Major trends and disruptions are altering the world around us. Threats to human rights and labor rights defenders, closing civic space, automation’s impact on the future of work, and the conditions leading to the #MeToo movement are real challenges to ensuring a fair global economy that works for everyone. However, against these threats there are significant efforts underway to build power, set standards, and ultimately to ensure economic and social justice in communities across the world.
At the frontlines of this fight are determined women who are paving the way for reforms in law, policy, and practice. These leaders understand that to truly course correct we need to build power and work in collaboration. This event will both celebrate their achievements and reflect on what’s worked—and what needs more support—in the fight for justice, democracy, and fair work for all.
Speakers
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Patrick Gaspard
Moderator
Until December 2020, Patrick Gaspard was president of the Open Society Foundations.
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Shawna Bader-Blau
Moderator
Shawna Bader-Blau is executive director of Solidarity Center.
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Anannya Bhattacharjee
Speaker
Anannya Bhattacharjee is the international coordinator of Asia Floor Wage Alliance, a global supply chain campaign for living wages and a violence-free workplace for garment workers in Asia.
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Sharan Burrow
Speaker
Sharan Burrow is the general secretary of the International Trade Union Confederation and a former president of the Australian Council of Trade Unions.
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Libakiso Matlho
Speaker
Libakiso Matlho is the national director of the Women and Law in Southern Africa Research and Education Trust.
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Maricarmen Molina
Speaker
Maricarmen Molina is the general secretary of the Confederación Sindical de Trabajadores y Trabajadoras de El Salvador-CSTS, one of the largest trade union confederations in El Salvador.
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Rose Auma Omamo
Speaker
Rose Auma Omamo is the general secretary of the Amalgamated Union of Kenya Metal Workers, and the national chair and executive board member of the Central Organization of Trade Unions-Kenya Women’s Committee.
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Liz Shuler
Speaker
Liz Shuler is an American labor activist and, since 2009, secretary-treasurer of the AFL-CIO.
Read more
Justice on the Job
Building Worker Power in Brazil
Labor conditions for Brazil’s most vulnerable workers have gone from bad to worse. A drive to develop the muscle of an intersectional labor movement can change all that.
Corporate Responsibility
Q&A: Why (Some) Investors Want More Regulation
As the EU works on rules to protect worker rights and the planet from corporate harm, Open Society’s Jon Jacoby spoke to Anita Dorett, of the Investor Alliance for Human Rights, about how investors are pushing for change.
Domestic Workers’ Rights
How Impact Investment in a Digital Platform Can Advance Labor Rights for Domestic Workers in Latin America
Of Latin America’s 18 million domestic workers, most are informally employed. Our Soros Economic Development Fund is investing in a digital platform to legally employ domestic workers and improve labor rights.