Lester Crockett was elected an International Vice President in August 2024 at AFSCME’s 46th International Convention in Los Angeles. Crockett is president of CSEA/AFSCME Local 1000 Metropolitan Region 2, which covers the New York City area. He grew up in New York’s Bedford–Stuyvesant neighborhood during the tumultuous days of court-ordered desegregation in the mid-1960s and graduated from Midwood High School. A friend’s death in a gang fight cemented Crockett’s decision to continue his education, and he enrolled at the Borough of Manhattan Community College. He is the treasurer of the CSEA Employee Benefits Fund and has been involved with the union in other ways. He serves on the board of directors, the union’s statewide Committee on the Charter, Constitution and Bylaws, and is a trustee of the union’s Political Action Fund.