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ULI Graduation Class

About the New York State AFL-CIO / Cornell Union Leadership Institute

The New York State AFL-CIO/Cornell Union Leadership Institute (ULI), founded in 2001, prepares labor and worker-justice leaders to effectively and strategically advance workers' rights. ULI helps labor and worker-justice leaders strengthen their organizations so that they are bold, innovative, and able to adapt to a changing global economy and workforce.

ULI ventures beyond the traditional “skills-building“ approach in labor leadership training, using a transformational leadership development model to build inclusion and solidarity. We are a unique, multi-union, multi-sector statewide certificate program where participants share ideas and common concerns, acquire new tools, sharpen skills, and connect with other worker leaders in the New York labor and worker justice movements. It helps build a statewide network of visionary leaders who can advance collective bargaining and worker representation in communities and workplaces.

PROGRAM STRUCTURE 

Program Structure

ULI's curriculum includes a week-long retreat at the start and end of the program, with three weekends in between. Experienced instructors facilitate the program, which is designed to adjust to the needs of participants. ULI provides a safe space for leaders to explore strategic challenges they face at work and in society. Instructors offer coaching and mentoring to help participants develop leadership skills in three key areas.

The program focuses on three thematic domains of leadership:

  1. Strengthening individual leadership
  2. Leading and transforming your organization
  3. Building a dynamic and inclusive movement

Participants are also required to complete a leadership project (field work) that allows them to apply the skills learned to lead a transformational project within their union or organization. Attendance at all five retreats is required for successful graduation of the program.

Additionally, three optional electives can be chosen from the non-credit public programming offered by Cornell during the one-year program and for one year after graduation.

For more information, please get in touch with Sherrie Morales at sm92@cornell.edu or 212.340.2827.

This program has shifted my focus into thinking much larger: Fighting for job security, a living wage, a decent pension for all union members, and justice for all workers. I feel I’ve become a more effective leader, especially after having courageous conversations and being transparent in my strive. I feel more self-aware of my vision and what I wish to achieve in this career within the labor movement.
Lovette Mootry
,
President, Buffalo Psychiatric Center Local 403
Lovette Mootry
My path to leadership is one not often followed! I sometimes think, “How did I get here?” It’s exciting to see the new wave of organizing, and I feel we will be able to draw from this experience and the many tools we learned. I try to live in the present while dreaming about the future we want to create. My hope is that my contributions to the movement will move us towards that future.
Will Rojas
,
Organizing Coordinator, SEIU 32BJ
Will Rojas
There’s no doubt in my mind that what we learned in this Institute as labor leaders will carry us through the tumultuous times ahead.
Randi DiAntonio, ULI Class of 2018

Learning to lead: ILR institute trains the next generation of union organizers

Cornell Chronicle
A former sanitation worker, Hill is one of 32 labor professionals set to graduate June 6 from the AFL-CIO/Cornell-ILR Union Leadership Institute (ULI).
Ka’jeem Hill
Learning to lead: ILR institute trains the next generation of union organizers

Launch of Ed Vargas Legacy Fund Celebrates Labor Legacy

The Ed Vargas Legacy Fund launched on Mar. 7 with over $100,000 in donations. Friends, family and colleagues gathered at Cornell ILR’s New York City headquarters to commemorate Vargas and continue his legacy.
Ed Vargas Launch
Launch of Ed Vargas Legacy Fund Celebrates Labor Legacy

Labor Day 2023: ILR’s Worker Institute Reflects and Recommits

We at the Worker Institute are proud of our continued work to support union and worker justice leaders with research, training, and education. We seek to equip change-makers with the skills to challenge the increasing levels of income inequality and worker precarity.
Labor Day 2023 Image
Labor Day 2023: ILR’s Worker Institute Reflects and Recommits

Faculty and Staff

  • Senior Extension Associate

Elaine Kim spent over a decade on the leadership team at 32BJ SEIU, the largest property service union in the country, representing janitors, security officers, airport workers, and residential wor

  • Program Coordinator

Sherrie Morales is a Program Coordinator for the Worker Institute at Cornell/ILR. She has worked for Cornell/ILR in NYC for over 27 years with various departments within ILR.

  • Senior Extension Associate

Tamara Robinson [she/her] is an organizational development consultant, coach, labor leader, and activist with 16 years of experience.

  • 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 pres

  • Interim Executive Director, The Worker Institute
  • Director of the National Labor Leadership Initiative

Kathleen Mulligan is the Director of Labor Leadership Programs, and Director of the National Labor Leadership Initiative, at Cornell University’s ILR School.

  • Director of Organizational and Leadership Development at the Solidarity Center

Al Davidoff is the Director of Organizational and Leadership Development at the Solidarity Center, the US labor movement's global arm, with 280 staff in over 60 countries.

  • Extension Associate, Labor Leadership Programs

Natalia ’09, has over 11 years of experience as a leader in the immigrant rights movement in New York and nationally, including leading a campaign to maintain and improve temporary protected status

Contact

To speak with someone about the program or to request an information packet contact: 
Elaine Kim, Director of New York State AFL-CIO/Cornell Union Leadership Institute at ek583@cornell.edu.

New York State AFL-CIO/Cornell Union Leadership Institute

The Worker Institute, ILR School
Cornell University
570 Lexington Ave
12th floor, New York, NY 10022
laborleadership@cornell.edu