U.S. as a refugee after fleeing El Salvador’s civil war, and after many of his classmates were killed by the military regime. He has been actively involved in his church and social service organizations in Austin. He came to Workers Defense Project to serve as a volunteer and to assist other immigrants in their educational endeavors.

Armida Valles was born and raised in El Paso, TX.   She holds a BA in Healthcare Administration from Texas State University, where she also excelled as a collegiate track athlete.  Currently, she holds a position as a Business Development Manager in the managed care industry. Her professional career includes having held positions such as Ombudsman for the Office of Injured Employee Counsel, and Compliance Analyst for a national carrier.  She has utilized her public and corporate experience to improve managed care reform, including workers compensation. Armida's family is from Mexico and her father was part of the first ever De Facto Bracero Guest Worker Program. She believes in directly involving oneself with his or her local community and has held volunteer positions such as the  Director of English as a Second Language Program and Youth Director here in the Austin.

Jorge Rivera is from San Luis, Mexico where he worked in agricultural work. Jorge originally came to WDP for a wage theft case and continued to volunteer with WDP after his case was resolved. He has been active with WDP since 2004, giving weekly workers’ rights trainings to immigrant workers who have experienced workplace abuse. He has also played a fundamental leadership role in helping develop WDP’s gender equality principles. He currently works as a deliveryman and as a janitor.

Sixto Jaime joined the board of directors after graduating from WDP’s leadership development course. Sixto came to WDP when he and a group of thirty co-workers were not paid for several weeks of work in landscaping. He is a trained workers’ rights educator with Workers Defense Project. His wife and children are also active leaders in the organization and the community. Sixto also attends Cristo Rey Catholic Church.

Rubio Merino is from Guatemala, where he worked with various community-based organizations as an education coordinator, assisting indigenous families living in extreme poverty. Rubio came to the United States five years ago and began working in landscaping. He originally came to Workers Defense Project after he was not paid by an employer. Rubio has since taken the organization’s leadership development course and is proud to have been elected to serve on WDP’s board of directors. Rubio has been an active member in the organization’s worker committees. He is the proud father of two.

Leslie Helmcamp has worked for the past eight years advocating for the immigrant community in various capacities. Leslie previously served as the Director of the Immigration Legal Services (ILS) program at Catholic Charities of Central Texas. During her time with Catholic Charities she was responsible for overseeing two ILS programs in Austin and Waco. She also represented immigrant families before the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Service in their family-based petitions, adjustment of status to lawful permanent residence, and naturalization applications. Prior to joining Catholic Charities, Ms. Helmcamp worked as the Senior Legal Assistant for the Program Representing Immigrant Survivors of Abuse at the Political Asylum Project of Austin. Her primary work involved case management, and outreach and education on the immigration provisions of the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA). Ms. Helmcamp received her B.A. in English from the University of Texas at Austin and is currently pursuing her masters in public affairs from the Lyndon Baines Johnson School of Public Affairs at UT Austin.