Interfaith Worker Justice founder to speak on campus Wednesday, March 25

Kim Bobo's talk is sponsored by the Louis D. Brandeis Legacy Fund for Social Justice

kim boboKim Bobo, a leading voice for workers’ rights and justice and the founder of Interfaith Worker Justice, will visit Brandeis on March 25 to talk about her experiences as a social justice leader and organizer.

Bobo will speak at 7 p.m. at Rapaporte Treasure Hall in Goldfarb Library. The event is free and open to the public.

Bobo will also discuss her new book, “Wage Theft in America: Why Millions of Working Americans Are Not Getting Paid – And What We Can Do About It.” It is the first and only book to document the nation’s wage-theft crisis and propose practical solutions for addressing it.

She founded Interfaith Worker Justice in 1996 using a $5,000 inheritance from her grandmother, and has grown it into a national organization with 59 local affiliates (including an office in Boston) and a full-time staff of 17. She now serves as executive director of IWJ.

"Kim Bobo is a leader in the fight for workers’ rights and justice around the world,” said Jules Bernstein ’57, a friend of Bobo who invited her to Brandeis to speak about her work. “Particularly at Brandeis, with its foundational commitment to social justice, it is important that the community hear about these issues from one of the individuals at the forefront of the movement.”

The lead sponsor of the event is the Louis D. Brandeis Legacy Fund for Social Justice, which supports Brandeis students, enhances campus life, and promotes the issues of social justice that the former U.S. Supreme Court justice championed throughout his life.

Other sponsors include the Brandeis Labor Coalition; Brandeis Chaplaincy; BUILD (Brandeis University Interfaith Leadership Development) Fellows Program; Legal Studies Program; Peace, Conflict, and Coexistence Studies Program; Social Justice and Social Policy Program; International Center for Ethics,
Justice, and Public Life; and Cooperative Metropolitan Ministries.

The Legacy Fund, which was established in 2006 by a generous, anonymous gift from a Brandeis alumnus, has sponsored a series of initiatives, including:

  • Creation of a paid summer internship program for students working in social-service agencies that address achieving social justice;
  • Publication of an award-winning, scrapbook-style biography of Louis D. Brandeis;
  • Production of a 50-minute documentary directed by Emmy Award-winning filmmaker Charles Stuart that aired on PBS;
  • Arranging the appearance on campus of renowned National Geographic geneticist/anthropologist Spencer Wells as part of the Brandeis Explores the Journey of Humankind Project;
  • Funding the 40th anniversary celebration of the university’s Transitional Year Program, a college-access initiative.
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