Librada Paz defends the dignity of immigrant farmworkers in the United States. At the age of 15, she left her indigenous community in southern Mexico in search of an opportunity to improve life for her family. She eventually made her way to New York where she found work in the fields picking vegetables and fruits. Working conditions were harsh and Librada labored in the fields ten hours a day seven days a week just to survive. For ten years, she experienced the harassment, abuse and discrimination that prevail in U.S. agriculture where the dignity and rights of farmworkers are routinely ignored.

Through her strength and passion, Librada became a leading voice for immigrant workers in fields and farms in New York and across the United States. Together with the Rural and Migrant Ministries (RMM), Librada played a key role in the passage of laws requiring that farmworkers be provided with drinking water and restrooms – basic necessities long denied.
Librada is a Council Member for the RMM and a member of the Alianza Campesina, a national women’s farmworker movement. In 2012, Librada received the Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights Award for her courageous work and ongoing struggle to improve the lives and working conditions of farmworkers in New York and beyond.