Ai-Jen Poo

Ai-jen Poo is a labor organizer whose compelling vision of the value of home-based care work is transforming the landscape of working conditions and labor standards for domestic or private-household workers. The estimated 1–2 million domestic workers—housekeepers, nannies, caregivers for the elderly or disabled—in the United States today are excluded from most federal and state labor laws, including collective bargaining; occupational safety and health protections; sick and vacation pay; and protection from discrimination and sexual harassment. Ai-jen Poo received a B.A. (1996) from Columbia University and began her work in organizing in 1996 with the Women Workers Project at the Committee Against Anti-Asian Violence. She co-founded Domestic Workers United in 2000 and served as lead organizer until 2009, and she joined the National Domestic Workers Alliance as executive director in 2010. She is also co-director of Caring Across Generations. Poo received a 2014 “Genius Grant” from the MacArthur Foundation. She is a trustee at the Ford Foundation and MoveOn.org, a digital organizing platform.