Jeff is the Rule of Law Director of the Solidarity Center and co-founder of the International Lawyers Assisting Workers (ILAW) Network. In 2022, Jeff was appointed to the International Labor Organization (ILO) Governing Body and the ILO Committee on Freedom of Association. From 2011 through 2016, he was the legal director of the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC), where he coordinated the organization’s legal advocacy before the International Labor Organization and other international institutions, advised trade unions on labor law and policy, and supported claims before national and international tribunals. Before joining the ITUC in 2011, Jeff served as the AFL-CIO deputy director of the International Department and as its global economic policy specialist. He has published extensively on international labor law and has testified before executive, legislative and judicial bodies around the world. He is a graduate of Cornell Law School, where he earned his J.D. and L.L.M. in international and comparative law, and studied international law at the University of Paris I–Sorbonne. Jeff is editor and co-author of the book, The Right to Strike in International Law (Hart Publishing 2020) and the forthcoming book, The Right to Strike Reimagined (Hart Publishing 2025). Jeff speaks English, Spanish and French.
Monika is the Deputy Director of the Rule of Law Department at the Solidarity Center and the ILAW Network, where she focuses on labor and workers’ rights issues. Prior to joining the Solidarity Center, she focused on holding global apparel brands accountable for labor, human and environmental rights violations occurring in their global supply chains. She spent four years working to provide human rights defenders with a legal defense against frivolous and trumped-up charges brought against them in retaliation for their work. She focused on cases in South and Southeast Asia, where she helped defend labor leaders, lawyers, community activists and NGOs so that they could continue to exercise their fundamental human rights. She also defended the environmental, cultural and “free, prior and informed consent” rights of communities affected by large-scale development projects in Asia, Africa and the Andean region. She holds a law degree from the University of Maryland School of Law and a B.A. in International Studies: Political Science and Economics from the University of California, San Diego. Monika speaks English, Gujarati and limited Spanish.
Jon is co-founder of the International Lawyers Assisting Workers (ILAW) Network, and presently serves as ILAW of counsel. From 1995 to 2017 he was General Counsel of the AFL-CIO and Chief of Staff to then-AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka. Previously he was General Counsel of the Service Employees International Union (SEIU), from 1987 to 1995. He is originally from Boston, Massachusetts, where he was a partner in the union-side labor law firm of Angoff, Goldman, Manning, Pyle, Wanger, and Hiatt before his service with SEIU and AFL-CIO. He earned his degrees from Harvard University and Berkeley Law School. He speaks English and some French and Spanish.
Ziona is a Senior Law Specialist based in the Washington DC office of the Solidarity Center and works on global labour, human rights and gender issues. She has been extensively involved in research, litigation and advocacy including on domestic work and discrimination and the recognition of informal economy work. Previously she clerked for the South African Constitutional Court, has taught at Fordham University Law School and the University of Michigan, and has degrees from both the University of the Witwatersrand and Harvard Law School (LLM, SJD).
Jacqueline is the ILAW Network Regional Coordinator for Sub-Saharan Africa based in Kenya. Her main focus is leading legal initiatives for ILAW members and workers’ organizations in Africa. As a workers’ and labour rights lawyer, Jacqueline is passionate about advocacy and has cultivated expertise in research, policy analysis, and legal advisory services. She has worked extensively with lawyers, workers’ organizations, and NGO’s coordinating efforts around workers’ rights across various thematic areas. Jacqueline obtained her Bachelor’s degree in Law from the Catholic University of East Africa, a Post-Graduate diploma in Law from the Kenya School of Law, and a Master’s degree in Labour Policies and Globalization from the Berlin School of Economics and Law, Germany.
Mery Laura is the ILAW Network Regional Coordinator for Latin America and the Caribbean, based in Colombia. She is a labor lawyer and a specialist in constitutional law, human rights law, and international humanitarian law and has litigated labor cases before the courts of Colombia. She is also a labor arbitrator and law professor. She is a graduate of the Specialization Course for Latin American Experts in Labor Relations at the University of Castilla La Mancha and received her law degree from the National University of Colombia. Before joining the ILAW Network, she served as a legal advisor to the three trade union confederations in Colombia. She has experience in the ILO regulatory oversight system, in reporting labor violations in the OECD accession process and in monitoring labor chapters in free trade agreements. She was primary co-drafter of the Labor Reform introduced in Colombia in 2023. Mery Laura speaks Spanish and English.
Paulo is the Latin America and the Caribbean Legal Advisor for the ILAW Network and is based in Brazil. Paulo is a labor lawyer and brings over a decade of experience in labor rights advocacy across Brazil and the broader region. As a legal scholar and practitioner, he combines expertise in the Inter-American Human Rights System and international labor law mechanisms with a focus on emerging challenges to worker protections, including platform labor, just transition and strengthening unions. Paulo also serves as a Professor of Law, bridging academia and activism by supporting unions in high-impact cases against corporate violations of labor rights. He is author and co-author of various publications on Labor Law and Constitutional Law issues. Paulo speaks Portuguese, Spanish and English.
Tamar is the ILAW Network Regional Coordinator for Europe and Central Asia based in Georgia. She graduated from Tbilisi State University with a law degree and obtained a Master’s Degree in international human Rights Law from the University of Essex, UK. She is a chairperson of the Georgian Bar Association Labour Rights Committee and teaches labour law at the European University. Over the past 20 years Tamar has been working in the human rights field and has experience litigating cases at national level and before the European Court of Human Rights. She is co-author of various publications on human rights and workers’ rights issues. Tamar speaks English, Georgian and Russian.
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