Nikki Fortunato Bas

Executive Director, Partnership for Working Families

Nikki Fortunato Bas is executive director of the Partnership for Working Families. She works with its affiliate organizations across the country to harness the power of cities to transform our economy, environment and democracy. She has been part of the network since 2006, first as executive director of one of its founding affiliates, East Bay Alliance for a Sustainable Economy (EBASE), and then in her current position as head of the national network.

Ms. Bas has 20 years of experience in coalition building and campaigning around economic development, worker and immigrant rights, and environmental justice. She played leadership roles in EBASE’s ground-breaking good jobs agreement for the redevelopment of an Oakland, Calif., army base; the establishment of Sweatshop Watch’s landmark joint liability law for California’s garment industry; and the formation of worker centers in Los Angeles and San Francisco. With the Partnership for Working Families, she is leading bold social and cultural shifts such as piloting new models of trans-local campaigning; deepening the network’s commitment to racial and gender justice; and building a “leaderful” network that is investing in a new generation of black, women and people of color leaders. In her spare time, Ms. Bas enjoys running, baking and spending time with her family.