Know Your Rights.

Worker Council Member, Model Alliance

Born in Kerala, India, Nidhi is a model and activist. She previously worked as an environmental attorney, and switched careers to become a model in 2011. She has appeared in major fashion publications such as Vogue, Elle, and Harper’s Bazaar. In 2017, Nidhi was named Vogue India’s Model of the Year, and recently she became the first Indian model to sign a beauty contract and work as a global ambassador for L’Oreal Paris. Nidhi uses her platform to campaign on the issues that matter to her most: colorism and gendercide in India. She is an advisory board member and spokesperson for the Invisible Girl Project, an NGO working against gendercide and the neglect and violence disproportionately facing girls in India.

Worker Council Member, Model Alliance

Mame Adjei is a Ghanaian-American international model, activist, and social entrepreneur, who got her start in the entertainment industry shortly after college, where she studied Political Science, African Studies, and Business. Mame most notably has starred in the 22nd cycle of Tyra Banks’ hit-show America’s Next Top Model, where she was the top female contender. She is also Miss Maryland USA 2015, and competed at Miss USA where she placed amongst the Top 5 in the nation. Mame has appeared in magazines like VOGUE Portugal, Harpers Bazaar, Cosmopolitan, and ad campaigns for brands such as Pandora Jewelry, Free People, Clinique, Ross, and Reformation. Inspired by her travels, Mame developed an immense passion for service and social justice, and hopes to use her growing platform & talents to continue to work on her philanthropic endeavors.

Partner, Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan, LLP

Chris is a seasoned litigator with experience in complex commercial litigation and arbitration relating to contract disputes, bankruptcy, corporate takeovers, securities, derivatives, employment matters, and debtor and creditor rights. He regularly represents corporations, investment funds, high net-worth individuals, and officers and directors in major, often bet-the-company, litigation. He has extensive experience litigating on behalf of both plaintiffs and defendants, and providing general legal advice to clients on a range of issues, including the analysis of potential claims. Chris was recognized in 2016 by Law360 as a Rising Star in Banking and received the Legal Aid Society Pro Bono Award in 2007. He is a graduate of New York University School of Law and Cornell University.

Worker Council Member, Model Alliance

Madisyn Ritland has worked as a fashion model for brands including Chanel, Louis Vuitton, and Rodarte. Although she is no longer involved, she is a co-founder of the model management company The Lions. Madisyn currently works as a writer and filmmaker and directed the Model Alliance’s PSA for the Adult Survivors Act.

Model and Incoming Associate, Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan, LLP

Savannah Huitema is a graduate of Harvard Law School and an incoming associate at Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan. Before law school, she worked internationally as a fashion model—an experience that informs her interest in representing creatives, artists, and cultural institutions in complex legal matters.

Associate Director, Model Alliance

Sydney Giordano is the associate director of the Model Alliance. In her role, she oversees the Model Alliance’s support line, where she speaks with fashion workers daily about a range of work-related concerns, including unfair contracts, payment issues, and sexual abuse. Sydney also helped to develop and lead efforts to champion the Model Alliance’s signature law, the Fashion Workers Act. Sydney received her MPH from Columbia University, where she completed her masters thesis on exploitation across the global garment supply chain, and her BA in Psychology and BS.Ed in Human and Social Development from the University of Miami.

Founder and Executive Director, Model Alliance

Sara Ziff is a labor organizer and the founder and executive director of the Model Alliance, a nonprofit research, policy and advocacy organization dedicated to advancing labor rights in the fashion industry. From creating legal protections for models against financial and sexual exploitation, including the misuse of AI, to calling for transparency and accountability across global supply chains, she has led efforts to advance workers’ rights and inject a labor consciousness into the fashion industry. As a survivor, Sara played an instrumental role in fashion’s Me Too movement by helping to expose industry abuses, supporting fellow survivors, and advancing survivor justice. Sara has received numerous honors, including the National Organization for Women's Susan B. Anthony Award, The Council of Fashion Designers of America’s Positive Social Influence Award and France’s National Order of Merit. Before founding the Model Alliance, Sara worked as a fashion model and produced the feature documentary Picture Me. She received her B.A. from Columbia University and her M.P.A. from Harvard Kennedy School of Government. A lifelong New Yorker, she resides with her family in Brooklyn, NY.

Worker Council Member, Model Alliance

Born and raised in Houston Texas, Alex Shanklin is a former model who worked in the New York fashion industry for over 13 years. He is also a lead plaintiff in a pending class action lawsuit (Shanklin et al. v. Wilhelmina Models), which highlights many of the financial issues that have long challenged the working relationship between models and agencies, in the New York City area. Some of his past clients include Ralph Lauren, Jcrew, Kenneth Cole, and Lands End. Alex is proudly serving in his third year as a Worker Council member for the Model Alliance and looking to continue to push for the rights of fashion workers.

Worker Council Member, Model Alliance

Originally from Charleston, SC, Sydney Proctor began her modeling career at the age of 15. Her experience in the fashion industry has made her a strong advocate for much-needed reforms in worker rights and industry regulations. Sydney now works full-time at Phillips, a leading art auction house, where she is part of the Private Sales and Exhibitions departments. She also serves on the advisory board of The Sherkow Center, an organization dedicated to providing education, treatment, and research in the field of developmental delays and autism spectrum disorders. Passionate about creating meaningful change, Sydney is proud to represent the Model Alliance and to be at the forefront of advancing protections and opportunities for models and creatives across the industry.

Worker Council Member, Model Alliance

Dorothee Grant is a former model and the CEO & co-founder of Kaveat. She has a B.A. from Columbia University and a M.Eng. in computer science from Cornell. Having worked with major brands during her modeling career like Vogue, Cosmopolitan, & The Met Gala, she is passionate about ensuring fair labor standards and creating safe work environments for all fashion workers.

Co-Founder, Grassroots Law & Organizing for Workers (GLOW)

Chris Williams is a co-founder of Grassroots Law & Organizing for Workers, a national network of worker centers and their legal support addressing workplace abuses in a variety of industries, from models and restaurant workers to temp workers and domestic workers. Following more than a decade working as a teacher and another decade as a labor leader, Chris became a workers’ rights lawyer in 2004 and has worked for several non-profit legal organizations to provide legal support to worker centers and their members across the country. Chris has been lead counsel or co-counseled in over 450 wage and hour and employment discrimination cases, including 45 class actions. Chris has also played an active role in advising worker centers on legislation designed to protect the rights of many of the country’s most exploited and vulnerable workers. In 2005, Chris started a practice with Alvar Ayala, the former Bureau Chief of the Workers’ Rights Bureau of the Office of the Illinois Attorney General, and continues to advise worker centers on legal issues.

Executive Director, Grassroots Law & Organizing for Workers (GLOW)

Sheila (she/her) is the daughter of South Asian immigrants and began organizing as a teenager when her community was targeted by post-9/11 racial profiling and immigration enforcement. She has been involved in the struggle for racial and economic justice for nearly two decades in a variety of roles, ranging from street canvasser to legal counsel. For the past decade her work has focused on the intersection of law and organizing. Prior to working at NLAN, Sheila served as the Director of Law & Organizing at the Restaurant Opportunities Centers United (ROC United) and before that she practiced immigration law and organized around immigrant detention, prison expansion, and sex workers rights.