Congratulations to labor organizer Ai-jen Poo, who has been named a 2014 MacArthur "Genius." Each year, the MacArthur Foundation gives "unrestricted $625,000 fellowships to talented individuals who have shown extraordinary originality and dedication in their creative pursuits and a marked capacity for self-direction."
Meet The 2014 Winners Of The MacArthur 'Genius Grants'
As executive director of the National Domestic Workers Alliance, Poo has been organizing housekeepers, nannies and home health aides to expand workplace protections. Her work with domestic and private-household workers in New York led to new laws that have spread to several other states.
Here's more on Ai-jen Poo and her awesome work:
The $625,000, no-string-attached grant is awarded over five years to support ongoing work. Ai-jen has more noble plans for the grant. She plans to use the money create a fellowship for caregivers and domestic workers to work for the National Domestic Workers Alliance as national public policy fellows, allowing them to learn the workings of policy and further impact the fight for domestic workers' rights.
More here: MacArthur 'Genius' Ai-jen Poo: Organizing America's Domestic Workers