Joined onstage by other women from City College of San Francisco, English instructor Alisa Messer received the CFT Women in Education Award.

“Alisa inspires and encourages women to step up for what we value,” said fellow Local 2121 member Kathe Burick.

Messer was honored for her work in gender equality, such as helping pass the Equal Pay Ordinance in San Francisco and fighting for a six-week maternity leave at City College; her political work with the San Francisco Labor Council; and her leadership as local president in the fight to save City College from losing its accreditation.  

“Being a woman in the labor movement is not the easiest thing,” Messer said. “If we hope to have a diverse group of women and people of color and immigrants and from the LGBT community, we need to make room for that, and that takes work, and I hope it’s work we can all do together.”