Tonya Wallace Gobern

Tanya Wallace-Gobern

Board Member

Executive Director
National Black Worker Center

Tanya Wallace-Gobern brings over 20 years of experience in labor and community organizing. She became the Executive Director of the National Black Worker Center (NBWC) in June 2016. As Executive Director, Tanya lives out her lifelong passion while executing the mission of empowering Black workers to advance their rights and improve the quality of jobs in key employment sectors. Tanya convenes a network of membership-based, member-driven local Black worker centers that utilize a combination of leadership development, organizing, policy advocacy, and strategic communications to build power to address the black job crisis. Aggravated by the low number of African Americans among staff and union leadership, Tanya also created the AFL-CIO’s Historical Black College Recruitment program to increase the number of Black union leaders and staff members. Her professional experience includes organizing with UNITE HERE (formerly the Union of Needle trades, Textiles and Industrial Employees) AFL-CIO and the Association of Flight Attendants.

Ms. Wallace-Gobern has an advanced knowledge of community and political structures. She is a graduate of the Harvard Business School Executive Leadership program and her opinions and contributions have been featured in Fast Company, Ebony magazine, The Los Angeles Times Blavity.com, Inequity.org and on ABC Nightly News.

Skip to content