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 Michele
Gilfillan: Director
Michele has been the
Director of Good Shepherd
Volunteers in New York, NY
since August 2004.
Previous to GSV, she worked
with Catholic Relief
Services utilizing her
marketing, strategic
planning, and
relationship-building skills
that mobilized U.S.
Catholics around issues of
global poverty and justice.
Michele’s interest in
community issues and social
justice began in college and
continued with her first job
in Philadelphia supporting
community organizing and
economic development groups
that worked for systemic
change in low-income areas.
Michele holds an M.A. in
Nonprofit Management from
the College of Notre Dame of
Maryland, and a B.A. in
Philosophy and Political
Science from the University
of Scranton.
Of her work, Michele says,
“I am most inspired by the
long history of the Sisters
of the Good Shepherds’ work
with poor and marginalized
women, adolescents, and
children. Our
volunteers carry on this
work today and in the
process, they learn about
themselves, the people they
serve, and how their ideas
can positively impact their
communities and our world.
GSV is about building a
movement of leaders who care
deeply about individuals
challenged by poverty and
violence and want to be a
part of social change.”
Michele Gilfillan, Director
michele_gilfillan@goodshepherds.org
(718) 943-7489
Jon Alvarez: Program
Coordinator
 Jon
came on board as Program
Coordinator with GSV in the
fall of 2006. Jon
spent his first year out of
college with Amate House, a
volunteer program in
Chicago, where he worked in
a Latino neighborhood on
immigration and education
issues, and lived with 5
fellow volunteers in
community. From there he
continued his work as a
community organizer, this
time in Brooklyn, New York,
with a housing group called
Neighbors Helping Neighbors.
He helped tenants in
low-income neighborhoods
organize to improve housing
conditions, advocate for
policy and law changes, and
develop leadership skills.
Jon went to the University
of Notre Dame and majored in
anthropology. He was born in
Massachusetts and grew up in
the Netherlands.
With GSV, Jon sees a
connection between his
professional experience in
community organizing and
also his personal experience
as a volunteer. “One of my
former co-workers said that
community organizing is just
a fancy word for education.
And that’s what I think
volunteer service is about
too – learning more about
the world around us, about
small but powerful
opportunities for social
change, and about bringing
our own personal hopes to
fruition. That is what I
experienced as a volunteer
and that is what I see
happening at GSV.”
Jon Alvarez, Program
Coordinator
jonathan_alvarez@goodshepherds.org
(718) 943-7490
 Lindsey
Conlin: Marketing &
Recruitment Coordinator
Lindsey, a Nashville,
Tennessee native, joined the
GSV staff as Marketing &
Recruitment Coordinator in
August of 2007.
Lindsey graduated from
Villanova University with a
B.A. in English and
Communications in 2005 and
served as a Good Shepherd
Volunteer from 2005-2006.
During her time with GSV,
she lived with 5 other
volunteers in Astoria,
Queens and had the pleasure
of spending her year working
with HandCrafting Justice.
After her volunteer year,
she continued her advocacy
work with the All Stars
Project, Inc; a nonprofit
organization in New York
City which creates outside
of school, educational and
performing arts activities
for thousands of poor and
minority young people in
various cities throughout
the United States and
abroad.
When reflecting on her
experiences with GSV,
Lindsey says she is
“continuously amazed by the
supportive and caring
environment that GSV creates
for anyone and everyone in
its family. My year as
a volunteer was very
influential to my personal
development, and I feel
lucky to now be ‘on the
other side’ helping to
continue to spread the
mission of the Good
Shepherd. Good
Shepherd Volunteers opened
up my eyes to a global
community in which we all
must work together to evoke
change and try to be a voice
for those whose voices
cannot be heard. Being
on staff is an amazing
opportunity for me to share
my experience and hopefully
encourage others to join the
Good Shepherd family.”
Lindsey Conlin, Marketing
Coordinator
lindsey_conlin@goodshepherds.org
(718) 943-7488
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