Dear CIWO Network,
Ten years ago, CIWO was founded at a time when many of us in the racial/gender/economic justice movements were searching for new ideas, direction, and strategy to address the devastating impact of 21st century racialized capitalism.
Under the leadership of Marilyn Sneiderman, CIWO has convened leaders and organizations to reveal points of alignment, sites of struggle, and opportunities for innovation across the movement. We are amazed at how far we have come in a decade – working with partners from across the movement to launch Build the Bench, Bargaining for the Common Good, WILL Empower, Innovation Seeding Transformation and so much more.
Given this extraordinary moment of both exciting opportunities as well as real threats to equity and justice, CIWO will continue to focus on playing a critical role with our partners in building, strengthening and growing our movement.
After 10 years at CIWO and 40 years of groundbreaking leadership in the movement, Marilyn Sneiderman is passing the torch. At CIWO - we actively try to model the practices that we learn from our network of movement leaders. The practices from our network of movement leaders that we seek to emulate and amplify are the power of succession planning & thoughtful leadership transition. One that also encourages BIPOC leadership that is authentic and brings diverse experiences and perspectives to shaping more inclusive movements.
We are thrilled to announce that Dr. Sheri Davis will become Executive Director at CIWO in July 2024. In her 7 years at CIWO, Sheri has built impactful programming that has touched an incredible network of particularly BIPOC women and nonbinary labor leaders across the country and world. As ED, Sheri is excited to continue to build and expand on this work. Marilyn is full of excitement and promise for CIWO’s future. Marilyn and Sheri first met in 2000 at the AFL-CIO when Marilyn was the National Field Mobilization Director & Sheri was a Global Justice Intern. After years of crossing paths & continuing the fight for worker, gender, and racial justice - Marilyn and Sheri reconnected in 2017 to form the WILL Empower (Women Innovating Labor Leadership) program - a joint initiative between CIWO and the Kalmanovitz Initiative at Georgetown University.
CIWO is celebrating Marilyn’s incredible legacy and Sheri’s new leadership role! Join us in congratulating them both.
Thank you for supporting CIWO during this exciting time!
With Gratitude,
The CIWO team
