The Farmworker and Landscaper Advocacy Project

For 26 years, the Farmworker and Landscaper Advocacy Project has fought to protect some of the most vulnerable workers in Illinois -- immigrants and laborers in low-wage, often high-risk jobs.

In industries where low pay is the norm, workers frequently face hazardous conditions, unpaid overtime, discrimination, and job loss after injury. FLAP, as the nonprofit is known, advocates for stronger labor protections and greater opportunities statewide.

“We focus on this segment of the population because they are the most abused people in the workforce,” said Alexandra Sossa, FLAP’s CEO. 

The organization was founded in 1999 by community leaders and a couple of attorneys providing pro bono legal help to farm workers. Over time, the nonprofit expanded its mission to include other low-wage industries like snow removal, nurseries, restaurants, poultry processing and meatpacking.

Today, the Chicago-based FLAP operates with a $3.9 million annual budget, a staff of 14 and several independent contractors. The organization offers free legal assistance through a network of attorneys and delivers social services, financial assistance and technology support to workers and their families.  Since its inception, FLAP has secured nearly $5 million in back pay and damages for workers.

A central tenet of the nonprofit’s mission is educating workers about their rights on the job through presentations at churches and community centers.   “Our goal is to empower low-wage workers to become leaders in society and to play a role in the communities where they live and work,” Sossa said.

MBA Fellows Help Shape Nonprofit Strategy

Since 2017, FLAP has partnered with the Kellogg School of Management through the Golub Capital Nonprofit Board Fellows program, which places MBA students on nonprofit boards. The students serve as nonvoting board members for a 15-month term while completing a strategic project for their organization. 

“Our fellows have been phenomenal,” Sossa said. “They bring a financial perspective our board doesn’t have, and they inject youthful energy into our meetings.”

One fellow conducted an analysis of FLAP’s employee compensation compared with similar organizations. “The salary analysis is something we keep in mind every time we prepare the budget,” Sossa said.

Another suggested that each board meeting begin with testimony from a worker or community member about their relationship to the organization. It’s a practice the nonprofit continues to this day. “It creates more sensitivity and gives more information to the board about the impact that we are having outside the boardroom,” Sossa said. 

Rohan Garg ’25 created a project to help FLAP clients gain entrepreneurial skills and access resources to launch their own businesses. Building on his experience with a farmers’ cooperative and a women’s shelter in India, he designed a support model for low-wage entrepreneurs. He found local organizations that offer classes in Spanish, recruited workers with entrepreneurial potential and created a WhatsApp group to help them network and learn from each other. 

Initially, a language barrier posed a major problem. Most FLAP clients speak only Spanish, while Garg had only a basic grasp of the language. To bridge the gap, he asked a Spanish-speaking staff member at FLAP to join him on calls and serve as his translator. 

Another challenge was earning workers’ trust. Many were hesitant to share personal information, including where they lived. But word of mouth paid off: After one FLAP client enrolled, others began reaching out. 

FLAP board member Ron Levitsky mentored Garg throughout his fellowship, starting with helping him narrow the project’s scope. At board meetings, Garg presented updates and members gave feedback.

Levitsky praised his approach: Instead of reinventing the wheel, Garg found organizations already providing training for budding entrepreneurs and negotiated partnerships with FLAP. The project was also a success because Garg ensured its sustainability. “One of the problems I see is unless you find somebody on the staff who is passionate about this, it likely might not continue after graduation,” Levitsky noted.

Garg persuaded workers to enroll in classes and earned the commitment of a FLAP staff member to continue the program.  

“Having fellows serve on our board is a great boost because they come with technical knowledge and great vision,” Levitsky added. “They have just enough experience in the business world to come up with a great strategic project and see it through.”

Garg said the self-directed nature of the fellowship sharpened skills he’ll carry into his post-MBA role in management consulting at McKinsey & Company in Chicago. “The fellowship benefited me by improving my project management skills,” he said. “It also gave me a real-world lesson in stakeholder management -- something I’d read about in class but had to practice throughout the project. I needed to listen to every constituent: the potential entrepreneurs, the partner organizations, the board members -- and keep the project moving forward as the project’s sole driver.”

Similarly, Wendie Yeung, JD/MBA ’24, took important lessons from her experience on FLAP’s board.  She examined FLAP’s governance processes and recommended best practices for recruiting and training board members.  “It was a good experience hearing what the leaders of a nonprofit organization are thinking about and the challenges they face when they are growing quickly,” she noted. 

Attending board meetings helped her improve public speaking and presentation skills – an asset she leverages now as an antitrust attorney at Skadden, Arps, Meagher & Flom in New York.  

Yeung said her fellowship was especially rewarding because board members were passionate about the mission, and Sossa was an engaged, accessible CEO.  “It was exciting to be contributing to an organization that was growing so quickly and doing such incredible work in the Chicago area,” she said. 

For Sossa, the fellows’ impact lasts well beyond their time on the board. “I have so much gratitude for how beneficial the board fellows have been for our organization and how important a role they play in our strategic planning and goals,” she said. 

FLAP was so pleased with Garg’s work that he became the first fellow to be invited to join the board after graduating from Kellogg. “He provided insightful guidance and strategic perspective challenging FLAP to think bigger and broader for achieving our mission to improve working conditions,” Sossa said. “Rohan is already an excellent board member and a valuable asset to me as a CEO, providing guidance, support and accountability to help FLAP achieve its full potential.”