Pablo Alvarado

Since his arrival in the U.S. following political and economic turmoil in his home country of El Salvador, Pablo Alvarado has become one of the most prominent, respected and visionary leaders of the immigrant rights movement. He has been referred to as the “Cesar Chavez” of jornaleros, day laborers seeking temporary employment — usually involving hard physical labor — to support their families.

As co-founder of the Institute of Popular Education for Southern California (IDEPSCA) Pablo created a movement of organizing day laborers in Pasadena, CA. As Lead Organizer for CHIRLA’s Day Laborer Program, Pablo transformed the City of Los Angeles Day Laborer Program into a worker center model that would be replicated in major cities throughout the country.

For the past 11 years, Pablo has served as the executive director of National Day Laborer Organizing Network (NDLON), currently a collaboration of 42 community-based day laborer organizations. Under his guidance, NDLON has worked with local governments to establish safe worker centers, provide information to workers to help them handle exploitation, improve skills and gain access to essential services, strengthen local worker groups, and build immigrant leadership.

Pablo holds a B.A. in Social Sciences from the National University of El Salvador and lives with his wife and two children in Pasadena, California.