Raahi Reddy

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Raahi Reddy

Raahi Reddy is the Program Manager for Metro's Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Program. Prior to joining the Metro team, Raahi served as faculty member at the LERC at the University of Oregon where she founded the Equity in the Economy Initiative. She has co-authored several ground breaking reports on the experiences of low-wage working Oregonians including "The High Cost of Low Wages in Oregon” detailing the economic reality for Oregon’s low-wage workers in the post-recession economy.

Raahi has extensive experience in leading organizations through strategic change, including helping her organizations build inclusive and diverse leadership programs for both staff and members. She also has led large-scale campaigns to help win social and economic justice for workers, including immigrants and people of color. Raahi has passionately advocated for national and local efforts to build diversity within the labor movement and create lasting labor and community partnerships.

Raahi holds a master’s degree in Urban Planning from UCLA. Raahi has served in numerous leadership roles during her career, serving as Chief of Staff for an 85,000-member union in Southern California. She serves on the board of the Asian Pacific American Network of Oregon (APANO). [1]

Raahi Reddy is a veteran labor organizer, having worked for Service Employees International Union for a decade, most recently serving as Organizing Director of SEIU Local 715 in San Jose. She has organized workers on large private sector hospital, nursing home, and public sector campaigns, and has organized healthcare workers in many states throughout the nation. Raahi also played a key role in the development of the Asian Pacific American Labor Alliance–AFL-CIO (APALA), the first and only national organization of Asian Pacific American union members.

She has taught at numerous APALA conferences and most recently in the UCLA APALA Asian Leadership School. Through APALA, Raahi has also helped ininternational solidarity efforts with trade union movements in Asia, and has traveled to China and South Korea to learn of their trade union move- ments. Raahi currently coordinates the Labor Center's leadership development programs with Bay Area trade unions, as well as the Labor Center’s campus outreach activities[2].

She lives in Portland Oregon.

Perspectives for Democracy and Socialism in the 90s

The Conference on Perspectives for Democracy and Socialism in the 90s was the Committees of Correspondence's first national conference held in Berkeley, California July 17-19, 1992.[3]

Workshops that were held at the conference on Saturday, July 18 included:[4]

Youth Exchange An exchange of experiences among progressive youth activists. Helping to define the issues, methods and aims of the new movement among young people

Committees of Correspondence

The following are listed in order of votes they received as members of the Committees of Correspondence National Coordinating Committee, elected at the Conference on Perspectives for Democracy and Socialism in the 90s held at Berkeley California July 17-19 1992.:[4]

In July 1994 Reddy (Upstate NY) was elected[5]to the 15 member National Co-ordinating Committee of Committees of Correspondence at CoC's founding conference in Chicago.

In July 1996 Raahi Reddy was a member of the National Co-ordinating Committee of Committees of Correspondence. [6]

Labor Activist

In 1996 "Labor Activist" was published by the Democratic Socialists of America Youth Section Labor Solidarity Committee

Editors were[7];

Dominic Chan, Organizer, Communication Workers of America

Tom Ellett, Organizer, United Electrical, Radio & Machine Workers of America

Jeff Lacher, Organizer, Communication Workers of America

Carmen Mitchell, DSA Youth Organizer

Liz O'Connor, Organizer, Service Employees International Union

Raahi Reddy, Organizer, Service Employees International Union

"Union Summer"

"Union Summer was a great social experiment because unions were opening the door to young people from the community and saying we want you to participate, to take some responsibility," explained Raahi Reddy, an organizer with SEIU and the Union Summer 1996 Site Coordinator for New York City.[8]

Edwards supporter

In March 2007, In March, John Edwards asked his friend Dale Minami, attorney and president of the Coalition of Asian Pacific Americans, to host a meeting of California AAPI leaders to meet with him. Minami, an AAPI institution himself, has been a supporter of Edwards since 2004. State Board of Equalization President Betty Yee and state Senator Leland Yee (no relation) are also major supporters of Edwards. Leland Yee serves on the Edwards campaign’s “Leaders for One America.” Sacramento’s Bill Wong, executive director of the AAPI Small Business PAC; Dan Kuramoto, leader of the jazz group Hiroshima; Chris Pak, president of the Archeon Group; Raahi Reddy, president of the Los Angeles Asian Pacific American Labor Alliance; and Steve Ngo of the S.F. Bay Area Asian Bar Association — are all a part of the Edwards’ AAPI steering committee in California.

Two high-power AAPI women in politics currently serve as senior advisors in his campaign: Courtni Pugh, former Democratic National Committee AAPI director, and Jadine Nielsen, a former Clinton White House liaison, who now resides in Hawai‘i..[9]

AAPIs for Karen Bass Fundraiser

Friday, May 07, 2010, Central American Resource Center (CARECEN), Los Angeles, CA 90005;

Help Send Karen To Congress! She's fought for our communities for over three decades, first as an community organizer and activist in South Los Angeles and then as a California Assemblywoman and the first African American woman Speaker of a State Legislature. Help make sure that Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders, other communities of color and working people in California will have a strong progressive voice in Washington. Join AAPI progressives, community organizers, labor activists and friends for a night with Karen.

