Smiley, Erica

Erica Smiley is the executive director of Jobs With Justice (JWJ). A long-time organizer and movement

leader, Smiley has been spearheading strategic organizing and policy interventions for Jobs With Justice for

nearly 15 years. Prior to taking up her current position with the organization, Smiley served as organizing

director for Jobs With Justice developing campaigns that resulted in transformative changes to how

working people organize and are civically engaged at their workplaces and in their communities. Before

joining Jobs With Justice, Smiley organized with community groups and unions such as the Tenants and

Workers Support Committee (now Tenants and Workers United) in Virginia and SEIU Local 500 in Baltimore.

Her career in social and economic justice began in the reproductive justice field, serving as national field

director for Choice USA (now United for Reproductive and Gender Equity—URGE) where she received the

Young Women of Achievement Award in 2004.