Jeff Rae
New Media and Communications, Social Media Manager, and Photographer in New York
Jeff Rae has been an activist, organizer, and leader in the labor movement for over 10 years, utilizing his skills in online and traditional communications.
Working for unions such as AFSCME, UNITE, and TWU, Jeff has designed and implemented communications strategies to bring a face and voice to working people. He has played a key role in organizing victories for workers across the US, including over 50,000 home childcare workers in Wisconsin, Michigan, Iowa, and Kansas, hundreds of casino dealers in Las vegas, and thousands of airline and bus drivers across the country.
For the past 6 1/2 years, Jeff has worked for the Transport Workers Union of America, where his most recent position was as the Director of New Media where he built a department from the ground up. While working as Director of New Media for TWU, he built up a 90,000 person email list, started the first ever TWU weekly e-newsletter, and utilized online communications strategies to engage 130,000 members.
He received his BFA in photojournalism from the Rochester Institute of Technology in 2003, but began documenting and working on social justice and anti-globalization movements with his camera in the late '90s. Jeff's commitment to social justice has led him on international communication projects, from strikes in southern Mexico to human rights issues in China. When anti-worker bills were being passed in Wisconsin, Ohio, and Michigan he was there, utilizing his expertise in online communication.
Jeff has been quoted in the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Washington Post, and numerous other publications and news outlets. His tweets have been featured on MSNBC, RT News, and Al Jazeera. Jeff has led workshops at conferences and conventions on how unions can leverage new media. He also sits on the advisory board of Organizing 2.0.