Labor On The Move: Bader-Blau Named Solidarity Center Executive Director

(Metropolitan Washington Council, AFL-CIO)Shawna Bader-Blau has been named the Solidarity Center’s new executive director. AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka – who chairs the Solidarity Center’s board of trustees -- called Bader-Blau “a champion for working people around the world.” Bader-Blau most recently served as the Solidarity Center’s regional program director for the Middle East and North Africa (MENA), where she led the center’s efforts to carry the stories and articulate the role of independent unions and workers in the uprisings to the US labor, democracy, and human rights communities in the tumultuous Arab Spring. “Workers around the world are facing enormous challenges,” said Bader-Blau. “Yet when working people come together and raise their collective voice, they are a powerful force for change and a catalyst for more fair and just societies. This is what democracy looks like, and the Solidarity Center is proud to be on their side.” Bader-Blau replaces Nancy Mills, who served as interim executive director and helped guide the search for a permanent director. “The board also wishes to thank Nancy Mills for her strong leadership of, and service to, the Solidarity Center and to the labor movement,” said Trumka. “Under her direction, the organization had the stability and guidance not merely to uphold its mission but also to deepen and broaden the programs that are so important to working people across the globe.” The Solidarity Center is a nongovernmental organization that works with unions, other nongovernmental organizations, and community partners to advance the rights of working people and promote broad-based economic development in the developing world. - photo courtesy of the New America Foundation