TANYA aKEL is the OSHA Project Director at the UCLA Labor Occupational Safety and Health Program. She is responsible for overseeing a federally funded project through OSHA to collaborate with and develop the capacity of the LA County and Orange County Federations of Labor and their union affiliates to improve the health and safety of workers. Prior to working at UCLA-LOSH she worked over 13 years as a labor union organizer, field director and policy advocate at the SEIU Local 660/721and as a Chief Negotiator and Field Organizer at the United Electrical. She served as Project Director for the LA County Welfare Reform Coalition, coordinating the development of this new coalition with the mission of preserving and improving human services for poor families. Tanya previously served as Program Specialist at Crystal Stairs, a child care resource and referral agency serving families in the South Los Angeles area. She was a field researcher for a national study on the cost and quality of child care with the UCLA School of Education. Tanya was active with the United Nations Development Fund for Women and developing economic empowerment strategies with Palestinian women in the West Bank. She holds her Master's degree in Urban Planning at the University of California, Los Angeles.
