RANDI WEINGARTEN is president of the AFT, a union of 1.7 million teachers; paraprofessionals and school-related personnel; higher education faculty and staff; nurses and other healthcare professionals; local, state, and federal government employees; and early childhood educators. The AFT is dedicated to the belief that every person in America deserves the freedom to thrive, fueled by opportunity, justice, and a voice in our democracy. She was first elected president of AFT in 2008. 

Since 2010, she has served as a member of Education International’s (EI) Executive Board of Directors where she chairs the OECD advisory committee and is cochair of The Middle East task force. In 2024, she was appointed strategic advisor to EI’s General Secretary and President. She is also a member of The Board of Directors of J Street. Weingarten is actively involved with civil society organizations committed to a shared space within Israel and The West Bank. As a member of the Board of Ukraine Children’s Action Project, she has visited the country four times since the beginning of the war. She is steering AFT’s partnerships addressing the social and emotional needs of children and teachers. 

Weingarten was included in Washingtonian’s 2022 Washington’s Most Influential People, and in 2013, the New York Observer named Weingarten one of the most influential New Yorkers of the past 25 years.

 Weingarten holds degrees from Cornell University’s School of Industrial and Labor Relations and the Cardozo School of Law. She worked as a lawyer for the Wall Street firm of Stroock & Stroock & Lavan from 1983 to 1986. She is an active member of the Democratic National Committee and numerous professional, civic, religious, and philanthropic organizations. Born in 1957 and raised in Rockland County, N.Y., Weingarten now resides in the Inwood neighborhood of New York City.