11th Annual Garden Party 2019
SUNDAY, AUGUST 18, 2019
2:00 PM – 5:00 PM
FRANCES PERKINS HOMESTEAD NATIONAL HISTORIC LANDMARK
Annual Garden Party and awards ceremony to celebrate the anniversary of the signing of the Social Security Act and the continuing legacy of Perkins’ work for American labor rights.
At this event, we honored individuals who exemplify Perkins’ inspiring leadership and commitment to social justice and economic security: Maria Mossaides with the Steadfast Award for her work over the past forty years in both the public and independent sectors as an attorney and senior executive and Liz Shuler, Secretary-Treasurer and chief financial officer of the AFL-CIO, with an Intelligence & Courage Award.
Maria Mossaides is the Director of Massachusetts Office of the Child Advocate, an independent agency with oversight responsibility over all child serving state agencies in Massachusetts that ensures that every child receives timely, appropriate and quality services. She previously served in many prestigious positions for the state, including Executive Director of Cambridge Family and Children’s Service, General Counsel and Acting Commissioner of the Office for Children, and Deputy General Counsel to the Department of Social Services. For nine years Maria worked for the Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts, first as the Executive Assistant to the Chief Justice and then as the Administrative Assistant to the Justices, the first woman appointed to the position. Maria graduated cum laude from Mount Holyoke College, received her law degree from SUNY at Buffalo, and a MPA from Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government. She currently teaches a course in Law and Ethics for Non-Profits at Suffolk University. Maria is active in numerous civic and business organizations, including current President of the Mount Holyoke Alumnae Association, and was honored by Massachusetts Law Weekly at their 3rd annual “Top Women of Law” event.
Liz Shuler is Secretary-Treasurer and chief financial officer of the AFL-CIO, the second top-level officer for the federation, the first woman elected to the position, and the youngest woman to sit on the federation’s Executive Council. Liz started her career in Portland, Oregon as a proud union organizer and local union activist with International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW) Local 125. Prior to her election as Secretary-Treasurer of the AFL-CIO, Liz worked her way up through the ranks of the IBEW honing her mobilizing, policy, legislative and leadership skills, winning critical labor and progressive legislative fights on the west coast, and ultimately gaining executive leadership at the international headquarters in Washington, D.C. Liz’s passion for broadening the union movement drives her leadership to reach to the rising American electorate – young workers, women, people of color, and immigrants – and re-introduce unions to America. In addition to overseeing the federation’s operations and finances, Liz leads at the AFL-CIO on initiatives around the future of work, workforce development and training, industrial union councils, and women and young workers’ economic empowerment. Liz is committed to busting myths to show the labor movement’s diversity and innovative approaches to the workplace of the future, and the meaningful improvements a union voice on the job can bring to working families and our economy. Liz chairs both the AFL-CIO Executive Council Committees on Finance and Women Workers, and represents the AFL-CIO on the boards of the AFL-CIO Housing Investment Trust, the International Trade Union Confederation, the National Women’s Law Center, Global Fairness Initiative, and the Solidarity Center, among many others.