United States

Laine Romero-Alston

Program Officer New York

Laine Romero-Alston manages the Promoting the Next Generation Workforce Strategies portfolio, an initiative of the Quality Employment unit. She focused on building the capacity of worker centers to provide leadership, education and training opportunities for the substantially low-wage and immigrant workforce, primarily in four specific sectors: healthcare, day labor and construction, restaurant work, and domestic work.

Before joining the foundation in 2011, Laine was the Economic Justice program officer at the Solidago Foundation, where she supported efforts to help marginalized, particularly low-wage immigrants and workers of color, actively engage in strategies that foster their own economic well-being and to promote broader systemic economic and social change. In addition, Laine oversaw a Media Justice and Strategic Communications program for the Frances Fund to develop and integrate strategic communications into economic and social justice movement efforts.

Laine plays a leadership role in several philanthropic affinity organizations, including serving as a member of the coordinating committee for the Neighborhood Funder Group’s Working Group on Community and Labor Partnerships and as an active member of the Funders Network on Transforming the Global Economy.

Before entering philanthropy, Laine founded and directed the Research and Policy Department of the Community Development Project of the Urban Justice Center in New York, providing strategic support to further the programmatic and advocacy efforts of low-wage worker and immigrants’ grassroots organizations and coalitions. Part of this effort included early support for key worker centers, including the Restaurant Opportunities Center, the New York Taxi Workers Alliance, and key members of the National Domestic Workers Alliance. Laine spent four years as a community organizer in Mexico City with a particular focus on youth leadership and women’s rights.

Laine is a graduate of Wesleyan University and holds a master’s degree from Hunter College School of Social Work.