Member Spotlight: Lisa LeVert

AFSCME Local 1072 member Lisa LeVert is a Project Manager with the University of Maryland College Park. Lisa has worked at the university for more than six years, taking on many roles to help streamline processes across campus, and considers herself a professional problem solver. 

“I joined AFSCME during my new employee orientation,” says Lisa. “I was a union worker during grad school and saw firsthand the power in numbers, so joining was a no-brainer.”

As a steward, Lisa recently spoke at a rally at the University of Maryland College Park, demanding the University System of Maryland (USM) Board of Regents follow through on the negotiated raises for over 6,000 USM workers.

“It was cathartic to stand alongside my coworkers and fellow stewards, standing in solidarity together,” says Lisa. “The reality is that university leadership has the ability to lessen the burden on workers’ lives. So many USM workers were counting on those increases and planned their budgets around them. Now, people are scrambling to figure out how to stay afloat in this economy.”

For Lisa, solidarity and accountability are at the heart of union power. “That rally reminded me that no one is ever alone when they’re part of a union,” she says. “There are always other people fighting alongside you and going through the same struggles. When we come together collectively, that’s when our voices are heard.”