Randi Weingarten

Randi Weingarten is president of the AFT, a union of 1.8 million
teachers; paraprofessionals and school-related personnel; higher education
faculty and staff; nurses and other healthcare professionals; local, state and
federal government employees; and early childhood educators. The AFT is
dedicated to the belief that every person in America deserves the freedom
to thrive, fueled by opportunity, justice and a voice in our democracy.

Prior to her election as AFT president in 2008, Weingarten served for 11 years
as president of the United Federation of Teachers, AFT Local 2, representing
approximately 200,000 educators in the New York City public school system,
as well as home child care providers and other workers in health, law and
education. Weingarten taught history at Clara Barton High School in Brooklyn’s
Crown Heights neighborhood from 1991 to 1997, and helped her students
win several state and national awards debating constitutional issues.

Weingarten was included in Washingtonian’s 2022 Washington’s Most
Influential People, and in 2013, the New York Observer named Weingarten
one of the most influential New Yorkers of the past 25 years.

Weingarten holds degrees from Cornell University’s School of Industrial and
Labor Relations and the Cardozo School of Law. She worked as a lawyer for the
Wall Street firm of Stroock & Stroock & Lavan from 1983 to 1986. She is an active
member of the Democratic National Committee and numerous professional,
civic, religious and philanthropic organizations. Born in 1957 and raised in
Rockland County, N.Y., Weingarten now resides in the Inwood neighborhood
of New York City.