Bal Harbour, Fla.
Vice President Joe L. Greene has served for twelve years as national president of the American Federation of School Administrators and has done so with distinction. Elected the first African American President of AFSA in 1991, he had served as treasurer of AFSA. He also had been president of the Michigan Federation of School Administrators.
Greene has been a champion of quality public school education throughout his career. His leadership and vision propelled the enhanced role of the union in shaping education policy and in creating programs to address the disparity in the achievement of academic excellence by economically disadvantaged students.
Inspired by a determination to insure a voice for AFSA in the public policy debate about education, Greene established the union’s headquarters in Washington, DC and created the departments of organizing, public affairs, legislation and political action at AFSA. He has been a resolute advocate on behalf of students as well as for the public school principals, vice principals, administrators, and supervisors who are his members.
Greene was elected an AFL-CIO Vice President in October 1995 and contributed to the Executive Council as chair of the committee on public affairs and as a member of the committees on community partnerships, member education and training, finance and public policy. He also served on the board of the George Meany Center for Labor Studies and successfully led the effort to affiliate AFSA with the AFL-CIO Department for Professional Employees.
On behalf of the men and women of the unions of the AFL-CIO, the Executive Council expresses its gratitude and appreciation to Joe L. Greene for his service and devotion to the members of his union and to the labor movement.