Josie Mooney specializes in assisting unions, non-profits, foundations, community organizations, and socially-conscious businesses to develop their campaign strategies, marketing efforts, partnerships and communication campaigns. She frequently leads key negotiations, and has led large campaigns in the San Francisco Bay Area, Los Angeles, San Diego, and successfully negotiated the first public sector campaign in the state of Texas.

She currently serves as a strategic advisor to a number of unions, non-profits and foundations. In that capacity, Josie has had the opportunity to build coalitions among Environmental, Labor, and non-traditional community organizations around a justice program, working at the nexus of climate, economic and education justice.

Before joining Democracy Partners, Josie had a 30-year career as a labor leader and activist for social change across the U.S. and the world. Josie rose from a community organizer and special education teacher in San Francisco to become one of California’s most prominent and influential labor leaders.

Along the way, she has worked to improve the lives of working people through her activism and senior posts of several unions, including SF United Educators, the California School Employees Association, and the Service Employees International Union. As the Executive Director of SEIU 790 (now local 1021), she also served on the SEIU California State Council Executive Board and on the Executive Board of the SEIU International Union.

Josie was the first and only woman president of the San Francisco Labor Council and led the group for over a decade, including initiating the first Labor/Neighbor program in the country and securing the strongest living wage in the country until this year. In this capacity, she became one of the best doorknockers in America and has worked on several electoral campaigns.

As Special Assistant to the President and Secretary-Treasurer of the SEIU, America’s fastest-growing union, Josie was instrumental in negotiating a landmark agreement to unionize 14 WalMart stores in China with the All China Federation of Trade unions, a campaign profiled in the Washington Post, Wall Street Journal, New York Times and other media worldwide. She led the Change to Win Federation’s work in China for a decade.

Josie also did international work in Southeast Asia, including in Thailand and Burma with the National League for Democracy and the Burmese Federation of Trade Unions. She has represented SEIU in joint work in several European countries and New Zealand.

Josie has been a strategic advisor to 3 international union presidents as well as many local union leaders. Additionally she has advised several business leaders – including Warren Hellman, with whom she led many civic reform campaigns in SF, and is proud to have served as the merchandise queen for Warren’s band “ The Wronglers”.

Josie serves as a mentor and coach to several younger organizers and has served on several boards and commissions, including Educate our State, the SF Fine Arts Museum and the Coro Foundation.

Josie graduated with honors from Connecticut College with a BA in German literature and philosophy, and lives in Berkeley, with her partner Vincent Harrington. They have four amazing kids.

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