Sarita Gupta

Sarita Gupta is vice president of U.S. programs, overseeing the foundation’s domestic work including Civic Engagement and Government, Creativity and Free Expression, Future of Work(ers), Technology and Society, Disability Rights, and Gender, Racial, and Ethnic Justice.

Gupta joined the foundation in 2019 as director of the Future of Work(ers) program, bringing more than two decades of experience working to expand people’s ability to take collective action to improve their workplaces, communities, and lives by creating meaningful solutions. She is a nationally recognized expert on the economic, labor, and political issues affecting workers, and is widely acknowledged as a key leader and strategist for building coalitions and policies that protect, and advance the rights of workers.

As director, she spearheaded the launch of several far-reaching initiatives. At the outset of the COVID-19 pandemic, she brought together a number of major funders to launch the Families and Workers Fund, which now stands at $52 million, and the $50 million Care for All with Respect and Equity (CARE) Fund, to address the immediate needs of low-wage workers and their families and drive long-term policy change. Most recently she made a $25 million grant to support informal workers across the globe for the next five years. She has a long history of working on the national level to break down barriers to economic opportunity for all people, which has been increasingly crucial as the U.S. struggles to rebuild equitably amidst an uneven economic recovery from COVID-19.

Gupta previously served as executive director of Jobs With Justice, a leader in the fight for workers’ rights that shapes the public discourse on every front to build power for working people and create an economy that benefits everyone. There, she led a network of 30+ labor and community coalitions that changed the conversation and moved multiple voices, from labor to faith, into action. She has been on the frontlines of organizing and policy campaigns to boost wages, worker voice, and working conditions for all working people and improve labor and civil rights protections for immigrant men and women. She also played a key role in building numerous campaigns, like the Asia Floor Wage Alliance, a global coalition of trade unions, workers’ rights, and human rights organizations pushing for higher wages in the global garment industry, and the United Workers Congress, focused on raising labor standards and protections for low-wage workers across industries.

She was also co-director of Caring Across Generations, a national movement transforming the way America defines care so all families can live well and age with dignity. There, she spearheaded a policy campaign calling for a much-needed care infrastructure to provide high-quality, affordable options for individuals and families, support for family caregivers, and the care workforce. The organization was instrumental in paving the way for the Home Care Rule, providing minimum wage and overtime protections for two million home care workers, and, most recently, it helped establish the first public, state-based, long-term care program in the nation in Washington.

Gupta earned a Bachelor of Arts from Mount Holyoke College, with studies in women, health, and society. She currently sits on the boards of the Institute for Policy Studies, United States Student Association Foundation, All Above All, School of Labor and Urban Studies Foundation at CUNY, Mount Holyoke Alumnae Association, and Ownership Works. A Hunt Alternatives Fund Prime Movers Fellow and a graduate of the Rockwood Leadership Training Program, Gupta has received a number of awards and accolades, including the National Women’s Law Center Annual Leadership Award, the Francis Perkins Open Door Award, Mount Holyoke College Alumnae Achievement Award, and Corporate Ethics International’s BENNY Award.