The Labor Institute for the Advancement of Black Strategists is a labor union-aligned academic center within Clark Atlanta University that is intended to recruit and train Black students to become labor union organizers and activists in the southern United States. ¹ It seeks to reverse organized labor’s generally poor ability to advance labor union membership among workers in the South, especially ethnic minorities. ¹

Background

The Institute is a partnership between Clark Atlanta University, a historically Black university, and the Jobs With Justice national coalition of worker centers and left-wing advocacy organizations founded by future Communications Workers of America president Larry Cohen. ² Its director, Sherman Henry, is a former Jobs With Justice staffer who had previously held leadership roles with the American Federation of State, County & Municipal Employees (AFSCME) government worker union in Florida. ³

Programs at the Institute are open to all students within the Atlanta University Center Consortium, which includes Spelman College, Morehouse College, and the Morehouse School of Medicine. The Institute launched in March 2025 with a total of 12 affiliated staff members, including four guest instructors, and plans to have three full-time faculty members and 10 visiting lecturers within three years. ³

Jobs With Justice executive director Erica Smiley said that the Institute is modeled after libertarian and conservative-aligned academic centers such as the Center for the Study of Public Choice at George Mason University. ³

Funding

In the April 2025 announcement of its launch, the Labor Institute for the Advancement of Black Strategists reported plans to raise $6 million over three years.  ³

1. Hyde, Marlon. “Clark Atlanta University Introduces New Training Initiative Dedicated to Labor Advocacy.” WABE, March 27, 2025. https://www.wabe.org/clark-atlanta-university-introduces-new-training-initiative-dedicated-to-labor-advocacy/.
2. “Advancing Black Strategists Initiative.” Jobs With Justice. Accessed May 19, 2025. https://www.jwj.org/our-work/absi.
3. Sassoon, Alessandro Marazzi. “Clark Atlanta Launches Labor Institute to Develop Black Strategists for a Renewed Union Movement.” Atlanta Civic Circle, April 24, 2025. https://atlantaciviccircle.org/2025/04/23/clark-atlanta-labor-institute-black-strategists-union-movement/.