Clayola Brown began serving as President of the A. Philip Randolph Institute, (Washington, D.C.), in August 2004 -- the first female to serve in that role.

President Brown's Biography:

Clayola Brown began serving as National President of the A. Philip Randolph Institute, located in Washington, D.C., in August 2004-- the first female to serve in that role. In addition, she was appointed as Civil Rights Director, AFL-CIO in February 2021. In an expansion of that role, she was recently appointed as the Senior Advisor for Strategic Partnership and Racial Justice, AFL-CIO.

Ms. Brown's lifelong commitment to labor activism began in her hometown of Charleston, South Carolina, where she alongside her activist mother campaigned to organize the Manhattan Shirt Factory. She became Education Director for the newly merged Amalgamated Clothing and Textile Workers Union (ACTWU). Rising through the ranks at the ACTWU, she served as Civil Rights Director, eventually becoming elected as an International Vice President and continues to serve in that capacity under the repositioned union Workers United, an SEIU affiliate. In 1995, she was elected to the AFL-CIO Executive Council, where she served for 10 years. She also served as a member of the General Executive Board of Workers United since its formation in March 2009.

Ms. Brown was also a Director of the Amalgamated Bank for 20 years, the most senior sitting Bank Director. She was appointed to the National Commission on Employment Policy by President Bill Clinton for 2 terms, and appointed a member of the New York State Workforce Investment Board by Governor George Pataki.

At the invitation of President Barack Obama under former Labor Secretary Hilda Solis, Ms. Brown served as a representative member on the Labor Advisory Committee for Trade Negotiations and Trade Policy; and continued that role under Labor Secretary Tom Perez. She is a graduate of Florida A&M University in Tallahassee, Florida; and has performed postgraduate work at American University in Washington, D.C., Queens College and York University in New York City. Her civic duties include serving as a guest lecturer at Cornell University, and consulting with Trinity College in Washington, D.C. on African American affairs.