Our Leadership

NATIONAL PRESIDENT

Elected President in 2023, Evelyn DeJesus is the executive vice president of the 1.7 million-member American Federation of Teachers, AFL-CIO, the first Latino/a officer in the union’s 105-year history. 

Elected as an AFT vice president in 2014, she chairs the AFT Latino Issues Task Force. In 2021, she joined the executive boards of the AFL-CIO and the Solidarity Center and became secretary-treasurer of the Labor Council for Latin American Advancement. 

As an early childhood teacher and reading specialist, she taught for two decades in New York’s Chinatown and has made literacy and support for multilingual learners her signature curricular issues. A skilled teacher and administrator, DeJesus is a forceful advocate for justice—undaunted and unafraid to speak truth to power.

Evelyn Dejesus

  • Xochitl Cobarruvias (USW)

    EXECUTIVE VICE-PRESIDENT

  • Sergio Rascon (LIUNA)

    SECRETARY-TREASURER

Vice Presidents

  • Benjamín Borges

    AFSCME

  • Victor Bonilla

    AFT

  • Dora Cervantes

    IAM

  • Sabrina Hernandez

    IBEW

  • Luciano Padilla

    IUBAC

  • Jorge Rodriguez-Jimenez

    UAW

Executive Board

Gisela Alvarez, TWU

Vanessa Caballero, AFSCME

Noel Candelaria, NEA

Laura Castillo, NEA

Raymond Carlos Carrillo, UMWA

Kathy Chavez, AFT

Jose Cruz Torres, TWU

Oscar de la Torre, LiUNA

Juan Fernandez, AFSCME

Teddy Isais, UA

Rocio Inclan, NEA

Fernando Lemus, UFCW

Jose Lopez, IUPAT

Desiree Lopez, UAW

Gabriel Medina, APWU

Jose Melara, UAW

Cesar Moreno Perez, AFT

Rosalba Perez, UFCW

Juan Ramirez, AFT

Jessica Rios Viner, USW

Ismael Rivera, ATU

Martin Rosas, UFCW

Valerie Soto, UAW

Geny Ulloa, IAM

John Vigueras, IAM

Lupe Valles, OPEIU

Sonia Vasquez Luna, LiUNA

Esteban Vera, LiUNA

Anthony Garcia, Eastern Regional Representative

Francisco Martinez, Central Region Representative

Carlos Pelayo, Pacific Region Representative

Past Presidents

Yanira Merino, LiUNA

Milton Rosado, UAW, Emeritus

Henry C. Gonzalez, UAW

Ralph Jimenez, UAW

Jack Otero, TCU

Henry “Hank” L. Lacayo, UAW, Emeritus

Ray Mendoza, LiUNA

Maria Portalatin, AFT, Secretary Treasurer-Emeritus