Nijmie Zakkiyyah Dzurinko is a black and indigenous organizer, agitator, strategist and healer who grew up in the town of Monessen and has been living in Philadelphia for over 25 years. They came into organizing from life experience and have founded or turned around a number of organizations dedicated to organizing poor and dispossessed people as part of an international movement to end poverty led by the poor. They are a former Executive Director of the Philadelphia Student Union, a co-founder of the Media Mobilizing Project and a co-founder of Put People First! PA.