Cassondra Curiel

Cassondra Curiel is the president of United Educators of San Francisco. She has been president since July 2021, leading the union to prioritize member-leader development through organizing training and re-establishing worksite leadership structures to exercise the contract. In her tenure, UESF members have received over $200 million dollars in salary and wage increases as a result of high-participation contract campaigns that focused on solidarity across the membership. She led the last bargain with a big team of over 70 members and made incredible progress in improving working conditions.

She also serves as Vice President of her State Fed, CFT—A Union of Certificated and Classified Professionals, a delegate to the California Teachers Association State Council, an Executive Committee member of the San Francisco Labor Council, and has been elected as a delegate representative to multiple AFT Conventions and NEA Rep Assemblies.

Prior to becoming president, Cassondra taught English Language Arts at Visitacion Valley Middle School from 2011 to 2021. In those years, she coached the volleyball and debate teams, mentored multiple student teachers, took lead roles in site initiatives, and helped plan union-wide events. Cassondra started her teaching career during a time when pink slips devastated our schools. It was during that difficult economic and professional time when she learned about the power of collective bargaining rights and a Union Build Committee (UBC). And as soon as she was able, she ran for a position at UBC and then for UBR, serving for over 7 years. She worked to build up internal communication systems, as well as empowering colleagues through facilitating information workshops, and shoring up democratic and transparent processes for taking actions and positions as a site. From 2018 to 2021, she was elected as a middle-school representative on the UESF Executive Board and subsequently served as the Chair of the UESF Grievance Committee. Union activism further solidified her dedication to organizing and she believed every conversation is an opportunity to learn and to empower members in their union work for the common good.