Kate Alexander

Board Chair

Kate Alexander is a progressive organizer with 15+ years of experience in domestic and international advocacy. Kate was co-director of Peace Action New York State from 2016-2018 and has worked with MoveOn and Indivisible. Her peace advocacy is grounded by her experience in human rights advocacy, including: transitional justice fieldwork in Bosnia and Uganda, serving as a deputy representative of the International Peace Bureau to the United Nations, and human rights reporting to the United Nations Assistance Mission in Iraq and Commission of Inquiry on Syria with the NGO Madre. She has a BA from Brandeis University and an MPA from Columbia University.

Sylvia Rodriguez Case

Board Co-Chair

In 2017, Sylvia Rodriguez Case retired from Peace Action Fund of New York State as Director of Finance and Administration and joined its board, as well as the Peace Action New York State Executive Committee.  Prior to her work with Peace Action, she was the business manager of Avenging Angels, a political advocacy agency, and worked as media director for major advertising agencies in New York.

Joanne Robinson

Treasurer

Joanne Robinson Boettcher is a veteran community activist who has worked with the NAACP, the Black Womens’ Political Caucus, WESPAC Foundation, Peace Action and Westchester Black Democrats. She is the daughter of a politically active Yonkers family.  Her mother, May Morgan Robinson, was a leader in civil rights and in the Democratic Party in Westchester.  Her daughter, Joanne, and Joanne’s twin sister, Roberta Robinson Frazier, have carried on this tradition, continuing the fight in Yonkers for affordable housing and social justice.

Tara Currie

Secretary

Originally from Columbus Avenue on the Upper West Side, Tara Currie has been active in grass-roots organizing for peace for decades in Brooklyn, currently with People’s Climate Movement NYC, Indivisible BK, and Brooklyn For Peace. Tara served on the board of Brooklyn For Peace for many years, helping to manage the many rallies, community meetings, peace fairs, and forums which make BFP a vibrant part of the peace community. In earlier years after graduating from Barnard College with a degree in European history, Tara worked at the NYC Commission on Human Rights, planning to attend law school eventually. Evenings and weekends however were devoted to learning video and film production, which lead to years as a film and videotape editor. Those long hours had to stop when the children arrived, so after time at home as a full-time mother, Tara learned HTML, the language of this new thing called the internet. Tara landed a job at Scholastic, working for decades producing web sites and managing projects. In retirement, in addition to peace work, Tara plays the guitar badly.

Dr. Alexandria Connally

At Large

Dr. Alexandria Connally has dedicated herself to empowering students and improving the quality of education for all children. Currently, Dr. Connally serves as the assistant to Regent Francis Wills. Formally, she was the assistant to Regent Judith Johnson, former Assistant Secretary of Education of Elementary and Secondary during the Clinton Administration. In her role, Alexandria helped to shape the Committee of Equity, Integration, and Diversity. Dr. Connally is an advocate for strong communities and many different capacities. She was appointed to the Westchester County Youth Board, and currently serves on the Yonkers City Council President’s Special Education Advisory Board as well as the Pace University’s Transformative Leadership Program Board. Additionally, Dr. Connally serves as the co-chair of Sister-to-Sister International’s Black Woman’s Girl Child, Juvenile Justice/ Suspension Committee. Connally is the founder and CEO of Culturally Responsive Environments and Discipline (C.R.E.A.D.)

Blanche Wiesen Cook

At Large

Blanche Wiesen Cook is Distinguished Professor of History and Women’s Studies at John Jay College and the Graduate Center of the City University of New York. Her definitive biography of Eleanor Roosevelt, Vol I The Early Years 1884 – 1933; Vol II The Defining Years 1933- 1938; Vol III The War Years and After 1939 -1962, published by Viking, was called “monumental and inspirational…[a] grand biography” by the New York Times Book Review. Eleanor Roosevelt Volume I, on the New York Times bestseller list for 3 months, received many awards, including the 1992 Biography Prize from the Los Angeles Times, and the Lambda Literary Award. Eleanor Roosevelt Volume II was also a New York Times bestseller.

