Wendy Chun-Hoon to head Department of Labor’s Women’s Bureau
(WASHINGTON, DC)––The Family Values @ Work network hailed the appointment of their former Executive Director, Wendy Chun-Hoon, to head the Department of Labor’s Women’s Bureau. Chun-Hoon begins her new post today.
“We hate to lose her,” said Interim Director Sade Moonsammy. “But the Department of Labor’s gain is also a huge gain for us, for the movement to build a robust care economy, and for all those working to address the disproportionate impact of the COVID-19 recession on women, which has been especially devastating for women of color. This appointment affirms the administration’s commitment to that agenda.”
Chun-Hoon came to Family Values @ Work a decade ago to head its D.C. office. After returning from maternity leave with her second child in 2016, the network promoted her to Co-Executive Director. She became sole director a year ago.
“Wendy was an early supporter of this network back in 2003, in her role as a program officer at the Annie E. Casey Foundation,” said Ellen Bravo, one of the group’s founders and former Co-Director who now serves as Strategic Advisor. “She understood that paid time to care was a key component of ending the high cost of being poor and achieving racial and gender justice.”
Chun-Hoon helped galvanize the network’s successful approach to centering the voices of those most impacted by lack of paid leave and its reliance on peer learning, along with deep investment in building capacity and infrastructure in the field. The state coalitions in Family Values @ Work have now won paid family and medical leave in ten states (including D.C.) and more than 50 paid sick days victories. In recent years, the network has also developed an organizing strategy around child care.
Among Chun-Hoon’s accomplishments is her role in fighting for an inclusive family definition in these public policies, after recognizing that her own family would be left out of the early programs. She helped create the Family Justice Network, building cross-movement organizing among paid leave advocates, communities of color, groups working for reproductive and disability justice, equality for LGBTQ individuals, and organized labor. Under Chun-Hoon’s leadership, FV@W’s staff and board grew and are now majority women of color. She was also instrumental in bringing together dozens of organizations to form a coordinated national campaign known as Paid Leave for All.
“This pandemic has made abundantly clear that what was considered ‘normal’ wasn’t working for most families, certainly not for women of color,” said Moonsammy. “We know the compounding effects of job loss, lack of access to paid leave and child care, and health disparities will be top of mind for Wendy in this new post. Our activists across the country are delighted about partnering with her.”
###
