April 10, 2024
The National Federation of Federal Employees (NFFE) is proud to announce that Lemie Gillesania has been named to serve as the union’s next National Organizing Director.
On January 8, 2024, NFFE announced the vacancy for the National Organizing Director position and received many applications for the role. Several candidates were interviewed and considered for the position since the vacancy announcement. Gillesania was offered the National Organizing Director role in March, which she accepted. Gillesania began her assignment with NFFE on March 11.
“I am very excited to have Lemie join us during such an important time for our union,” said NFFE National President Randy Erwin. “She is a tremendous fit for NFFE and I am sure her experience will prove valuable as we continue our efforts to increase the size and strength of our union. Lemie has already hit the ground running and has a full calendar of organizing events scheduled throughout the rest of the year. I can’t wait to see the success that she will have in this position and the impact she will have on this union.”
Gillesania’s appointment to National Organizing Director comes on the heels of NFFE’s recent organizing success throughout the country. Over the past two years, NFFE has experienced a net growth of 25%, making the union one of the fastest – if not the fastest – growing unions in America. This organizing success can be largely attributed to the NFFE Organizing Donation Program, which has been renewed for 2024.
Gillesania started organizing during her childhood in the Philippines. She is the eldest daughter of a militant “Kilusang Mayo Uno” (May 1st Movement) and “Kilusang Magbubukid ng Pilipinas” (Empowering the Peasant Movement of the Philippines) leader, Mindanao Chapter. Growing up, Lemie witnessed her father’s quest to liberate and empower the democratic and radical struggles of landless peasants, small farmers, rural youth, and peasant women.
At a young age, Lemie learned to do door-to-door organizing, persuading the farmers to join, consolidate, and defend the Filipino people’s fights, interests, and aspirations. At age 7, She started educating rural youth about genuine agrarian reform programs and national industrialization as the foundation for overall economic development. In high school, Lemie crafted flyers and pamphlets to campaign for a sovereign nation free from foreign domination and control; defended the people’s civil, political, economic, social, and cultural rights; she, along with other Organizers, pushed for the comprehensive and pro-people social program that provides essential social and public services that are elusive in the Philippines.
In College, Lemie managed the League of Filipino Students-Ateneo Chapter, mobilizing College students to join the peasant movement for the protection and rights of agricultural workers for fair and living wages and safe and sound working conditions; she traveled the entire Mindanao, Visayas, and Luzon regions to campaign for solidarity and support the struggles of the peasantry and the people against violent Imperialism. As Lemie immigrated to the United States, she joined the Asian Pacific American Labor Alliance in Atlanta, Georgia. She would travel to Salinas Valley, California, to continue the fight with the Delano “Manongs” with the United Farmers to actively champion legislative and regulatory reforms for farm and migrant workers covering worker protections, pesticides, and immigration.
Before joining NFFE, Lemie worked as the Deputy Director for the International Rescue Committee, overseeing refugee resettlement, asylum, and grant management. She also taught English at the Local Mosque in Atlanta, teaching Afghans, Syrians, Palestinians and Congolese communities at the Masjid Almomineen, and developed a strong network of communities and organizing in Atlanta, Georgia. Lemie completed her undergraduate degree at Ateneo de Davao University, Philippines, her master’s at Eastern University , and she is finishing her Ph.D. dissertation in Data automation processes utilizing Hadoop Clustering in the Davao City Municipal Lower Court.
She recently co-authored a peer-reviewed article, “Cybercrime and the Nature of Insider Threat Complexities in Healthcare and Biotechnology Engineering Organization with the Journal of Crime and Criminal Behavior. Vol 2, No 2, 2022, PP. 131-144; URL: www.arfjourls.com; https://doi.org/10.475/JCCB.2022.v02i02.04