We are honored to welcome Sara Nelson as this year’s keynote speaker. Sara has served as the International President of the Association of Flight Attendants-CWA, AFL-CIO since 2014, representing 55,000 flight attendants at 20 airlines. She has been a union Flight Attendant since 1996, when she started at United Airlines. Sara designed the successful payroll support program, a historic Workers First relief initiative, that kept aviation workers connected to their paychecks, healthcare, and other benefits for 16 months during the COVID pandemic. The program banned stock buybacks and dividends across the industry and capped executive compensation for two years after the relief period ended, making aviation the only industry that did not grow in inequality during the pandemic. Sara believes labor should set the agenda every time.

The New York Times called her “America’s most powerful flight attendant” for her role in helping to end the 35-day government shutdown. InStyle Magazine placed her on their Top 50 Badass Women list, and the New Yorker did a major profile in 2022. She was elected chair of the International Transport Workers’ Federation Civil Aviation Section, representing nearly 5 million aviation workers around the world. Sara often says corporations have money and control, but workers have the power. She encourages women everywhere to join unions and run unions.