Shawna Bader-Blau

Biographical Information
Shawna Bader-Blau became the executive director of the Solidarity Center on October 3, 2011.

"Bader-Blau most recently served as the Solidarity Center’s regional program director for the Middle East and North Africa (MENA). A fluent Arabic speaker and Middle East policy and labor expert, she played a central role in developing the Solidarity Center’s Middle East regional program. During the tumultuous “Arab Spring,” she led the Solidarity Center’s efforts to carry the stories and articulate the role of independent unions and workers in the uprisings to the U.S. labor, democracy, and human rights communities, and she broadened understanding of workers’ demands for justice in these movements. Bader-Blau has 15 years of international development experience; she holds a master’s degree from Georgetown University and a bachelor’s degree from the University of California, Berkeley... Bader-Blau replaces Nancy Mills, who served as interim executive director and helped guide the search for a permanent director.