Freelancer Advocate Steps Up

Sara Horowitz ’84 will be the 2017 chair for the board of directors of the New York Federal Reserve Bank.

Founder and executive director of Freelancers Union, she has been the board’s deputy chair since 2014.

The Federal Reserve is the central bank of the United States. It includes 12 regional banks, one of which is the New York bank.

Regional bank directors, considered links between the Fed and the private sector, are expected to help ensure that bank policy decisions are informed by actual economic conditions. The Federal Reserve Act of 1913 requires reserve banks to be supervised by directors.

Associate Professor Louis Hyman, whose Future of Work initiative featured Horowitz in October, said the significance of Horowitz’s board leadership runs deep.

"Long before Uber came to national attention, Sara Horowitz recognized that freelance labor was redefining the American workforce.”

“Freelancers, temps and other forms of contingent labor now makes up about 40 percent of the American workforce,” Hyman said.

“Having Horowitz at the helm of the board means that Horowitz's vision, and the importance of this workforce, are both being recognized as they should be."

Winner of ILR’s 2015 Alpern Award, Horowitz has shared her experiences with ILR through events, including the October forum hosted by Hyman at the school’s Manhattan-based Institute for Workplace Studies, which launched its Future of Work series in 2016.

To see a video of Horowitz and others at ILR’s forum on the rapidly growing gig economy, go here.