Meet Our Staff
Fred Rose - Co-Director
Fred Rose has co-directed Wellspring Cooperative since its founding in 2011. He was a lecturer at the School of Public Policy and Administration at the University of Massachusetts Amherst from 2010-2019 and has taught classes at the Antioch New England Graduate School and Tufts University. From 1996-2010 he served as the Lead Organizer of the Pioneer Valley Project, a multi-class, multi-race faith and labor organizing project in Springfield. Fred has a doctorate in City and Regional Planning from Cornell University.
Fred.Rose@wellspringcoop.org
Emily Kawano - Co-Director
Emily cut her activist teeth in the Seabrook anti-nuke movement, where she learned that consensus based decision-making does not mix well with the fast pace of an occupation attempt, especially when one’s affinity group is positioned in the marshes and the incoming tide is about to cut off retreat. Having survived that, she has been involved in social and economic justice issues ever since. Emily received a degree in human ecology from the College of the Atlantic and a Ph.D in economics from UMass, Amherst. She is a founder and co-director of Wellspring Cooperative and co-founded the U.S. Solidarity Economy Network. In previous incarnations, she was the director of the Center for Popular Economics, served on the board of RIPESS (Intercontinental Social Solidarity Economy Network), was the National Economic Justice Representative for the American Friends Service Committee and taught economics at Smith College. While living in N. Ireland, she founded a popular economics program with the Irish Congress of Trade Unions, worked with the N.I. Social Economy Network and developed social economy training programs for local community development agencies.
emilykawano@gmail.com
Helen Harrison - Development Coordinator
Helen joined the Wellspring team in the Spring of 2025. She brings a professional background in grant writing and development, program coordination, and communications, as well as experience with grassroots organizing. She is a founding member of Flywheel, a collectively run arts space. At The Food Bank of Western Massachusetts, she worked first on the development team and then as a coordinator for Target Hunger, a collaborative food justice initiative. She also worked in employee communications at MassMutual and holds a Master of Regional Planning from the University of Massachusetts Amherst. She is excited about using her skills to support Wellspring’s vision of promoting cooperative, sustainable, community-driven development in the lower valley.
helen.harrison@wellspringcoop.org
Clara Alcantara – Communications Coordinator & Program Team Member
Hector Figarella-Program Team Member
Hector joined Wellspring in April 2026 as program team member. Originally from Venezuela, Hector has deep roots in the area and a wealth of organizing and programs experience.
Through his work as director for the Holyoke Food and Fitness Council, as an organizer for Pioneer Valley Workers Center and Neighbor-to-Neighbor Holyoke, in Agency Services at The Food Bank of Western Massachusetts, and as a Spanish interpreter for Springfield No One Leaves and Willow PREC, he has forged a strong understanding of grassroots community work in Holyoke and Springfield.
Hector also serves on the board of the Markham-Nathan Fund for Social Justice and has professional experience as a firefighter and paramedic. He attended Springfield Central High School and Springfield College, and has a B.A. in Theater from the University of Massachusetts Amherst.
We are thrilled that Hector has joined us and are excited about the talent and experience he brings to our work.
@hector.figarella@wellspringcoop.org
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