Teresa Romero

UFW President

Presidential Medal of Freedom recipient and the first Latina and first immigrant woman to become president of a national union in the United States, Teresa Romero became president of the United Farm Workers in 2018. She led a two-year drive for a landmark 2022 California law letting farm workers vote in a union free from intimidation and retaliation. To win that law, Teresa took every step of the way with farm workers during their grueling 335-mile 24-day march across the rural, dusty Central Valley in the searing August heat. That has led to a string of organizing triumphs where farm workers have voted in the UFW at two dozen companies in California and New York State under a similar 2019 law there. Formerly the union’s No. 2 officer as secretarytreasurer, she has years of experience overseeing the complex operations of a far-flung organization involved in field organizing, contract bargaining and administration, legislative and legal advocacy, and far-reaching international initiatives. Before joining the UFW, she managed a construction company and a law firm that helped workers with immigration and workers compensation claims. Teresa Romero is proud of her U.S. citizenship as well as her Mexican and Zapotecan heritage. She is widely respected by her peers for her work ethic, calm competence, relationship building, and ¡Si Se Puede! spirit.