Our Leadership Programs
A program designed to identify and recruit activists to the economic justice movement. The paid apprentices work for 3-12 months with unions and worker organizations across the nation.
The Emerging Leaders Cohort is designed for leaders in the early stages of their work.
The Executive Leadership Cohort is designed for more experienced senior leadership in unions and other worker justice organizations.
Our Mission
WILL Empower (WE) is a bold and ambitious initiative to identify, nurture, cultivate and convene a new generation of labor leaders. WE are women, nonbinary and gender-expansive people, who promote and model relationship building among new and non-traditional leaders. WE are committed to an intersectional gender and racial justice perspective and take a broad, multi-pronged approach to engage worker justice leaders at multiple stages and through interwoven programming.
WILL Empower is a national program jointly housed at Georgetown University’s Kalmanovitz Initiative for Labor and the Working Poor in Washington, DC and Rutgers University’s Center for Innovation in Worker Organization in the School of Management and Labor Relations in New Jersey.
2025 CIWO Celebration & WILL Empower Awards Ceremony
Celebration Highlights
Nannie Helen Burroughs Award
Congratulations Stacy Davis Gates
Chicago Teachers Union
Edna Berger Young Courageous Leader Award
Congratulations Claudia Quiñones Torrico – United We Dream
Keynote Speaker: Vanessa Priya Daniel – Part I
Keynote Speaker: Vanessa Priya Daniel – Part II
Buy Vanessa Priya Daniel book “Unrig the Game. What Women of Color Can Teach Everyone About Winning” HERE
- Apprentice Spotlight: Kimmon Williams
Kimmon Williams first learned about unions from her friend, whose father was a postal worker and union member. Williams began her labor activism by joining rallies and recalls the joy she felt while being surrounded by, and singing with the community. Now, more than a decade later, Williams is the Secretary of the Labor Heritage Foundation (LHF), which aims to strengthen the labor movement through the use and preservation of music, arts, and history. As - Apprentice Spotlight: Lizzy Prichard
Lizzy Prichard is currently an organizer with the Office & Professional Employees International Union (OPEIU) Local 792 in Toledo, Ohio. OPEIU represents and advocates for over 100,000 members in the US and Canada, ensuring that they are afforded dignity in their workplace. Prichard first gained experience organizing while working in the service industry. An assistant manager at the Strongsville, Ohio, Starbucks, she was alarmed when a District Manager instructed her to write a final warning - Upcoming WILL Empower Apprenticeship Info SessionProspective apprentices can find out more about the program here, and apply here. Movement organizations considering hosting an apprentice can find out more here, and apply here. All applications are due by April 10, 2026. WILL Empower apprentices work in unions and other worker-centric organizations in a variety of capacities, including organizing, research, communications, politics, mobilization, and policy. The program places participants in full-time jobs and will begin in the Fall. It is not a student internship. For more information, contact willempower.labor@gmail.com
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