Center for Economic Integrity

BBC Radio (British Public Broadcasting) visited Tucson as part of a series covering the U.S. economy. The Southwest Center for Economic Integrity facilitated reporter Jonty Bloom’s contact and interviews with homeless and immigrant day laborers.

Kenny Hegland grew up in California, is married and has four sons (three grown, one at Amphi High). He has taught at the University of Arizona Law School since 1971. He has degrees from Harvard Law School, LL.M. (1974) Fellow, Law and Humanities Program University of California , Berkeley, LL.B. (1966) Law Review and Coif and Stanford, A.B. (1963). He currently teaches courses in contract law, law and humanites, elder law and clinical programs.

Lowell Jones is currently a consultant in project management and systems engineering. Lowell earned his undergraduate degree at Tennessee Tech University and his masters and doctoral degrees in mechanical engineering at Vanderbilt University. He and his wife, Teresa Cowan Jones, moved to Tucson in 1997.

When asked why Lowell took an interest in the work of the Southwest Center for Economic Integrity, Lowell offered these reflections; "I didn't come to this out of any bad taste in my mouth from working in corporations; my experiences have actually been quite positive. But I've always had a commitment to social justice, and just believe that many economic problems directly relate to a lack of corporate accountability in our system. That, and the undue influence of the corporate sphere on governmental policy, seems to drive so many other issues - environmental protection, class issues, or issues of global fairness. The center offers a perfect place for me to invest energy in affecting the systemic change I think is the most important."

Holly Lachowicz is an Educator, Community Volunteer and Activist. She has Consulted to SAB-HCOP, (Southern Arizona Border- Health Careers Opportunity Program), a program designed to encourage middle and high school students and undergraduate students, who are socially and economically disadvantaged and live in the border counties, to enter health careers. Coordinate an all-day health careers exploration, “ Saturday Academy”, for middle and high school students and their parents. Developed, implemented and evaluated an outreach program for middle and high school students that addresses the issues faced by families whose children might enter health careers. Set up a network of facilitators at the middle and high school level in Pima County. In addition, Holly is a consultant with the Tucson Botanical Garden's Archive Project, a project designed to research the history of the Gardens by interviewing people connected with the Porter Family, transcribing the interviews and collecting photos, newspaper articles, and other personal writings. This information will be compiled and use to produce a publication, new signage, and tours for the Tucson Botanical Gardens.

Michelle Pitot is a Social Worker, Educator, and the single mom of a fantastic young son. With a varied professional background, she is currently the Director of Corporate Integrity and Communications for the Providence Service Corporation, a company that provides behavioral health services to children and families living in poverty. In this position, Michelle works closely with the Board of Directors and Senior Management to ensure that Providence, a company that is publicly traded on the NASDAQ, operates with high standards of ethics, integrity, and financial reporting. She also coordinates communication and the exchange of professional information across thirty-two states. Dr. Pitot earned her Masters Degree in Social Work in 1987, her Doctorate in Multicultural Education in 1996, and is licensed as a Clinical Independent Social Worker by the state of Arizona. In addition to her clinical and supervisory experience in Human Services, Dr. Pitot has taught Social Work, Education, and Counseling courses at the university level since 1994. She draws on her diverse professional experience as she works with the staff of a national company to enhance the quality of care offered to children and families. In all of her roles, both professional and personal, Michelle expresses her commitment to making the world a better place for all, and especially underserved and underrepresented populations.

Emilie is a student at the University of Phoenix studying Business Management. She is a Tucson native who has worked in customer service since she was 12 years old. She began working in her grandfather’s pharmacy, Medical Art’s Pharmacy, which was located on south 6 th Avenue.

Community Activism has been an interest and a passion for Emilie since high school. She was a member of MEChA, and worked with different organizations that helped develop alternatives to dangerous street life for teens. Now she coaches a swim team on the Southside and is proud to say that she has shown several kids how important sports can be to leading a healthy lifestyle.

The Southwest Center for Economic Integrity’s work matches Emilie’s interest. She is glad to be involved in an organization that informs people about ways to handle their financial situations when they are “feeling broke” and thinks there is no way to solve their money problems. She appreciates the Southwest Center’s approach and the research that is being done to help educate the various communities in the southwest region of the United States.

Emilie will be taking the experiences gained at the Center as she continues with a Master Degree and becomes a teacher and coach in the public school system.

