Linda Garcia Barnard

Deputy Director, Organizational Development 

Linda oversees the finance, administrative and personnel divisions. Linda began as a member activist in the early 90’s, and was hired as Executive Assistant to Ellen Bravo in 1994. She moved into organizing welfare-to-work issues and led a nationally recognized temp agency testing project. She continues her policy work through support of the WI chapter. Linda holds a B.A. in Business Management, a MBA with a focus on Public Administration and studied at Marquette Law. She is a 2018 fellow of Wisconsin Women’s Network Policy Institute. Linda is married, a mother of five and grandmother of three.

 

lindagb@9to5.org

Nasreen Jilani

Deputy Director, Development and Communications

Nasreen joined the staff in 2005 and currently leads 9to5’s fundraising strategy and practice; she holds a master’s degree in nonprofit management. Before joining 9to5, she worked with Amnesty International to win rights for incarcerated women, and researched living wage legislation nationwide with Good Jobs First in Washington DC. Nasreen is first-generation American, raised in the southern US by parents from Pakistan and Germany.

 

nasreen@9to5.org

Charmaine Lang

Deputy Director, Power Building

Charmaine Lang is a queer, Black woman, native to South Central Los Angeles. Before joining 9to5, Charmaine served as SisterSong’s North Carolina Coordinator where she worked to expand the impact of reproductive justice in the state, collaborated with NC reproductive policy and advocacy groups, and contributed to the ongoing project of shifting Black maternal health outcomes in Mecklenburg County. She is pursuing her
PhD from the University of Wisconsin, Milwaukee. Her qualitative research examines the social and economic determinants of self-care among Black women activists. The research specifically focuses on how activism affects various relationships, stress management, and sexual desire. Charmaine has organized for Black women through a queer Black feminist lens, both inside and outside of the classroom, for over a decade.

Charmaine has simultaneously pursued doctoral studies and gained valuable professional experience. She has served as the Interim Executive Director of New Voices for Reproductive Justice and the Director of the Reproductive Justice Collective.

As a current Fellow in the Echoing Ida Program, she works to amplify the voices and experiences of queer Black women. Charmaine believes that the voices of Black women are essential in creating new narratives and practices that will facilitate a balance between activism, pleasure, and wellness. Her work has been published in Ms. Magazine, Rewire.News, The Root, and Colorlines. Through these avenues, she explores the lives of Black women while connecting these themes to the long tradition of Black women’s activism in the United States. She is a California State University, Chancellor’s Doctoral Incentive Program Fellow, a 2018 UWM Tennessen Scholar, and a Cream City Foundation 2020 LGBTQ+ Scholarship recipient.

 

charmaine@9to5.org

Yaneth Solano

Finance Director

Yaneth received her bachelor’s degree in Management Accounting from Alverno College on May 2005. She has focused for 13 years on the organization financial management, auditing and accounting services. Oversees benefits processing and supervision of finance interns. When not at work she enjoys hiking and traveling!

 

yaneths@9to5.org

Lindsey Challis

Data Manager

As part of our national team, Lindsey works with chapters in managing data and online tools and supports the volunteer-run California chapter. She moved to Atlanta in 2012 after studying anthropology at Grinnell College in Iowa. Outside of work, she puts her energies into collective living, queer community building, and caring for chickens, herbs and veggies.

 

lindsey@9to5.org