APIs FOR KAREN HOST COMMITTEE: (Organizational affiliation for identification purposes only) Jung Hee Choi (Community Coalition), John Delloro (Asian Pacific American Labor Alliance -- National), Joanne Kim (Community Coalition), Martha Matsuoka, Danny Park (KIWA), Raahi Reddy (SEIU 721).[10]

Asian Pacific American Labor Alliance

Raahi Reddy serves on the board of the Asian Pacific American Labor Alliance[11].

2011 hearing

Apala-workersrightshearing-4-9-11-flyer1.jpg

Saturday, April 9th, 2011, at the Japanese American National Museum, 369 East 1st St., Los Angeles, the Asian Pacific American Labor Alliance held a hearing on the the stories and testimonies of Asian Pacific American workers and their struggles to organize. Features panels on healthcare, immigrant rights, and the involvement of youth in the labor movement. The event included performances by Progressive Taiko and KIWA’s Cultural Resistance Committee drumming group.[12]

Speakers were;

Jan Tokumaru and Lucia Lin of the LA Chapter were critical to the success of the event, which was held at the beautiful Japanese American National Museum. The hearing was covered extensively in Fuse TV and ethnic press, including in Xinhua News, the Philippine Times, Indian Times, and Chinese Radio International.[13]

APALA "Rising American Electorate" event

The Asian Pacific American Labor Alliance , AFL-CIO, hosted “The Rising American Electorate: Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders at the Forefront of Political Action,” a briefing and dinner reception, on Thursday, Oct. 6, 2011, at 6 p.m. at the UCLA Downtown Labor Center, 675 S. Park View St. (at Wilshire Boulevard), Los Angeles.

The event, which recognizes the growth of Asian American and Pacific Islander communities and highlights the history of AAPIs in politics, is being held in conjunction with the APALA National Executive Board meeting that is taking place Oct. 6 to 8.
“AAPIs, especially in Los Angeles, have played instrumental roles in electing candidates that support working family and immigrant issues, while running for office as well,” APALA said in a statement. “In Los Angeles alone, AAPIs now number over 1.34 million, and deserve a chance to make their voices heard on key issues, including the budget, jobs, health care, and education.”

Speakers included:

Center for Public Accountability

In June 2008 , SEIU Local 721 created a new Center for Public Accountability (CPA) to support external organizing by doing in-depth, action-oriented investigations and analysis on the quality, cost effectiveness and integrity of public services. The Center "will have an especially strong focus on privatized public services. It will provide support for campaigns to ensure that public funds are not used to fund substandard jobs; identify opportunities to partner with responsible public service providers and oppose abuses by irresponsible contractors. The Center will be linked to External Organizing and will work closely with other Local 721 Departments."

Center Director Steve Askin holds an MBA from Columbia University School of Business. During his 14 years with the International, he led strategic research that contributed to SEIU’s success in obtaining election agreements from such multibillion companies as Tenet Health Care and Healthcare Corporation of America (HCA).

Deputy Director Raahi Reddy is former organizing director of legacy Local 715 and played a leading role in that local’s campaigns to organized privatized public services.[15]

References

Template:Reflist

  1. ↑ [1]
  2. ↑ http://www.apalanet.org/ht/d/sp/i/71931/pid/71931
  3. ↑ Conference program
  4. ↑ Jump up to: 4.0 4.1 Proceedings of the Committees of Correspondence Conference: Perspectives for Democracy and Socialism in the '90s booklet, printed by CoC in NY, Sept. 1992 (Price: $4) Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; name "booklet" defined multiple times with different content
  5. ↑ http://www.greenleft.org.au/1994/155/9068
  6. ↑ Convention program, July 1996
  7. ↑ http://web.archive.org/web/20010211122648/www.dsausa.org/archive/LA/LabAct33.html
  8. ↑ Democratic Left, September/October 1996, page 6]
  9. ↑ Week, Choosing Sides in the Democratic Presidential Race BY MAELEY TOM – JANUARY 21, 2008
  10. ↑ [2]
  11. ↑ http://www.apalanet.org/ht/d/sp/i/80015/pid/80015
  12. ↑ [bananafish blog, apr 9 | apa workers’ rights hearing Apr 5, '11]
  13. ↑ [3]
  14. ↑ The Rafu Shimpo, LABOR AND ELECTED OFFICIALS TO CELEBRATE GROWING CLOUT OF AAPIS 0POSTED ON OCTOBER 6, 2011
  15. ↑ http://localsdev.seiu.org/about/President%27s%20Report%202008-08.pdf
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