Aziz Dehkan

At Large

Aziz Dehkan was born and raised in New York City. With a degree in Biological Sciences from Rutgers University, Aziz built an award-winning passive-solar house and started one of the first organic farms in New Jersey. In management and development roles, Aziz has worked for social and environmental justice organizations including Coalition for the Homeless, STRIVE, Fortune Society, and Mother Jones. As a community organizer and Director of the NYC Community Garden Coalition, and in response to structural racism, he has led the fight for land tenure and food security. Aziz served on the steering committee for the People’s Climate Movement rallies in NYC, Washington DC and #Sandy5. Dreaming of a free Iran, Aziz is tirelessly searching for progressive solutions that support justice, equality, and liberation.  He was formerly a Development Consultant to Peace Action Fund of New York State from 2017-2019.

Mari Inoue

At Large

Originally from Tokyo, Japan, Mari Inoue is an immigration attorney in New York who has been practicing since 2001. She has also been an organizer and anti-nuclear advocate for more than a decade as co-founder of Manhattan Project for a Nuclear-Free World. She is actively involved in the policy recommendations and discussions of victims assistance and environmental remediation under the UN’s Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons. In the past, she has served as a New York representative of a human rights organization based in Tokyo. Prior to that, she has served as an adjunct professor of the Immigrants and Refugees Rights Clinic at CUNY School of Law, and was active in volunteer efforts for immigrant  communities. 

David Jones

At Large

David Jones is a community activist and musician.  In Staten Island, he helped create the St. George Food Coop, served as President of the St. George Civic Association, and worked for the designation of the St. George Historic District by the NYC Landmarks Commission in order to save the neighborhood’s older homes.  During the secession debate in the 1990’s, David helped form Staten Islanders for a Unified New York and served on the Staten Island Democratic Association Executive Committee. 

Sally Jones

At Large

Since 2002, Peace Action has played a leading role in the volunteer life of Sally Jones. When plans for invading Iraq were publicized in the spring of 2002, she was one of several Staten Islanders who came together determined to form an anti-war group.  That initial introduction to Peace Action became a commitment that still continues.  She has served as Secretary and Chair of Peace Action New York State, and, since 2011, as Chair of Peace Action Fund of New York State, and remains active in her local chapter.  In addition to Sally’s work with Peace Action, she is active in her community.  Over the last three decades, Sally has helped form a food coop, a film society, and has been an active member of the local civic association, women’s coalition, and non-partisan and Democratic political clubs.  She also serves on the board of the Unitarian Church of Staten Island.  She recently retired as a business analyst working at Scholastic, Inc.  She attended Bucknell University, the College of Staten Island, and received her M.A. in Comparative Literature from the CUNY Graduate Center.

Colleen Moore

At Large

Colleen Moore is a policy, advocacy, and campaign strategy professional who has focused her career on advancing a feminist, human-centered US foreign policy. She has more than 7 years of experience working in nuclear disarmament, conflict transformation, peacebuilding, human rights, and justice, working at organizations such as Women Cross DMZ, Global Zero, Win Without War, and Seeds of Peace. Colleen got her start as a Peace Action New York State Student Organizer at Hobart and William Smith Colleges. She holds a Master of Arts degree in International Relations from American University's School of International Service and Bachelor of Arts degrees in Political Science and International Relations from Hobart and William Smith Colleges.

Larry Wittner

At Large

Larry Wittner is Professor of History Emeritus at the State University of New York/Albany. His numerous books on peace and foreign policy issues include Confronting the Bomb: A Short History of the World Nuclear Disarmament Movement (Stanford University Press). Over the years, he served as president of the Peace History Society and as convener of the Peace History Commission of the International Peace Research Association. He recently completed a term as co-chair of the national board of Peace Action and currently serves as a member of the executive committee of the Albany County Central Federation of Labor (AFL-CIO). In 2016, he was elected by the Democratic voters of New York’s 20th Congressional district as a Bernie Sanders delegate to the Democratic national convention.