Eliseo Medina has served as international executive vice president of the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) since 1996, when he made history by becoming the first Mexican American elected to a top post at the 1.8 million-member SEIU.

Medina began his career as a labor activist in 1965 when, as a 19-year-old grape-picker, he participated in the historic United Farm Workers' strike in Delano, Calif. Over the next 13 years, he worked alongside Cesar Chavez and honed his skills as a union organizer and political strategist. He left the Farm Workers in 1978, after rising to the rank of second national vice president.

He currently is leading SEIU’s efforts to help workers in 17 states in the Southern and Southwestern United States -– including Arizona, Texas, Nevada, Colorado, Louisiana, Florida, and Georgia –- unite in SEIU so they will have the strength to improve their jobs and the services they provide in their communities.

Medina also has a deeply felt interest in SEIU’s work on immigration policies; he’s helped strengthen ties between the Roman Catholic Church and the labor movement to work on common concerns such as immigrant worker rights and access to health care. The Sacramento Bee calls him a "quietly charismatic" leader "who is helping immigrant workers win union representation and make their voice heard in the political arena.

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