Emiliana Sparaco National Field Director
When Emiliana was selected to be the first full-time staff member of the Nonprofit Professional Employees Union (NPEU), she brought 15-years of organizing and advocacy experience to a newly organized workforce, most of whom were first-time union members. Her dedication and expertise helped the union grow from a few hundred represented workers to thousands in less than four years.
Since she began leading the union’s bargaining program, NPEU has secured over 30 collective bargaining agreements, 22 of them first contracts. With Emiliana’s leadership, NPEU members have secured annual increases, job security, and a greater voice in the important work that they do. She negotiated the union’s first COVID impact agreements in 2020, leading to dozens of agreements that set workplace standards across the country, and successfully led NPEU through its first strike authorization vote in 2022.
Emiliana’s outstanding commitment to the labor movement predates her time at NPEU. She has organized and represented workers in both the public and private sectors, ranging from county employees and property service workers to fast food workers in the Fight for $15. During this period, she also honed her skills in building labor movement capacity by serving as an officer and lead negotiator in her own staff union.
As a political organizer and activist, Emiliana has led successful campaigns to advance pro-worker policies and candidates. She organized GOTV efforts to expand voting options and protect migrant workers in California, and led efforts to flip a congressional district from red to blue in 2018. Emiliana brings an intersectional approach to her union organizing, guiding member-leaders to see themselves and their work as part of a larger social justice movement. As a bicultural and bilingual organizer, Emiliana is dedicated to achieving greater justice for working families from all backgrounds. She has also served as a board member of non-profit organizations that advocate for immigrants’ rights and youth empowerment.
Emiliana was awarded the 2023 J.C. Turner Award for Outstanding Trade Unionist of the Year by the Metropolitan Washington Labor Council AFL-CIO for outstanding commitment to the labor movement in all areas. Today, she works as the National Field Director for NPEU, Local 70 of the International Federation of Professional and Technical Engineers, AFL-CIO. She continues to work tirelessly to bring more working people into the labor movement and is known as a dedicated and talented trade unionist to all who work with her.