Tefere Gebre is the Executive Vice President of the AFL-CIO, the national federation of labor unions representing 12.5 million workers. Tefere was the first former political refugee and the first local labor council leader elected to this national office. As a child refugee from Ethiopia Tefere found his way to Sudan and then to Los Angeles, California where he studied and earned a college scholarship. His first union job was a UPS night shift loader with Teamsters Local 396. Later Tefere led political and government relations for the Laborers Local 270 and the California Fed. He then helped redefine and dramatically grow the labor movement as Executive Director of the Orange County Labor Federation by doubling its political capacity and growing key community partnerships. Now EVP Gebre leads efforts to improve local labor political and organizing capacity, as well as to advance voting rights, racial justice and immigrant workers’ rights.