Meet Josi

MassCOSH is pleased to welcome our new intern, Josi Gomes Timas. Josi comes to us from the esteemed Labor Studies program at UMass Boston and works with MassCOSH Tuesdays and Thursdays, assisting our Teens Lead @ Work program and our Worker Center.

Under a decade ago, Josi moved to the United States with her family from Cape Verde when she was a teenager. She finished her last two years of high school in the United States before selecting UMass Boston as her college of choice. Growing up helping her mother with the family business, Josi chose to major in economics to understand markets and capital flow better. But her minor in Labor Studies brought her to MassCOSH after her Labor Studies professor, who had familiarity with MassCOSH, recommended that Josi intern with us to help round out her education.

Starting her internship earlier this July, Josi is earning a stipend assisting TL@W, helping to run the 19 young-person-strong program, and has found herself very impressed with how willing the young people are to learn about their rights and she enjoys how excited they are to explore the power they have to create change despite their age. She also aids in conducting outreach to workers in East Boston with her fluency in Spanish, Portuguese, and Cape-Verdean Creole.

Knowing so many workers who are unaware of their rights on the job, Josi is proud of her work helping to create young labor leaders who will enter the workforce with a strong workers’ rights education and helping to support immigrant workers who face so many obstacles when trying to make a living free of injuries and workplace dangers. Josi plans to graduate with her bachelor’s degree at the end of this year’s fall semester.