Sharon Block was the Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary for Policy at the U.S. Department of Labor and Senior Counselor to the Secretary of Labor.
For twenty years, Block has held key labor policy positions across the legislative and executive branches of the federal government. Early in her career she worked as an attorney at the National Labor Relations Board, and returned to the NLRB in 2012 when she was appointed to serve as a member of the Board by President Obama. She was senior counsel to the Senate HELP committee under Senator Edward Kennedy, playing a central role in the debate over the Employee Free Choice Act. She has held senior positions in the U.S. Department of Labor throughout her career. Recently, as head of the policy office at the Department of Labor, Block hosted - with Wage and Hour Administrator David Weil and Open Societies Foundation's Ken Zimmerman - the Department's three-day symposium on the Future of Work. The symposium brought together a wide array of thought leaders to address how changes in labor markets and business models have impacts on key issues such as enforcement, labor standards, workforce development, employee benefits, and data in the U.S. and around the world.... Read more about Sharon Block
Savannah Behrent-Clark is the Program Administrator at the Labor and Worklife Program where she is responsible for administrative logistics, maintains relationships with internal and external vendors and program constituencies, and is also responsible for budget management and strategic planning of multi-year grants and awards. Prior to joining the Labor and Worklife Program in 2018, Savannah worked for the Program on International Financial Systems at Harvard Law School as a project coordinator.... Read more about Savannah Behrent-Clark
Alida has been the webmaster for the past 10 years. In 2017, she overhauled the website to its current state on the Openscholar platform. In the past year, she has expanded her responsibilities at the LWP becoming the director of the Harvard Trade Union Program. She is also the resident techie on staff and is moving the LWP to a more efficient system with Salesforce.... Read more about Alida J. Castillo
Director, State and Local Enforcement Project LWP Fellow Research on Labor Standards Enforcement
Terri Gerstein is the Director of the State and Local Enforcement Project at the Harvard Law School Labor and Worklife Program, and also a Fellow in the Program. She recently completed an Open Society Foundations Leadership in Government fellowship. Previously, she worked for over 17 years enforcing labor laws in New York State, including as the Labor Bureau Chief for the New York State Attorney General’s Office, and as a Deputy Commissioner in the New York State Department of Labor. Before her government service, Terri was a nonprofit lawyer in Miami, Florida, where she represented immigrant workers and also co-hosted a Spanish language radio show on workers’ rights.
Her work has appeared in publications including The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Nation, The Guardian, and The Hill, among others; a complete listing can be found here. She has also appeared on Democracy Now, Univision and Telemundo. She’s a graduate of Harvard College and Harvard Law School.
Jenny Lau is the Director of Programs and Outreach at the Labor and Worklife Program, where she advances creative problem solving related to the world of work through program administration and strategic communications. Prior to joining the Labor and Worklife Program in 2018, Jenny advanced women in national and local politics through strategic grant-making and directive research at the Barbara Lee Family Foundation/Political Office and then as the Director of Scheduling and Special Projects at the Office of Massachusetts Attorney General Maura Healey. Jenny began her career in politics and labor at the Chinese Progressive Association, where she engaged voters through targeted campaigns and organized immigrant workers around workplace issues as the Civic Action and Worker Center Organizer.... Read more about Jenny Lau
Rukmini Reddy manages the Labor Organization Innovation Initiative’s strategic planning, pilots, partnerships, and day-to-day operations.
Prior to joining the Labor and Worklife team, Rukmini was Manager of New Profit’s Early Learning Fund, where she built community among early education practitioners and leaders, oversaw investment selection processes, and provided strategic support to the rapidly scaling organizations within the fund. Before joining New Profit, Rukmini engaged in research, data analysis, and project management to produce actionable recommendations for mission-driven organizations as a Consulting Research Associate at Root Cause, a nonprofit research and consulting firm. She also supported strategic initiatives at Root Cause, including the Campaign for Black Male Achievement and the Youth Violence Prevention Funder Learning Collaborative. Rukmini started her career as a Site Coordinator for LIFT in Chicago, where she managed a community resource center where undergraduate and graduate student volunteers worked one-on-one with individuals from low-income communities to find employment, secure housing, access public benefits, and obtain referrals for services like childcare and healthcare.... Read more about Rukmini Reddy
