Nicole Pollard is secretary-treasurer of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, AFL-CIO, with 1.4 million members. She was elected at the union’s 47th International Convention in Chicago in August 2026.
Pollard brings more than three decades of labor union experience to the role, including 23 years as an AFSCME member. Before her election, she served as executive assistant to AFSCME President Lee Saunders, providing counsel and support to leaders across the union.
Over her career, Pollard has served as legal counsel to three international unions — AFSCME, the International Brotherhood of Teamsters and the National Education Association — representing workers across sectors and helping unions navigate complex legal, financial and organizational challenges. She has knocked doors to organize new workers, bargained national and local contracts, and represented workers in grievance and arbitration proceedings. She worked with AFSCME leaders to build the union’s racial and gender equity program, COURAGE to be Stronger, and partnered with AFSCME members to protect voting rights and ensure fair, secure elections.
Pollard is the daughter of a Philadelphia public school teacher and a U.S. Postal Service worker, both career public servants and active union members. She was especially shaped by her grandmother, an AFSCME member, officer, steward and activist at St. Elizabeths Hospital in Washington, D.C. Pollard carries the same union card her grandmother once held, a member of the former AFSCME Local 2095 — now part of the National Union of Hospital and Health Care Employees, 1199DC.
As executive assistant to the president, Pollard traveled the country partnering with AFSCME affiliates during periods of growth and crisis alike. Serving as deputy administrator of several AFSCME affiliates, she helped locals and councils become more resourceful, innovative and powerful. She has a deep knowledge of the AFSCME International Constitution and played a central role in modernizing the union’s Financial Standards Code, Local Union Election Manual, and Judicial Panel procedures.