Sai Ahmed, Bridges Center Assistant Director for Student and Community Engagement, was presented with the John Caughlan Youth Award at the LELO annual awards banquet on June 15, 2024. Each year, this award is presented to a young leader in the labor community who emulates the extraordinary life of John Caughlan, a radical activist, civil libertarian, and lawyer. John dedicated his life and legal skills to the liberation of oppressed peoples and the creation of a humane and just world. The award was presented to Ahmed by Paul Ryan Villanueva, last year’s awardee.
“Sai is a dedicated and compassionate activist who builds pathways for other young people to join the labor movement. Through APALA and UNITE HERE Local 8, we have hosted BAM interns through the UW Labor Center. Sai always makes sure the students have a good experience and thoughtfully supports us as a host organization.” – Eunice How, 2016 John Caughlan Youth Awardee.
Ahmed, who interned with the Washington State Labor Council’s Union Summer program in 2018, then went on to join the staff at the Harry Bridges Center for Labor Studies in the same year. Under Sai’s and Associate Director Dr. Andrew Hedden’s leadership, the Building A Movement (BAM) labor internship program was created. The BAM program just concluded its fourth year running, with a vast number of host organizations and more than three dozen interns participating. Along with leading BAM, Ahmed advises students and has been a major contributor to the growth of the labor studies minor at UW. In just two years, the program has grown from two labor studies minors to 60.
“Sai is also a leader among students and young workers. Their vision to create a student-centered space within labor studies where students learn together through organizing and reflecting on their direct work in the labor movement has been transformational under Sai’s leadership.” – Dr. Andrew Hedden, Bridges Center Associate Director, who accepted the award on behalf of Sai.
Congratulations Sai! We are so proud of Sai and their many pivotal contributions and outstanding leadership in the Bridges Center. Thank you to LELO for celebrating Sai and for your decades of organizing and empowering workers of color.