SOCM Staff
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Amy Anderson
Amy Anderson has been a Community Organizer with SOCM since 2006. She grew up in Kingsport, Tennessee, attended Maryville College in 2005, and has been moving further west ever since. She and her husband Lyle lived for a few years in Jackson, Tennessee, where she helped open the West Tennessee SOCM office. Amy and Lyle have since returned to East Tennessee and live in the Bristol area. Amy currently enjoys co-staffing both SOCM’s Green-Collar Jobs Committee as well as the Anti-Racism Transformation Team. Email:
Linda Cowan
Linda Cowan joined the SOCM staff in 1993 as Office Manager. She currently fills the position of Development and Finance Director, a fine fit since she loves to raise and spend money. The passion of SOCM’s incredible members keeps her motivated. Linda grew up a Navy brat, the oldest of seven children, and moved to East Tennessee when her father retired in 1974. She is the proud aunt of six nieces and four nephews who work really hard to keep her young. Email:
Chris Hill
Christine (Chris) Hill has a deep desire for social justice and a passion for the natural world. She believes as John Muir did, that "When one tugs at a single thing in nature, he finds it attached to the rest of the world." Born and raised in the Washington, D.C. Metro area, Chris earned a Bachelors of Art in Broadcasting Communications and Electronic Media from Appalachian State University in Boone, NC. She moved to South Royalton, Vermont to pursue a law degree at Vermont Law School. In May of 2009, Chris earned a Juris Doctor from VLS with a concentration in environmental and human rights law. When Chris is not busy bringing social justice to communities, she enjoys rock climbing, snowboarding, and really loves sleeping outside! Chris joined SOCM in August of 2009 as a Community Organizer and currently staffs the Roaring River Chapter and the Cumberland County Chapter. She also co-staffs the Strip Mine Issues Committee. Email:
Christina Connally Honkonen
Christina Connally Honkonen joined the SOCM staff as Communications & IT Director in 2010. Her background includes managing media relations, designing strategic communications plans, web management, social media development and public relations efforts for social and environmental justice groups in the Southeast.
Her five years of journalism experience has provided the opportunity to write for community and daily publications, including the Knoxville News Sentinel, Farragut Press, City View magazine, Eva Mag and others. Christina earned a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology and a minor in Journalism from the University of Tennessee, Knoxville. She has coordinated marketing writing for the International Spa Association, led media relations strategy for the Southern Alliance for Clean Energy and continues to grow her communications expertise through additional schooling.
With SOCM, Christina leads communications development, managing membership communication outreach that includes the quarterly SOCM Sentinel and bi-monthly e-newsletter. Questions regarding socm.org, media relations, social media, and multimedia for SOCM, such as video and podcast, can also be sent to Christina's attention. Email:
Henry Jones
Henry Jones joined SOCM in June 2008 as an organizer in Middle and West Tennessee. Born in Clarksdale, Mississippi, he was raised in the Mississippi Delta. He graduated from Tennessee State University with a B.S. in Sociology and is currently working on his Master’s Degree in Labor Studies at the University of Massachusetts Amherst. Prior to joining SOCM, Henry worked as a union organizer for the Service Employees International Union (SEIU). Henry is currently living outside of Nashville, Tennessee and and staffs the Maury County and Bedford County Chapters. Email:
Ann League
Ann League has been a member of SOCM for several years, including serving a term as Vice-President of the SOCM Board, before becoming a SOCM organizer in 2009. She was born in Seneca, S.C., the youngest of five, and moved to Tennessee when she was seventeen. Ann quickly fell in love with the mountains and people of east Tennessee, especially the Cumberland Mountains, and that feeling has not faded. Ann has been a truck driver, a wholesale produce salesperson, a customer service rep, a garage coordinator, and an activist. She holds an Associates degree in AutoCAD Technology. Ann staffs the Campbell/Anderson chapter, co-staffs the StripMine Issues Committee, and is working on membership growth for the organization. She lives in Knoxville with her infinitely patient and understanding spouse equivalent, Jeff, and a pack of rescued dogs. No really, a pack of dogs. Email:
Maurice Muhammad
Maurice Muhammad comes to SOCM with a strong background in grassroots organizing. His passion is to help fight for those who can not fight for themselves and to address the systemic lack of power possessed by low-income and working class people. Maurice's goal is to help create effective & lasting social change by empowering traditionally disenfranchised Americans as activists & leaders in organizing campaigns for power. The belief that democracy is strengthened by full participation of the people in the voting process has led Maurice to focus much of his professional experience on voter empowerment work. Maximizing the vote of the people is a powerful step towards social change and human progress. Maurice believes that all the people, not just the wealthy and well-connected, have a right to realize the American dream to its fullest. Thomas Jefferson once said “I tremble for my country when I reflect that God is just; that his justice cannot sleep forever.” So until justice awakes, Maurice is committed to fighting for social justice for all. Email:
Kathy Nix
Kathy Nix has been on the SOCM staff since June 1996. She began as clerical support staff, and then about ten years ago became the SOCM Office Manager. Before coming to SOCM, Kathy graduated from the Jacksboro Technology Center with a General Secretary Diploma in Business Systems Technology. Kathy had worked in the health field for fourteen years, both at a nursing home and in private duty, before she returned to school. Currently she lives in LaFollette, Tennessee, with Dale, her husband of twenty-six years. She is the mother of two adult children, Wesley and Shayla, and “Gramma” to three grandchildren, R. J., Kristiana, and Jayden. Email:
Amelia Parker
Amelia Parker joined SOCM as the Executive Director in November 2009. She has spent her career advocating for social justice and human rights at home and abroad, tackling issues such as genocide, the "right to work" of refugees, the human rights implication of water privatization, racial inequalities in public education and government contracts, and the domestic implementation of human rights law in the U.S. Amelia received a bachelor's degree from the University of Tennessee (Knoxville) in Comparative Studies of Race and Ethnicity and a second major in Italian. She received both her JD and LLM (master of laws) degrees from American University Washinton College of Law in Washington, DC. Email:
Cassie Watters
Cassie Watters joined SOCM in March 2008 as Lead Organizer/Assistant Director. Born and raised in Oklahoma City, she graduated from Southampton College of Long Island University in New York. She then spent eight years in the greater Boston area, first organizing with Eastern Massachusetts Jobs with Justice and then working as project and administrative staff at the Harvard School of Public Health where she was a union member. Cassie is currently enjoying East Tennessee and Knoxville, where she lives with her partner Elam and their orange cat, Mr. T. Email:
