“Lynn is truly a standout in the field,” said center Director Bob Bussel. “This national award demonstrates the highest level of excellence and accomplishment for the discipline of labor education,” said LERC Director Bob Bussel.
The award will be presented at the association’s national conference in Washington, D.C. April 13-16.
Over Feekin’s 30-year career as a labor educator she has informed, inspired and mentored a great many union leaders and labor educators. She joined the center’s faculty in 1994 and retired in 2015.
Working with private and public sector labor unions at the state, regional and national levels, Feekin won widespread acclaim as a trusted educator and mentor who both challenged and inspired her students.
“Lynn has been instrumental in training, developing and inspiring hundreds of SEIU 503 leaders through the U-LEAD program, Summer School and regional labor schools,” said Heather Conroy, executive director of SEIU Local 503. “She has taught members the power of organizing and how to effectively communicate and lead others with integrity and compassion.”
Feekin created one of LERC’s most popular programs, a comprehensive Collective Bargaining Institute that has been much admired and emulated elsewhere. She played a major role in the Western Regional Summer Institute for Union Women by serving on planning committees and teaching in numerous programs.
In 2014 she participated in a summit hosted by the Berger Marks Foundation and the United Association for Labor Education to evaluate women’s regional institutes that are offered across the country. Working with some of the nation’s leading women labor educators, she developed guiding principles to re-envision future summer institutes and increase recruitment of newly emerging women leaders.
Feekin’s research on organizing, economic and community development, and sustainability has contributed richly to the field. She led a local community-based research project funded by the Sociological Initiatives foundation, “The Social Equity Factor: Community Attitudes, Expectations, and Priorities for Eugene’s Sustainable Business Development.” Feekin also served for many years as the book review editor for Labor Studies Journal, the main publication for labor educators.
Feekin concluded her career by overseeing an ambitious undertaking: leading a successful strategic planning process for the 300,000-member California Teachers Association.
“Lynn displays a steadfast devotion to the craft of labor education and a fierce sense of integrity about what it should be,” Bussel said. “She embodies the best in our field and richly deserves recognition for her extraordinary commitment to the empowerment of working people.”