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Black History Month Profiles: Shamaiah Turner

Shamaiah Turner

This year, for Black History Month, we're taking a look at a group of leaders who are currently active making Black history across the labor movement. Check back daily for a new profile and meet some of the people working to improve not only their community, but also to improve conditions for working people across the country. Today's profile is Shamaiah Turner of SMART.

Since getting her start in construction as an 18-year-old AmeriCorps volunteer building houses with Habitat for Humanity, Shamaiah Turner has hit the ground running. She joined the union sheet metal industry in 2012 as a SMART Local 17 member after graduating from the Building Pathways pre-apprenticeship program in Boston, and eventually worked as a sub-foreman on various projects and created and chaired the Local 17 Women’s Committee. Currently, Turner is the chair for the SMART International Women’s Committee, a trustee on the SMART Recruitment and Retention Council and a Business Development Representative for the SMART Northeast Regional Council.