THOUSAND OAKS, CA. - The first California Lutheran University Peace Prize will be presented in January to the executive director of a faith-based movement for social justice.

The Rev. Alexia G. Salvatierra of Clergy and Laity United for Economic Justice of California (CLUE-CA) will speak during the Martin Luther King Jr. service at 10:10 a.m. Wednesday, Jan. 19, in Samuelson Chapel. The service will celebrate the life and legacy of the late civil rights leader and Nobel Peace Prize winner.

Following the service, Salvatierra will accept her award at a ceremony at the CLU Peace Pole, which was dedicated last year in the rose garden outside the chapel. The Peace Prize recognizes the contributions of an individual or organization in the region whose service to humanity builds the foundation for peace and justice in the world.

Salvatierra’s organization, CLUE-CA, is a statewide alliance of interfaith groups and religious leaders helping low-wage workers in their struggle for a living wage, health insurance, fair working conditions and a voice in the decisions that affect them. It is one of the coordinating agencies of the national New Sanctuary Movement, in which congregations support immigrant workers and their families facing deportation.

Salvatierra is a pastor in the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America with more than 30 years experience in ministry, community organizing and legislative advocacy. The Los Angeles resident has focused on helping the homeless, migrant farm workers and inner-city youth. Before coming to CLUE, she started a gang-prevention program for at-risk immigrant youth as a pastor in Fresno. In Oakland, she integrated her congregation with block parties, a community computer center and a garden where the elderly taught at-risk youth to grow produce. In 1998, she became the founding director of the Berkeley Ecumenical Chaplaincy to the Homeless, a program that was replicated in six other cities. She has also worked on projects in the Philippines, Central and South America, and Northeast Africa.

She has received the Changemaker Award from the Liberty Hill Foundation, the Stanton Fellowship from the Durfee Foundation, and the Prime Mover Award from the Hunt Alternatives Fund.

The chapel is located south of Olsen Road near Campus Drive in Thousand Oaks. Additional parking is at the corner of Olsen and Mountclef Boulevard.

CLU’s Office of Campus Ministry, Black Student Union and Multicultural Programs are sponsoring the free event. For more information, contact Ashley Patterson at (805) 493-3489 or aapatter@callutheran.edu.