About Karen Strickland, President
Karen Strickland, President
2014 to present
Karen Strickland ran for and was first elected president of AFT Washington by delegates at the 2013 AFT Washington Convention; she was reelected at the 2015 convention.
Karen was a faculty member at Seattle Central Community College for 20 years and also worked as a mental health counselor for 16 years. Karen served as a board member in her local union for 15 years and was elected president of AFT Seattle Local 1789 for two and a half years before running for the state federation president having served as the Vice President for the Committee on Political Education (COPE) on the AFT Washington Executive Board. Karen has been involved in the labor movement, social justice movements, and public education for over two decades. An activist, Karen believes we must fight for workers’ rights, social justice and racial equity in partnership with community organizations and others who share our vision of a fully inclusive union and democracy, robust investment in the public good and the realization of dignity and equity for all.