Evelyn Orantes has dedicated her career to advocating for workers’ rights. As a first-generation Guatemalan-American, she witnessed the workplace injustices faced by her family and community, inspiring her to become a voice for workers. Evelyn earned her degrees in Spanish, Chicana/o Studies, and Labor and Workplace Studies from UCLA (University of California, Los Angeles).

After graduating, she joined the fight for a $15 minimum wage in Los Angeles and Oakland as a field organizer, where she mobilized hundreds of low-wage workers to take collective action, including strikes against unfair labor practices.

Following this, Evelyn spent five years as a union representative across industries such as healthcare, grocery, and processing. For the last four years, she has focused primarily on negotiating collective bargaining agreements and leading contract campaigns for workers in healthcare, meat processing, and laundry sectors. She has successfully led workplace actions, achieved historic wage increases, and secured innovative contract language. Evelyn also has extensive experience enforcing collective bargaining agreements through the grievance process and addressing unfair labor practices.