Elissa McBride is secretary-treasurer of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, AFL-CIO. She was re-elected by delegates to AFSCME International’s Biennial Convention in 2024.
McBride joined the labor movement as a member of the United Auto Workers District 65 in 1989. In 1991, she was recruited to the AFL-CIO Organizing Institute, a new initiative to expand the ranks of union organizers and grow the labor movement. During her years as an organizer, she worked with factory workers to form unions and win first contracts in North Carolina, Texas, Ohio, Vermont and Rhode Island. One-on-one communication, workplace power and direct action were critical to those victories and remain central to her philosophy of trade unionism.
McBride served as the New England organizing director for the Amalgamated Clothing and Textile Workers Union and directed the AFL-CIO Organizing Institute training program. At the AFL-CIO, she trained hundreds of community activists and organizers to build power in their workplaces by reaching workers one on one and moving them to take collective action.
McBride joined AFSCME as the director of education and leadership training in 2001. In this position, she prepared union members, leaders and staff to lead the labor movement into the future and become more effective champions for justice and dignity on the job.
She led the creation of AFSCME’s Leadership Academy, which helps AFSCME leaders build strong local unions and equip senior staff and officers to lead the union in challenging times.
Since becoming secretary-treasurer, she developed the Secretary-Treasurer Online Resource Center to support the work of local secretary-treasurers. She has traveled around the country to meet with AFSCME Strong activists and encourage their member-to-member organizing efforts. McBride is a member of the AFL-CIO Executive Council, and serves on its Civil & Human Rights, Immigration and Women Workers committees. She also serves on the board of directors of the National Employment Law Project and Jobs with Justice. She is a member of AFSCME Maryland Local 1072 (Council 3).