Lydia Simas, Solidarity Program Officer for Special Projects at Grassroots International, has been involved in social justice and community building work since she was a teenager. Before joining Grassroots she worked in organizing retreats and community-building events, teaching English to speakers of other languages, as well as retail management. She is active in the domestic workers’ rights movement in Massachusetts with the Brazilian Women’s Group and served as a board member of the Spring Forum for Alternative Community for many years.

Lydia lived in Brazil in her early childhood, in the city of Rio de Janeiro and in the small village of Mirantão. As an adult she has maintained her connections there, observing first-hand the effects of globalization, modernization and neoliberal policies on the lives of people in rural areas.