Alendra (Len) Harris

Alendra (Len) Harris, she/ they, was born, raised and graduated cum laude from UMO with a BA in the beautifully wild and rugged state of Maine. They made the move to Boston, Massachusetts in their early twenties before eventually journeying further west to the Rockies and settling in the sunny state of Colorado. Having come from a family well practiced in American traditionalism, she set forth into the working world with one full time job as a veterinary clinician at a VCA in Louisville as well as a part time job as a barista at Starbucks Coffee Company with even the occasional third gig as an assistant to her partner’s small business in freelance illustration. 

It was her long held belief that the American dream of meritocracy would yield its promised harvest thus consistent loyalty and hard work would facilitate that. After several years, starting herown business and even promoting to a higher position in her work, said dream however only felt further and further out of reach as cost of living rose, wages stagnated and legislation continued to kneecap their potential growth as both a queer individual and a working class citizen. It wasn’t until the foreign notion of organizing a union, something Len’s family had expressed open opposition to and criticisms of her whole life, that the American dream appeared at all feasible. After several conversations, actions, communications and more with their fellow employees at Starbucks Coffee Company, Len and their colleagues successfully formed Colorado’s first ever unionized Starbucks and thus began Len’s new chapter as an avid supporter, facilitator and spokesperson of organizing labor. She hopes to take the power of organized labor into climate activism, environmentalism, transportation, education and other facets of community action and support that she and the younger generation have witnessed stagnate in light of profiteering and political posturing. In her leisure time, she can be found walking her dog, drawing, writing, reading, singing, snowboarding if she’s lucky and having communal gatherings over food and drink discussing some silly philosophical aspect of life. They also enjoy a good video game and could spend more time than they care to admit talking about stories or characters that have caught their heart and attention. Life is too short to not enjoy it at its fullest after all.