Ai-jen Poo (, ; born 1974) is an American

labor activist A union organizer (or union organiser in Commonwealth spelling) is a specific type of trade union member (often elected) or an appointed union official. A majority of unions appoint rather than elect their organizers. In some unions, the orga ...

. She is the president of the National Domestic Workers Alliance. She is also the director of Caring Across Generations, a national coalition of 200 advocacy organizations working to transform the long-term care system in the US, with a focus on the needs of aging Americans, people with disabilities, and their caregivers. She is a 2014 recipient of the MacArthur "Genius" Award. In February 2015, the New Press released her book, ''The Age of Dignity: Preparing for the Elder Boom in a Changing America''. She has been mentioned as a potential future

Secretary of Labor The United States Secretary of Labor is a member of the Cabinet of the United States, and as the head of the United States Department of Labor, controls the department, and enforces and suggests laws involving unions, the workplace, and all ot ...

under a

Democratic Democrat, Democrats, or Democratic may refer to: Politics *A proponent of democracy, or democratic government; a form of government involving rule by the people. *A member of a Democratic Party: **Democratic Party (United States) (D) **Democratic ...

administration.

Biography

Ai-jen Poo's Taiwanese-American parents instilled her with strong " social justice values". Her father Mu-ming Poo is a neuroscientist and one-time political activist who emigrated from Taiwan in the 1970s. Her mother Wen-jen Hwu has a PhD in chemistry as well as an MD, and was an oncologist at two of the top cancer centers in Taiwan. She was born in Pittsburgh, and graduated from

Phillips Academy ("Not for Self") la, Finis Origine Pendet ("The End Depends Upon the Beginning") Youth From Every Quarter Knowledge and Goodness , address = 180 Main Street , city = Andover , state = Ma ...

in 1992 and Columbia University, where she was one of more than 100 students who occupied the rotunda in Low Library; this occupation led to the creation of Columbia's Center for the Study of Ethnicity and Race. She attended the 75th Golden Globe Awards in 2018 as a guest of Meryl Streep.

Accomplishments

Ai-jen Poo began organizing domestic workers in 1996, with CAAV Organizing Asian Communities, which is a division within the Committee Against Anti-Asian Violence. She is the founder and former lead organizer of Domestic Workers United, an organization of Caribbean, Latina, and African nannies, housekeepers, and elderly caregivers in New York that organizes for "power, respect, and fair labor standards". In 2010, Domestic Workers United was instrumental in New York state passing the Domestic Workers Bill of Rights into law; this law was the first in the United States to guarantee domestic workers basic labor protections such as overtime pay, three days' paid leave, and legal protections from harassment and discrimination. DWU helped to organize the first national meeting of domestic worker organizations at the

US Social Forum The United States Social Forum is an ongoing series of gatherings of social justice activists in the United States which grew out of the World Social Forum process, bringing together activists, organizers, people of color, working people, poor peopl ...

in 2007, which resulted in the formation of the National Domestic Workers Alliance that year. She has been NDWA's director since April 2010. In 2011, Ai-jen Poo helped launch Caring Across Generations. She has received the Open Society Institute Community Fellowship, the Union Square Award, the Leadership for a Changing World Award, the Ernest de Maio Award from the Labor Research Association, the Woman of Vision Award from Ms. Foundation for Women, the Alston Bannerman Fellowship for Organizers of Color, the Twink Frey Visiting Scholar Fellowship at University of Michigan Center for the Education of Women, and the Prime Movers Fellowship. In honor of the 100th Anniversary of International Women's Day, Ai-jen was recognized by Women Deliver as one of 100 women internationally who are "delivering" for other women. In 2009 she was named one of Crain's "40 Under 40" and ''Moves'' magazine's "Power Women". In 2010, the Feminist Press recognized her in their "40 Under 40" awards. In 2011 she was named one of ''Yes!'''s Breakthrough 15, and received the Independent Sector's American Express NGen Leadership Award. In 2012, she was elected an

Ashoka Fellow Ashoka (formerly branded Ashoka: Innovators for the Public) is an American-based nonprofit organization that promotes social entrepreneurship by connecting and supporting individual social entrepreneurs. Their stated mission is "the creation of a ...

. That same year, she was also named one of the ''Time'' 100 in '' Time'' magazine, as well as one of '' Newsweek''s "150 Women Who Shake the World". In September 2014, she was one of 21 awarded a MacArthur Fellowship grant, the so-called "MacArthur genius grants". In 2017, she was awarded an honorary doctorate from the New School. She has written for '' The Huffington Post'', '' The Guardian'', and other news outlets.

Supermajority

In the spring of 2019, Poo cofounded the group Supermajority with Cecile Richards and

Alicia Garza Alicia Garza (born January 4, 1981) is an American civil rights activist and writer known for co-founding the international Black Lives Matter movement. She has organized around the issues of health, student services and rights, rights for dome ...

. The group "aims to train and mobilize 2 million women over the next year to become organizers, activists, and leaders ahead of the 2020 election" to create a "multiracial, intergenerational movement for women's equity". The main goal of Supermajority is to "push politicians to adopt an agenda akin to what Richards called 'a women's new deal, with issues like "voting rights, gun control, paid family leave, equal pay, and others" viewed as "soft issues" being seen as "issues that impact everyone". In addition, they intend to educate women about issues such as "pay equity and affordable child care, as well as inform them on "basic organizing skills like voter registration". In the

2020 election This national electoral calendar for 2020 lists the national/federal elections held in 2020 in all sovereign states and their dependent territories. By-elections are excluded, though national referendums are included. January *5 January: **Cro ...

, cofounder Richards says " he group will be successfulif 54% of the voters in this country are women and if we are able to insert into this country the issues that women care about and elect a president who's committed to doing something about them."

Bibliography

Books

Critical studies, reviews, and biography

*''Spirituality & Health'' often changes the title of a print article when it is published online. This article is titled "Home Sweet Home? Not for Domestic Workers. Ai-jen Poo Demands Justice" online. *Andrea Cristina Mercado; Ai-jen Poo ''Domestic Workers Organizing in the United States''. AWID (Association for Women's Rights in Development), 2008.