2018–2019 Impact Report: Legacy, Reflection, and Connection

Letter from the Executive Director

This year, as National Employment Law Project (NELP) celebrated our 50th Anniversary, we’ve reflected often on our mission, our history, how and why we do our work, and our partners—each of you who have helped us pave a path towards improved labor standards and worker protections. As you will see on the facing page, there is much for us to celebrate together.

Though our movement faces deep challenges, we know that working together is how we gain power and strength for all workers. And we know that when the attacks intensify, it is because the voice and power of working people threaten the greed, racism, and inequitable power structures that thrive on dividing us.

At NELP, we understand the need to change and adapt as the economy, business and workplace practices evolve. Change has been a constant for us, from when we began as a local workers’ rights
clinic, housed at Columbia Law School; to when we became a national legal services backup center; to
our emergence as a leading national advocacy group and convener of allies in the fight for workers’
rights. Partnering with allies around the nation, we have strengthened unemployment insurance and workers compensation programs, won minimum wage increases and tackled systemic wage theft, advanced fair-chance hiring for people with records, fought for safe and healthy workplaces, tackled
abusive labor practices in the “gig” economy, and in many other ways, elevated and addressed economic and workplace challenges facing workers of color, women and immigrants in low-wage jobs. The following pages reflect on our work and our impact throughout 2018 and 2019.

Looking back on what we have won and the road we’ve traveled with you, we are proud of our legacy, but we are not resting on it. We will continue to listen and learn from movement partners as we fight for equity and justice. We will amplify the voices of workers and organizers, the true experts on the issues
confronting workers in the low-wage economy. We will strive to put work and working people—regardless of race, sex, class, sexuality, immigration status or any other marker opponents use to divide us—front and center in our national conversation. And we will never stop fighting for an economy and
workplaces that fairly and justly recognize and reward work and working people as the drivers of our nation’s strength and prosperity.

To all of you who have supported NELP over the years, we extend our deepest gratitude. You sustain us,
enabling us to maintain the fight and deepen capacity of our partners. I invite you to learn more about our work, learn more about how to engage with NELP through our online platform NELP Connect, access or share resources, and join us for the fight ahead.

In my final year as NELP’s executive director, I have been proud of all we have achieved together—and
confident that, under the leadership of incoming executive director Rebecca Dixon, and with your support, NELP’s impact will only grow and deepen in the coming years.

In grateful solidarity,

Christine L. Owens
Executive Director