Sarita Gupta is the executive director of Jobs With Justice, a Washington, D.C.-based organization. With offices located nationwide in 25 states and 45 communities, Jobs With Justice collaborates with community, student and faith organizations to build a vital labor movement for economic and social justice. From 2004–2007, Gupta served as the national field director of Jobs with Justice, where she oversaw the national field program and led strategic programming for immigrant workers’ rights, health care justice, and collective bargaining rights campaigns. For several years she also served as the Executive Director of the JWJ Chicago office, where she helped to establish a coalition of 70 member organizations and unions. She is also the co-director of Caring Across Generations, a coalition of 200 advocacy groups that seeks to provide quality care and dignity for aging Americans, as well as their care-givers.
Gupta’s career as an organizer began as a student. In 1996 she was elected President of the U.S. Student Association (USSA), the nation’s oldest and largest grassroots legislative student organization. In that position, she represented over 3.5 million students nationwide at the White House, on Capitol Hill, and at the Department of Education. She also served as a trainer for the Grass Roots Organizing Weekend (GROW) program for three years, a project of USSA and the Midwest Academy. Gupta graduated from Mount Holyoke College where she was active in a wide range of issues including leading a successful recruitment and retention campaign of low-income students and students of color.
In addition to organizing and speaking, Gupta also serves on the boards of the International Labor Rights Forum; National Organizers Forum; the National Planning Committee of the U.S. Social Forum; the Other Worlds is Possible Giving Circle; and The Discount Foundation Board of Trustees.
