Faculty and Staff

Stephanie Luce
Professor of Labor Studies

Stephanie Luce is Professor of Labor Studies at the School of Labor and Urban Studies, and Professor of Sociology at the Graduate Center, City University of New York (CUNY). She received her BA in economics at the University of California, Davis and both her PhD in sociology and her MA in industrial relations from the University of Wisconsin at Madison. Best known for her research on living wage campaigns and movements, she is the author of Fighting for a Living Wage, and co-author of The Living Wage: Building a Fair Economy, and The Measure of Fairness. She is also author of Labor Movements: Global Perspectives. Her latest book, co-authored with Deepak Bhargava, is Practical Radicals: Seven Strategies to Change the World.

Aaron Brenner
Senior Capital Markets Analyst, UFCW

Aaron Brenner is a senior capital markets analyst at the United Food and Commercial Workers International Union. He does research and organizing for the UFCW’s capital stewardship department. His work includes comprehensive organizing campaigns, shareholder activism, retirement security, and financial advising to locals. Prior to UFCW, he was a union researcher, freelance financial analyst, professor, and journalist. He is on the board of Homeland Stores, an employee-owned, 70-store unionized grocery chain in Oklahoma and Texas. He holds a PhD in labor history from Columbia University.

Cassandra Ogren
Director of Strategic Initiatives, Service Employees International Union

Cassandra Ogren is the Director of the Strategic Initiatives Department at SEIU, which leads the union’s research, capital stewardship, and policy work. She focuses on innovative approaches to organizing and analysis in industries including airports, health care, the public sector, and gig workers. Previously, Cassandra was Assistant Director of the Teamsters Strategic Initiatives Department, where she led research work in areas such as trucking, warehousing, and package delivery. She collaborates with academic partners on policy research to advance union goals and previously served on the Advisory Committee of the Labor Research & Action Network, which brings together union staff and labor scholars to develop new research agendas and build skills.
In 2022, she completed an MBA at Florida International University with a concentration in Marketing Channel Strategy. She also holds an MA from Georgetown University’s School of Foreign Service and a BA from Oberlin College.

May Kyi
Director of Growth Strategies, AFL-CIO

May Kyi is the Director of Growth Strategies at the AFL-CIO where she leads a team of researchers and campaigners providing strategy to affiliate unions in their organizing and contract campaign initiatives; and develops strategy and capacity for AFL-CIO’s local and state federated bodies to facilitate and strengthen multi-union campaign efforts. Her work also includes developing research trainings and recruitment approaches to cultivate the next generation of researchers/campaigners for the labor movement at large.
Before coming to the AFL-CIO, May spent over a decade at SEIU 32BJ leading a team of researchers to develop and execute research-based strategies on a wide range of low-wage worker organizing, contract, and policy campaigns. Prior to her career in labor, she honed her investigative and research skills as a private investigator.
May holds a J.D. from University of California Law San Francisco (formerly UC Hastings) and a B.A. from Wesleyan University.

Victor Yengle
Graduate Student

Victor Yengle (he/him) is a graduate student in the Sociology Department at the University of Virginia (UVA). Before pursuing graduate education, he worked for the Fair Food Standards Council (FFSC) for several years overseeing the implementation of the Coalition of Immokalee Workers’ (CIW) Fair Food Program. He holds a bachelor’s degree from the University of Florida in economics and political science and a master’s degree from Cornell School of Industrial and Labor Relations with a concentration on collective representation. He grew up in Florida and became involved in community organizing as an undocumented youth. At UVA, he is focusing his research on the political economy of migration and social movements.

Bianca Garcia
Research Economist for the Communications Workers of America (CWA)

Bianca Garcia is a Research Economist for the Communications Workers of America (CWA), focusing on corporate research, strategic campaigns, and policy work in the telecom and tech industries. Previously, Bianca was a Senior Research Analyst for UNITE HERE, where she coordinated campaigns for the airport and food service divisions. She holds a B.A. from Columbia University and an M.A. from the CUNY School of Labor and Urban Studies where she was a Joseph S. Murphy Diversity in Labor Scholar.

Azani Creeks
Senior Research and Campaign Coordinator at the Private Equity Stakeholder Project

Azani Creeks is a Senior Research and Campaign Coordinator at the Private Equity Stakeholder Project, where she focuses on private equity’s impacts on workers. Prior to joining PESP, Azani worked in the strategic research departments of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters and the American Federation of Teachers unions in Washington DC and conducted corporate research for the American Friends Service Committee. She is based in Brooklyn, New York.