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Sharon Block
Sharon Block is the Executive Director of the Labor and Worklife Program at Harvard Law School. The Labor and Worklife Program is Harvard’s forum for research and teaching on the world of work and its implications for society. Located at Harvard Law School, the LWP brings together scholars and policy experts from a variety of disciplines to analyze critical labor issues in the law, economy and society. Prior to coming to Harvard Law School in 2016, she was the Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary for Policy at the U.S. Department of Labor and Senior Counselor to the Secretary of Labor.
For twenty years, Block has held key labor policy positions across the legislative and executive branches of the federal government. Early in her career she worked as an attorney at the National Labor Relations Board, and returned to the NLRB in 2012 when she was appointed to serve as a member of the Board by President Obama. She was senior labor and employment counsel to the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee under Senator Edward Kennedy, playing a central role in the debate over the Employee Free Choice Act, the Mine Improvement and New Emergency Response Act, Protecting America’s Workers Act, and other major legislation related to collective bargaining, occupational safety and health, pay equity and workplace standards.
While serving in the Obama White House as Senior Public Engagement Advisor for Labor and Working Families, Block led the historic White House Summit on Worker Voice, which explored ways for workers to fully participate in their economic future. At the President's direction, Block also conducted a series of regional worker voice summits across the country.
Block received her B.A. from Columbia University and her J.D. from Georgetown University Law Center, where she received the John F. Kennedy Labor Law Award.