Karin Uhlich worked for nine years as Executive Director of the Primavera Foundation/Primavera Services, a grass roots organization whose mission is to build a future in which all people are assured basic human rights, a livable income, and safe, affordable housing. During her tenure there she initiated and oversaw the development of several programs, including Primavera Works, now a nationally recognized non-profit day labor enterprise. She also spearheaded the successful statewide drive to pass legislation regulating for-profit day labor brokering companies in Arizona. Prior to her work with Primavera Ms.Uhlich served as Executive Director of the Food Bank Council of Michigan, Co-Director and Instructor for the Community Advocacy Project for Battered Women (Michigan State University), and as a Congressional Aide to U.S. Representative Howard Wolpe. Ms. Uhlich was selected in 2002 to attend the United Nations International Labor Organization convening in Geneva, Switzerland as a Non-Governmental Organization delegate (representing the North American Association for Fair Employment).

Kelly Griffith serves as Deputy Director for the Center for Economic Integrity. As Deputy Director she engages in all levels of work as it relates to the mission of the agency (research, education, advocacy & public policy). Kelly served briefly as Interim-Co-Executive Director for the Primavera Foundation from July 2003 - February 2004. Other past employent adventures include Director Volunteer Resources, Training and Education Coordinator and Group Facilitator for the Shanti Foundation, Southern Arizona AIDS Foundation and the Primavera Foundation. Kelly has seventeen years of non-profit management/leadership experience. Prior to her work in the nonprofit sector she was an educator.

Harriet is a long time volunteer who recently retired from University of Arizona College of Medicine. She joined the Center as a part-time staff person in January 2007.

Johanna moved to Tucson in 2004. In 2008 she and her family moved to the Washington DC area. Johanna continues to do research and special projects for the Center on a contractual basis. She has over 9 years of experience in the non profit sector particularly in the area of economic development. Prior to her work at the Center Johanna managed a business development training program for Hispanic micro-entrepreneurs at the Microbusiness Advancement Center. Before moving to Tucson, Johanna lived in New York where she went to graduate school and worked for Brooklyn Cooperative FCU, a model start up community development credit union serving a low income neighborhood in New York and one of the most underserved by the mainstream financial industry. She also worked for the Program for Latin America at Lutheran World Relief, an international development NGO. Johanna has a Masters degree in International Affairs with a focus on Economic and Political Development from Columbia University and a Master of Arts in Media Studies from the New School for Social Research.

The economic divide in our country remains wider than ever. The “hourglass” shape of income distribution continues to fuel a vibrant economic justice movement. Efforts to raise the minimum wage, adopt living wage standards, and rekindle the growth of a middle class through tax and government policies are all aimed at reshaping the distribution of wealth and income in the nation.

While reshaping the economy by advocating for more governmental entitlements and safeguards remains a viable strategy, little advocacy occurs that directly focuses on the key economic drivers in the U.S. and internationally – corporations and industries. Indeed, in many instances public policy advocacy fails precisely when corporations and industries mobilize to defend the status quo.

The Southwest Center for Economic Integrity provides a unique complement to traditional economic justice models by specifically addressing the dynamics of commerce, and by zeroing in on those corporations and industries which seem to be benefiting most from the “hourglass” economy and economic divide.

The Southwest Center for Economic Integrity engages in research, education and advocacy to strengthen local economies by mobilizing and protecting marginalized people, holding corporations and industries accountable to communities and cultivating support for good business practices. The Center focuses its work regionally on the southwestern United States and receives support from the Charles Stewart Mott Foundation, The Marguerite Casey Foundation, The Wallace Foundation and over one hundred individual contributors.

The Southwest Center for Economic Integrity employs two primary research methods. Through Strategic Corporate Research the Center illuminates the practices and impacts of specific companies on industries on communities of concern. Strategic Corporate Research includes direct worker/consumer surveying as well as detailed examination and analysis of available corporate or industry documents (government filings, corporate promotional materials, etc.). Here the Center also partners with partner watchdog and advocacy groups which may have relevant information (e.g. reports by the Consumer Federation of America on predatory mortgage lending can provide clues on banks which may have involvement in other forms of predatory lending; reports by the AFL-CIO may contain information relevant to labor market stratification that influences the day labor industry).

Our second and newly emerging research method involves Participatory Research. With this approach the Center can more directly involve and compensate impacted constituencies in its fact-finding. The formal discipline of Participatory Research applies rigorous parameters to the process of engaging groups in defining issues of concerns as well as the research and advocacy aimed at remedying those concerns. Such an approach becomes critically important when intervening in industries exerting profound influence on daily life. If, for example, payday lending remains the only option available to lower-income people facing financial crisis, a “top down” or disinterested approach could inadvertently call for changes that heighten neighborhood hardships (i.e. closing down payday lending without the development of viable alternative sources of aid). Engaging constituencies can both improve the understanding derived from research, and lead to more responsive change strategies (e.g. recruitment of credit union competition within marginalized areas to foster competition and the lowering of loan rates). Participatory Research also yields the added benefit of generating greater awareness and peer-to-peer educational opportunities

