Building for the Future: AFM Organizing Services Comes of Age

May 1, 2026

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by Gabe Kristal, AFM Director of Organizing Services

My tenure as director of the AFM Organizing Services Department is nearing two and a half years, although it feels as if I just started yesterday. It is a daunting challenge to create a department from whole cloth. We have worked to build Organizing Services with equal parts experimentation and discipline. At last, I feel that the Organizing Service Department that our union and industry needs is coming into shape.

Over the last several months, the AFM International Executive Board (IEB) has demonstrated its commitment to organizing and our profession’s future by funding our department to have professional organizers assigned to each of our existing regions. Assistant Director of Organizing Ed Gutierrez was the first of our new staff hired and was assigned to the Western Region. Gutierrez and I then began the recruitment process for the remaining regions. Our expanded team is now in place; learn more about the organizers representing our commitment to each region below.

Bringing on five organizers at once created a significant onboarding challenge—but it also gave us an opportunity to do it right. One month in, this is the most effective onboarding process I’ve been part of, either as staff or as a director. We’ve built a true cohort: a team receiving consistent training, using standardized reporting and planning systems, and developing a shared approach to the work.

The new staff began by meeting with each AFM department director to understand how the union functions as a whole. We then implemented uniform reporting and planning procedures across all regions. At the same time, each organizer began mapping locals and leadership structures to create a clear strategic picture of where we are and where we need to go.

This month, the team will participate together in the AFL-CIO’s three-day organizing training, supported by AFM staff. They have also begun outreach to local unions to assist in developing strategic organizing plans (SOPs).

The early results are encouraging. Within just a few weeks, every regional organizer is already engaged in an active representation campaign. Across the continent—from the Youth Orchestra of Los Angeles to El Sistema in New Brunswick—our organizing department is already making its mark.

As we prepare to challenge an industry that is at great risk from offshoring, artificial intelligence, streaming, and precarious funding for all arts and entertainment, it is important to recognize that no single local union can go it alone. It is imperative going forward that we have functional locals coordinating with their siblings to create a regional strategy. Over the next several months, your regional organizer will be conducting outreach, but feel free to reach out to your organizing staff now. I encourage all locals to take advantage of this resource and set aside time to build strategically for the future.

The Faces Behind AFM’s Organizing Expansion

Ed Gutierrez brings more than 25 years of union organizing and campaign experience to the AFM, spanning a range of industries in both the public and private sectors. He serves as assistant director of organizing, Western Region field organizer, and assistant to the president for the Western United States. Gutierrez plays bass guitar and is a member of Local 47 (Los Angeles, CA).

Paul Bissember joins the AFM as field organizer for the Southern Region, bringing more than a decade of experience in the labor movement, beginning in 2014 as a head steward with UAW Local 2865 at University of California Berkeley. His organizing background includes staff roles with the California Federation of Teachers, and rank-and-file leadership as organizing chair for the Morris Jeff United Educators in New Orleans. For the past five years he has served his community as a high school Spanish and ESL teacher in New Orleans. Away from the office, Bissember plays guitar, rides bikes, and spends time with his family. He lives in New Orleans with his son Jaipaul, wife Maggie, and their dog Stella.

Canada’s Field Organizer Samara Chadwick is an Acadian organizer and cultural worker from Moncton, New Brunswick. She has worked with international arts organizations for more than two decades, directing interdisciplinary, intergenerational, and international programs with a focus on documentary film. Previously, she served as an executive director and festival programmer, while also directing, editing, and recording sound on multiple films. Chadwick grew up playing violin and clarinet, was a student activist with the Concordia University chapter of the Canadian Federation of Students, and was a founding member of Cinema Politica and the culture jamming collective überculture. She holds a PhD in communications and cultural studies. She lives in rural Nova Scotia with her family.

Caren Franke, Midwest Region field organizer, spent 15 years as a mental and behavioral health worker in Little Rock and St. Louis before joining the AFM. Her passion for workers’ rights led her to take a leadership role in a years-long unionization effort on behalf of more than 200 of her coworkers. She holds a master’s degree in thanatology, which she drew on to implement grief-informed practices for coworkers and community members. Franke brings to the AFM a deep dedication to improving the lives of working people, particularly those who—like musicians and mental health workers—experience their work as a calling. Away from the office, she can be found feeding an ever-changing population of alley cats or reading the latest horror novel, often both at once.

Alex Neiwirth, Eastern Region field organizer, comes to the AFM with nearly two decades in the labor movement and a long personal history with music. He has organized dozens of concerts, has been learning ukulele, guitar, and keyboards, and claims a songwriting credit somewhere in the catalog. His labor background includes service as a rank-and-file member of the National Education Association, a field representative with the Service Employees International Union, and most recently vice president of the Boise State Association of Classified Employees. Neiwirth sees the challenges facing working musicians today—from ticket profiteers to artificial intelligence exploitation—as matched by real opportunity, as audiences are eager to come together around live music. He is glad to work where those two commitments meet.

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