Our Mission
The Worker Institute at Cornell engages in research and education on contemporary labor issues, to generate innovative thinking and solutions to problems related to work, economy and society. The institute brings together researchers, educators and students with practitioners in labor, business and policymaking to confront growing economic and social inequalities, in the interests of working people and their families. A core value of the Worker Institute is that collective representation and workers' rights are vital to a fair economy, robust democracy and just society.
People at the Institute
- Executive Director, The Worker Institute
Dr. Campos-Medina is a researcher and labor educator focusing on the intersection of race, immigration status and worker’s rights.
- Professor of Labor and Employment Law, ILR School, Academic Director, The Worker Institute
- Senior Extension Associate - Director of Research for Worker Rights and Equity
Anne Marie Brady is the Senior Extension Associate – Research Director, Worker Rights and Equity. Anne Marie holds a Ph.D.
- Co-Director of the National Labor Leadership Institute
Jeff Grabelsky is the Co-Director of the National Labor Leadership Institute at Cornell.
- Director of the National Labor Leadership initiative
Kathleen Mulligan is the Director of Labor Leadership Programs, and Co-Director of the National Labor Leadership Initiative, at Cornell University’s ILR School.
- Director of Training and Curriculum Design, Equity and Worker Rights, Worker Institute
- Senior Extension Associate, Labor Leadership Team
David Unger is a Senior Extension Associate for the Worker Institute’s Labor Leadership Team, where he works to help build the NYS AFL-CIO/Cornell Union Leadership Institute’s presence across New Y
- Director of Equity at Work Initiatives, Worker Institute
- Senior Researcher, Worker Rights and Equity
Zoë West, PhD, is Senior Researcher, Worker Rights and Equity (Senior Extension Associate).
Donate
The Worker Institute at Cornell engages in research, training and education to advance worker’s rights and collective representation and help create a more fair, equitable and sustainable workplace and society.
The Institute conducts cutting-edge research and convened researchers, educators and students with practitioners in labor, social justice and policymaking to address workers’ rights in the gig economy, sexual harassment in the workplace, and creating good jobs in the clean energy economy.
Your gift to The Worker Institute will support workers’ rights and contribute to building a more diverse, inclusive and dynamic labor movement.

Worker Institute Fellows
Through our Fellows program, the Worker Institute acknowledges the groundbreaking work of our external colleagues and partners in the labor movement. Worker Institute Fellows have been nominated due to their ongoing and continued work on key Worker Institute projects.
