Colleen Kane Gielskie

Director of Operations

Colleen Kane Gielskie is a farmer’s daughter from the Catskill Mountains, which is how she first became involved in liberation work: fighting back against the Reagan administration’s destruction of family farms and farming communities. Over the years to come, she continued pursuing justice in many other causes close to her heart: queer liberation, the rights of people with HIV/AIDS, free speech on campus, workers’ rights, the anti-war movement, and freedom for Palestine.  

After an unfortunately brief move to New Orleans in 2005, Colleen returned for good in 2009. She worked in communications and operations at the ACLU of Louisiana from 2009-2018, and was an active member of the Orleans Parish Prison Reform Coalition (OPPRC) from 2010 to 2017, experiences which cemented her commitment to abolition. After a sabbatical, Colleen joined VOTE in May 2020 as the Special Projects Manager, and since January 2021 has served as Director of Operations for the organization. She is also active in the NOLA 4 Palestine coalition, and volunteers as a street medic for protests and demonstrations.  

Colleen studied French and Art History at the State University of New York (SUNY) College at New Paltz. Some of her favorite things include honky-tonk music, road trips, Arabic poetry, Godzilla movies, and bringing down the prison-industrial complex.