The Vonda McDaniel School of Movement Building

Vonda joined the United Rubber Workers at the Bridgestone/Firestone plant in La Vergne, Tennessee — and soon stepped up as Shop Steward, the first rung of a lifetime of standing up for coworkers.

What she taught: Leadership starts where you stand. You don't wait for a title — you raise your hand for your coworkers first.

Reflect: Who on your shift is already leading without a title? Have you told them?

She trained through the USW's Women of Steel leadership initiative — then became a trainer herself, opening the door for other women to rise in manufacturing and in the movement.

What she taught: Mentorship multiplies power. Every skill you learn belongs to the next person you teach it to.

Reflect: What's one skill you could start teaching another member this month?

Elected President of the Central Labor Council of Nashville & Middle Tennessee, she grew it from an all-volunteer body into a staffed, campaign-oriented organization — an “incubator for experimentation and innovation.”

What she taught: A labor council isn't a meeting — it's a machine for coalition power. Watch her SHOP TALK interview below to hear her explain it in her own words.

Reflect: What could your local build with the other unions in your city that none of you could build alone?

She helped found Stand Up Nashville, which won landmark Community Benefits Agreements — making developers who take public money deliver affordable housing, living wages, and local hiring.

What she taught: Don't just oppose bad development — negotiate for the neighborhood. Create opportunities, not just protests.

Reflect: What's being built in your city right now — and who's at the table for the workers?

Through Music City Construction Careers she championed pre-apprenticeship programs that moved neighbors — especially young people and workers of color — into high-skill union construction careers.

What she taught: Workforce development IS organizing. A pathway into a union career converts a supporter into a member for life.

Reflect: Who in your community needs a door opened — and which apprenticeship could you connect them to?

As past president of the Tennessee and Nashville A. Philip Randolph Institute chapters, she built lasting bridges between labor, Black churches, and the racial-justice movement — insisting labor justice IS racial justice.

What she taught: The movement is bigger than the bargaining unit. Faith communities and civil-rights organizations are labor's oldest, strongest allies.

Reflect: When did your local last show up for a community fight that wasn't 'yours'?

Elected a Vice President of the national AFL-CIO Executive Council, she represented State Federations and Central Labor Councils — carrying local voices into the movement's highest rooms, and through Tennessee for All, into politics.

What she taught: Political power is worker power. Register, educate, mobilize — and hold every official accountable after the election.

Reflect: Does your local have a plan for the next election that goes deeper than an endorsement?

Named Co-Executive Director of the historic Highlander Research and Education Center — the movement school that trained Rosa Parks, Dr. King, and Septima Clark — she joined the lineage of Southern movement educators.

What she taught: Education is the movement's seed corn. Document, teach, and train continuously — so the next generation starts further down the road.

Reflect: What are you documenting today that could teach an organizer ten years from now?