Information derived from research quickly becomes meaningless if not tied to deliberate outreach and education strategies. These activities are foremost at providing useful information to constituencies directly impacted by corporate or industry practices (e.g. day laborers can learn which day labor brokers pay the most or charge the lowest fees for services such as transportation). By increasing transparency and facilitating informed choices on the part of workers and consumers, the market behavior of companies can be influenced over time. Additionally the Center extends outreach and education to the broader community. We firmly believe that the challenge of reshaping corporate behavior requires the broad engagement of community members – investors, customers, political leaders, regulatory officials, religious leaders, the media and partner advocacy groups. Our work addressing Labor Ready’s treatment of its employees included attending their annual shareholder meeting in 2003, during which the Center outlined specific practices which not only detrimentally impact impoverished workers but could also ultimately impact investors’ returns (e.g. high workers compensation exposure due to frequency of worker injuries).

Through our research and our interactive educational work with impacted constituencies, the Southwest Center for Economic Integrity creates unique opportunities to formulate economic change strategies. Surely the Center can serve as a valuable source of information for policy makers grappling with the realm of commercial regulation. Beyond that, the Center can directly provide regulators with information upon which to take regulatory enforcement action. In 2002 the Center, with its partners the Primavera Foundation in Tucson and Central Arizona Shelter Services in Phoenix, collected surveys and check stubs from day laborers. We were then able to provide the Arizona Attorney General’s office with concrete documentation of Labor Ready’s violation of state law (i.e. check-cashing charges). The AG filed suit against the company, ultimately yielding a settlement agreement requiring Labor Ready to refund up to $150,000 to wronged day laborers in the state. Our extensive study of the payday lending industry in Pima County has informed state and local policy, providing similar concrete data upon which to base future regulation of that industry.

Sometimes the Center’s advocacy seeks to mobilize people beyond the governmental sphere. Corporate shareholders (see Education section) can wield tremendous influence, as can consumers and workers themselves. In addition there are times when the Center supports positive business practices and models as change strategies. We have been invited to assist with the development of a cooperative for street side food vendors in Tucson, and have also supported the development and growth of two non-profit day labor enterprises – Primavera Works in Tucson and the CASS Temporary Employment Service in Phoenix. We envision a future involving all of these multiple avenues of influence in order to reshape corporate and industry behaviors of concern.

The Southwest Center for Economic Integrity holds a unique position within the economic justice movement that complements the wider field. As a regionally focused entity, the Center can retain a focus reflective of how economies take shape and expand. Often, for example, key corporations within a particular industry operate with a regional focus (e.g. Labor Exchange). In addition some patterns related to industry and commercial patterns (e.g. demographic and income distributions) tend vary distinctly by region. Our regional focus also enables us to remain effective in state-level discourse without becoming dissuaded by variations and nuances occurring across the entire country.

Similarly, the Center’s focus on corporate behavior and patterns of commerce holds promise. Few non-profits cultivate expertise in market-centered strategies aimed at reshaping economic impacts. By keying in on private sector actors and outcomes we contribute valuable perspective in pursuit of economic justice.

Finally, the Southwest Center for Economic Integrity has already leveraged early results which we believe foretell a future of tremendous success. Our ability to reshape the practices of Labor Ready – a multi-million dollar multinational corporation -- in the state of Arizona, the related refunding of up to $150,000 to laborers across the state, and our success in unmasking previously hidden truths within the payday lending industry all serve to demonstrate the strategic efficacy of our approaches.

The Southwest Center for Economic Integrity has been invited to participate in a number of national forums and in partnership with key established organizations. The Center is represented on the Board of Directors of the national Coalition for the Homeless and the National Network of Sector Partners (National Economic Development and Law Center). In addition we have been sought out to participate in national and regional meetings convened by the Center for Community Change, the Aspen Institute, the AARP, the North American Alliance for Fair Employment, and the MIT. We have provided technical assistance since 2002 to the Southern Arizona Alliance for Economic Justice, Students Against Sweatshops, the American Friends Service Committee, the Primavera Foundation and Central Arizona Shelter Services, and the Center for Community Change.

Perhaps our greatest honor to date came with the invitation to represent the North American Alliance for Fair Employment at the June 2002 United Nations International Labor Organization session held in Geneva, Switzerland. The convening primarily addressed two topics: workers in the informal economy and worker cooperatives. The Center proudly participated in collaboration with a number of partner non-governmental organizations, offering statements and information which ultimately helped to shape the resulting declaration from the UN ILO conference.

A number of foundations have invested their trust and resources in the Southwest Center for Economic Integrity already, including the Charles Stewart Mott Foundation, Wallace Foundation, Greenville Foundation, Marguerite Casey Foundation and Annie E. Casey Foundation. In addition more than 100 individuals have contributed to the organization since our inception.


	Promoting Ethical Profits and Responsible Commerce