Staff

Justice Arlene Williams, Executive Director, is a 32-year-old African American Lesbian community activist. A published poet originally from Atlantic City New Jersey, she is a founding member and past Director of Freeing Ourselves, a community and youth run organization based in New Bedford Mass. Prior to coming to Mobe, she worked with youth in the South End, Dorchester, Jamaica Plain and Roxbury areas of Boston; organized the queer community to fight against the violence toward transgender people; and built networks with youth and social justice organizations in the Boston Area. Her strengths are grassroots fundraising, networking and collaborating to bring people together that normally would not work together.   

Ernesto "Eroc" Arroyo, Youth Empowerment Director, began working with Boston Mobilization in February of 2006 as the Lead Facilitator in the Youth Empowerment Program. In his role as current YEP Director and community activist, he facilitates workshops statewide on race, gender, and violence. Ernesto is a 25 years old Puerto Rican man and one of five children of a long time Boston Public School Teacher and community activist, Elsa Montano and Boston City Councilor Felix D. Arroyo (the first Latino elected in Boston to represent the entire city). A former Boston Public School high school teacher, award winning rap artist, and community organizer, Ernesto works with youth on housing, youth, and education issues in Boston.

Board of Directors

Eric Fernald is currently a research director at KLD Research & Analytics, Inc. which rates the social and environmental performance of U.S. corporations. Former SEIU union organizer.

Michael Cohen is an Associate Professor, Boston University, Cognitive and Neural Systems and long time community activist.

Gary Hicks is a resident of South Boston. He has been active in community, civil/human rights, antiwar, and other struggles for over four decades. A poet and occasional churchgoer, he does remember to clean his room periodically.

John McLeod joined Boston Mobilization as an activist in the Campaign for the Iraqi People. He is a board member of Community Church of Boston. John helped plan a Boston event in the June 18, 1999 Carnival Against Capital, traveled to Iraq in 2001 with the anti-sanctions group Conscience International, and participated in antiwar direct actions in 2003.

Prasannan Parthasarathi teaches modern Indian history at Boston College. He is a founding member of Newton Dialogues on Peace and War and is also active in the environmental and globalization movements. He has co-chair of the Legislative committee of the Campaign to Stop the BioWeapons Lab.

Freda Rebelsky, PhD is a professor emeritus of Psychology at Boston University, who taught developmental psychology for 34 years. She has written six books and numerous articles and is the winner of several teaching and professional awards. She is a founding member of Boston Mobilization.

Doris Tennant Law Partner of The New Law Center, Newton, MA. Lawyer for Guantanamo detainees.

Tommie Watson is a senior at Wheaton College, MA majoring in sociology with concentrations in psychology and political science. His real focus is out of the classroom however, where he becomes an obsessive activist and constant instigator. For fun Tommie writes six hundred e-mails a day, organizes protests, and joins in every demonstration and rally on the Northeast. When Tommie isn’t busy on movie sets working as Tom Cruise’s stunt double, he devotes his time to progressive causes. Currently, Tommie is the founder and president of the Activist Coalition and Wheaton’s Roosevelt Institution chapter, the facilitator of Wheaton’s Non-violent Coordinating Committee, the Senior Rep. to the Board of Trustees, as well as a member of the Student Government Executive Board, a member of the College Democrats, a member of Students Organized Against Racism, a Senior Admission Intern, and a Big Brother. It would be wise to stay on Tommie’s good side, as he plans on taking over the world by 2010.

Maureen White works as a Community Organizer in the Fenway neighborhood and is involved in various local issues. Last year she worked extensively on the campaign to elect Felix Arroyo, who became the first Latino City Councilor in the history of Boston. She is a former Mobe Intern

Dr. Susan Leeman, PhD.
Professor of Pharmacology, Boston University, member of National Academy of Arts and Sciences

Kristina Nance
Assistant Director, Career Development & Special Projects, MIT Careers Office

Nate Peyman & Amatul Hannon
Local artist/activists, Aquarii Productions