Robin Clark-Bennett

Robin Clark-Bennett is an educator with the University of Iowa Labor Center. She designs and conducts non-credit adult education courses for working Iowans on a range of topics, such as: workplace legal rights; communication in a diverse workplace; the intersection of race, class, and U.S. immigration policy; and challenges accompanying the rise of low-wage work. She has adapted curricular materials to better serve Iowa workers with limited English language and literacy skills, served as curriculum designer and lead instructor in a recent educational outreach project on non-discrimination rights of immigrant workers, and coordinated a series of conferences on labor and immigrant rights that brought together hundreds of UI students and faculty, labor activists, faith leaders, and immigrant community members.

Robin is a co-founder and Board member of the Center for Worker Justice of Eastern Iowa (CWJ). She has developed education and leadership programs for CWJ members, many of whom are recent immigrants of Latin America and African origin. She is also former co-chair of the Immigration and Globalization Working Group of the United Association for Labor Education.

Robin grew up in Bellevue, Iowa. She graduated from Yale University, with a B.A. in history. She began work with the labor movement in 1992, as an intern with the International Ladies’ Garment Workers’ Union in New York City. For over ten years, she served as an organizer and regional organizing coordinator for unions representing workers in factories, warehouses, health care, and child care. She worked with the Labor Center in 2002-2004 on its Child Labor Public Education Project, and returned as a full-time staff member in 2008. She lives in Iowa City with her husband and two children.