-Che Lopez is a Chicano from South Texas and is currently the Co-Directior of SWU and the co-founder of the Youth Leadership Organization (YLO), established in 1996. He is a third generation organizer after his father and grandfather in Hondo, Texas. In 1998, at the age of 23 years, he was elected the youngest city councilman in the history of Hondo, TX. He is the Co-Chair of the Coordinating Council for the Southwest Network for Environmental and Economic Justice (SNEEJ). Currently he is the Southwest Zone representative of COMPA USA (Convergence of Movements of the Peoples of the Americas). Che is involved in the campaigns against NAFTA, the Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA), globalization, and the injustices on the US/Mexico border. SWU is a 15 year old grassroots people of color organization that represents workers, communities and youth that are impacted by environmental and economic racism.