Melanie Forti
Director of Health & Safety Programs
Melanie Forti joined AFOP in September 2009. As AFOP’s Health & Safety Programs Director, she supervises a team of staff, manages a budget of over 2.5 million, and overlooks grants to ensure compliance. Melanie continues to successfully secure funding for her programs through grant writing and fundraising collaboration. She brings over 11 years of experience in supervision, program development and implementation, training, and budget management. She also holds extensive experience of general management in the private and public sectors. She has over 7 years of experience and knowledge of farmworker health and safety issues and has been an active farmworker advocate for over 10 years. Melanie holds a bachelor’s degree in business administration from the Sacred Heart University in Puerto Rico. With AFOP, Melanie has accomplished creating and implementing a successful national farmworker training program in 2013. Through this program over 40,000 farmworkers are trained annually by a network of 200 certified trainers.
Vashti Kelly
Program Manager for AFOP’s Health & Safety Programs
Vashti Kelly is the Program Manager for AFOP’s Health & Safety Programs. As the Program Manager she organizes AFOP’s Health & Safety Programs’ education projects. Vashti develops low-literacy, bilingual curriculum and training materials related to pesticide safety and other topics for farmworkers. Vashti is responsible for recruiting trainers and training sites, organizing train-the-trainer events, and conducting various Train-the-Trainer courses. Vashti is also in charge of AFOP’s Health & Safety Programs newest publication Sazón para la Salud. Prior to joining AFOP in 2012 to work on the Children in the Fields Campaign, Vashti obtained valuable experience in workforce development programs in South Florida, where she also worked as a contract teacher for the public school system. Vashti holds a Master’s of International Relations from Florida International University. She graduated from the University of Miami in Florida with a dual Bachelor’s of International Studies and Spanish as well as studied abroad at the Universidad de Cantabria in Spain.
Kendra Moesle
Program Communications Coordinator
Kendra Moesle started at AFOP in August 2016. Currently in her role as Communications Coordinator, she develops and implements communication plans for AFOP’s Health & Safety programs. This includes social media, blog posts, press releases, the AFOP newsletter, and annual publications. Kendra supports the director and program manager in all our special events, including the Long-Sleeved Shirt Drive, the Children in the Fields Campaign’s art & essay contest, AFOP’s annual conferences, and more.
Prior to coming to AFOP, Kendra spent five years at the Department of Labor working on a diverse range of programs and grants within the Employment and Training Administration. Her passions are photography and writing. She earned a Bachelor of Arts degree from Eastern Mennonite University in Harrisonburg, VA.
Pilar Sauber
Program Clerk for Health & Safety Programs
Pilar Sauber has been working at AFOP to provide program support since August 2018. Prior to her work here, she’s held a variety of positions in customer service and hospitality. She spent four years working at OSHA’s National Office in the Office of International Affairs. While at OSHA, Pilar worked with the Office International Affairs to provide training and outreach to vulnerable workers and hosted representatives from organizations and governments interested in OSHA standards and guidance. Pilar attended university in Washington D.C. majoring in anthropology.
Health & Safety Programs 