Mary Kay Henry is president of the two million-member Service Employees International Union (SEIU), and her leadership is rooted in a deep-seated belief that when individuals join together they can make the impossible possible. Under her leadership, SEIU has won major victories to improve working families’ lives by strengthening and uniting healthcare, property services, and public sector workers with other working people across the United States, Canada, and Puerto Rico.

In 2010, Mary Kay Henry became the first woman elected to lead SEIU, after more than 30 years of helping unite healthcare workers. By 2015, she was named one of the 100 most creative leaders by Fast Company magazine and was included in the top 50 visionaries reshaping American politics by Politico for SEIU’s innovative leadership in propelling the fight for living wages embodied in the historic movement known as the “Fight for $15.”

More than 10 million Americans will see their wages go up to $15 an hour, and more than 18 million have won raises, since the Fight for $15 began four years ago.

Under Henry’s leadership, SEIU is fighting for justice on all fronts, and she believes that the movements for economic, racial, immigrant, and environmental justice are interconnected.

Born in Detroit, Michigan as one of ten children, Mary Kay’s ancestors are from Tipperary.