Yesenia Cuello is a grassroots organizer and the co-founder and Executive Director of NC FIELD (North Carolina Focusing on Increasing Education Leadership and Dignity), a grassroots non-profit organization that utilizes a social determinant of health lens to both streamline and deliver essential resources to rural marginalized communities. Yesenia has been advocating for environmental justice and the rights of farmworkers for over fifteen years. As a former child farmworker herself, Yesenia’s advocacy journey began as a teenager working in tobacco fields and organizing youth for Human Rights Watch to combat child labor. Her efforts contributed to regulatory changes that now protect child workers from pesticide exposure, a key issue in the fight for justice for agricultural communities.

Throughout her time at NC FIELD, Yesenia was the president of the youth group, Poder Juvenil Campesino, Public Relations Chair, Program Manager, and in 2019 took on her current role of executive director. She leads initiatives aimed at addressing the health challenges faced by farmworker communities across a 14-county region in rural Eastern North Carolina. With a deep commitment to equitable access to healthcare. She helped launch Sembrando Salud, led by the community and focused on mitigating the health impacts of pesticide exposure, extreme heat, and unsafe working conditions exacerbated by access barriers and climate change. Her leadership has expanded NC FIELD’s capacity to meet communities where they’re at. Yesenia’s vision is rooted in empowering agricultural workers with the tools and resources needed to effectively address systemic issues and advocate for what they need in order to live happier, healthier lives.