Honoring 2015 Game Changers

We’ve seen so much progress in 2015 to expand access to paid sick days and paid family and medical leave. On November 18 we gathered at Covington and Burling in Washington, D.C., to celebrate the Game Changers who have helped make our progress possible: policy champions who spearhead a bill, labor, business and community partners who engage their members and build a broad and diverse coalition, and worker activists who turn personal pain into collective power. This year, we were honored to be joined by special guest Valerie Jarrett, who serves as senior adviser to President Obama and chairs the White House Council on Women and Girls.

Meet the 2015 Game Changers:

Policy Champions:  DC Councilmembers David Grosso and Elissa Silverman, who sponsored the strongest paid family and medical leave insurance bill in the country.

Labor Champion:  Liz Shuler, Secretary-Treasurer, AFL-CIO, who has raised the visibility of these issues and helped deepen the engagement of labor in our campaigns.

Worker Activist:  Maria Fortes from New Bedford, MA, a leader in the Coalition for Social Justice and Raise Up Massachusetts who helped win the successful ballot initiative for Earned Sick Time.

Business Champion:  Dave Bolotsky, founder and CEO of Uncommon Goods in New York City, a strong advocate for a New York State Paid Family Leave Insurance program.

Community Partner:  Andy Garcia, Program Manager at Equality Federation who’s helping lead a collaboration among work-family groups and LGBTQ groups.

Download Program Book | Check out the photos below:

A huge thank you to everyone who supported this award ceremony – especially Will Robinson, Anne Delaney, the Ms. Foundation, Women’s Equality Center, Sandra Priebe, the AFL-CIO, AFSCME, BerlinRosen, Kazan McClain Satterley & Greenwood, SEIU and Rockefeller Family Fund!