Conventions, Resolutions & Awards
AFT Michigan Convention Summary
77th Convention – May 21, 2022
Resolutions
Awards
John McDonald Union-Building Award
2022 Henry Ford Community College Federation of Teachers, Eric Rader, President
2018 Paraprofessionals of Warren Woods, Megan Hohensee, President
2016 Huron Valley Area Labor Federation, Ian Robinson, President
2014 EMU Federation of Teachers, Sonya Alvarado, President
2012 Dearborn Federation of Teachers, Christine Sipperley, President
2010 Macomb ISD Federation of Teachers, Kenneth Reid, President
2008 Macomb ISD Federation of Paraprofessionals, Char Kassley, President
2006 Lecturers’ Employee Organization, Bonnie Halloran, President
2005 Hamtramck Federation of Teachers, Bo Karpinsky, President
2003 Tom Watkins, State Superintendent of Public Instruction
2001 Crawford AuSable Federation of Teachers, Karen Leslie, President
Building the Front Lines Worksite Leader Award
2022
Myra Barnett, Hamtramck Federation of Teachers #1052
Stasi Earl, Roseville Federation of Teachers #1071
Rebecca Fitzpatrick, Macomb ISD Federation of Teachers #2144
Samson Kobbah, WCCC P&AA #4467
Tish Sheats, Lake Shore Federation of Teachers #1465
Alex Tiefel, UPAMM #5297
Anke Wolbert, EMU Federation of Teachers #9102
2018
Andella White, Detroit Federation of Paraprofessionals #2350
Danielle Nagle, Hamtramck Federation of Teachers #1052
Mistie Ryan, Lake Shore Federation of Teachers #1465
Nancy Welter, Wayne State University Union of Part-Time Faculty #477
2016
Angela Swoszowski, Macomb ISD Federation of Teachers, #2144
Jennifer Byford, MSU Graduate Employees Union, #6196
Marcus Walton, Detroit Federation of Teachers #231
Velimir Stojkovski, UM LEO #6244, EMUFT #9102, HFCC AFO #337
Angie Brown, Macomb ISD Federation of Paraprofessionals #6216
Walter Bergman Human Rights Award
2022 Student Advocacy Center
2018 Michigan Student Power Network
2016 482Forward, Parent and community fighters for educational justice
2014 Lois Lofton Doniver, AFT Michigan Secretary-Treasurer, Detroit Federation of Teachers #231
2012 John Elliott, Retired President Detroit Federation of Teachers #231, AFT and AFT Michigan Vice President
2010 Arthur J. Divers, Ph.D., Education, Political and Community Activist, Detroit Federation of Teachers #231
2008 Maurice Geary, Counselor, Marygrove College
2006 A.W. Walker, Teacher, Highland Park Federation of Teachers Local #684
2005 Nat LaCour, Secretary-Treasurer, American Federation of Teachers
2003 Reginald Turner, President State Bar of Michigan, Vice President Nat’l Bar Assoc., partner Clark Hill law firm
2001 Rev. Wendell Anthony, President Detroit Chapter NAACP
1999 Susan Watson, Journalist and Labor Activist
1998 Bertha Louise Poe, Secretary-Treasurer Michigan State AFL-CIO
1997 Charles Wright, Founder Museum of African American History
1996 Coleman A. Young, Former four term Mayor City of Detroit
1995 Howard Wolpe, Sponsor of Congressional Legislation on South Africa
1994 Maryann Mahaffey, President, City of Detroit Common Council
1993 Horace Sheffield, President, Dearborn Iron Foundry Unit; UAW Int’l Union Rep; Founder, Trade Union Leadership Institute (TULC); Founder, Detroit Assoc. of Black Organizations (DABO)
1992 Rosa Parks, “The Mother of the Civil Rights Movement”
1991 John Conyers, Jr, United States Congressman, First District, Michigan
1990 Richard Austin, Michigan Secretary of State
1989 Tom Turner, Secretary-Treasurer, Michigan State AFL-CIO (former President Metro Detroit AFL-CIO)
1988 Alma Stallworth, Democratic State Representative 4th District
1987 Dennis Archer, Associate Justice of the Michigan State Supreme Court (current Mayor, City of Detroit)
1986 William Simons, President, Washington Teachers Union and an AFT Vice President
1985 Benjamin Hooks, President, NAACP
1984 Walter Bergman, First President of the Michigan Federation of Teachers and a pioneer civil rights activist