Karen Nussbaum (born April 25, 1950) is an American

labor leader A trade union (labor union in American English), often simply referred to as a union, is an organization of workers intent on "maintaining or improving the conditions of their employment", ch. I such as attaining better wages and benefits (su ...

and founding director of

Working America Working America is the political organizing arm of the AFL–CIO. Its membership is made up of non- union individuals. It is the largest non-union workers' group in the United States, with a self-reported membership of 3.2 million individuals. Wo ...

Biography

Nussbaum was born in

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

where her mother, Annette Brenner Nussbaum, was a publicist and father, Mike Nussbaum, was an exterminator, actor, and director. Her parents were active in the anti-Vietnam movement and worked to bring speakers to their community of Highland Park in Chicago including Staughton Lynd. During this time, the family was also receiving hate mail from the local

John Birch Society The John Birch Society (JBS) is an American right-wing political advocacy group. Founded in 1958, it is anti-communist, supports social conservatism, and is associated with ultraconservative, radical right, far-right, or libertarian ide ...

. She enrolled in the

University of Chicago The University of Chicago (UChicago, Chicago, U of C, or UChi) is a private university, private research university in Chicago, Illinois. Its main campus is located in Chicago's Hyde Park, Chicago, Hyde Park neighborhood. The University of Chic ...

in 1968 but dropped out to move to

Boston Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...

and work in the anti-Vietnam movement. While in Boston, she began working as a clerical worker at Harvard where she was exposed to inequalities in the workplace for female office workers. In 1975, she earned a B.A. from

Goddard College Goddard College is a progressive education private liberal arts low-residency college with three locations in the United States: Plainfield, Vermont; Port Townsend, Washington; and Seattle, Washington. The college offers undergraduate and gra ...

. In 1973, she co-founded 9to5, an organization that addressed issues female office workers faced, eventually helping create a union for female office workers in 1975. In 1977, 9to5 merged with Cleveland Women Working to create a national coalition of like-minded associations, the Cleveland-based Working Women Organizing Project, headed by Nussbaum. In 1981, 9to5 worked as a partner with the

Service Employees International Union Service Employees International Union (SEIU) is a labor union representing almost 1.9 million workers in over 100 occupations in the United States and Canada. SEIU is focused on organizing workers in three sectors: healthcare (over half of members ...

(SEIU) known as District 925. She served as director from 1981 to 1993. During the Clinton Administration, Nussbaum served as the director of the

Women's Bureau The United States Women's Bureau (WB) is an agency of the United States government within the United States Department of Labor. The Women's Bureau works to create parity for women in the labor force by conducting research and policy analysis, to ...

, in the

United States Department of Labor The United States Department of Labor (DOL) is one of the executive departments of the U.S. federal government. It is responsible for the administration of federal laws governing occupational safety and health, wage and hour standards, unemploy ...

from 1993 to 1996. As director of the Women’s Bureau, she surveyed working women about their jobs and initiated programs in response to their concerns. Nussbaum is the founding director of

, a community affiliate of the

AFL–CIO The American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations (AFL–CIO) is the largest federation of unions in the United States. It is made up of 56 national and international unions, together representing more than 12 million ac ...

. She co-founded the organization in 2003 and formerly served as executive director. She was inducted into the Ohio Women’s Hall of Fame in 1984.

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* {{DEFAULTSORT:Nussbaum, Karen American trade union leaders Living people 1950 births Ohio Democrats Clinton administration personnel People from Chicago United States Department of Labor officials

Biography

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External links