9to5 (also known as 9to5, National Association of Working Women) is a labor union-aligned advocacy group founded by union operative Karen Nussbaum and Ellen Cassedy in 1973 in Boston during the rise of the Women’s Movement. Nussbaum would later head the AFL-CIO organizing affiliate Working America. ¹

It began as a membership organization focused tightly on women’s issues in the workplace but has since transitioned into a large donor-funded advocacy organization with a broader left-of-center, labor union-aligned portfolio of campaigns and causes. ^{2 3} It has also embraced intersectional identity politics, with one of its co-presidents having responsibility for the organization’s “mission for economic justice for working women and non-binary people of color.” ⁴

Background

In the early 1970s, left-wing activist Karen Nussbaum founded 9to5 to advocate for labor unionism on behalf of women. ² In 1975, the organization joined with the Service Employees International Union (SEIU), forming SEIU Local 925 (later SEIU District 925). Nussbaum worked as the executive director of 9to5 and president of the District 925 unions until 1993, when she accepted the position of director of the Women’s Bureau of the U.S. Department of Labor under President Bill Clinton. ⁵ In 2003, she founded Working America as the “community affiliate” of the AFL-CIO, serving as its executive director until her retirement in 2018. ⁶

The organization allegedly inspired the 1980 Jane Fonda film 9to5 and the song written for the movie. ⁷ In 2021, documentary studio Independent Lens premiered the film 9to5: The Story of a Movement. ⁸

9to5 was founded as a membership organization of working women but is largely funded by donations from major left-of-center foundations, labor unions, and other groups. ⁹

It has expanded from its initial Boston focus and membership into a national organization. While it does operate chapters, it currently has them in just three states: Colorado, Georgia, and Wisconsin. The majority of its membership is contained in its “National Network,” which claims members and smaller local chapters in every state. ¹⁰

Advocacy

In its early existence in the 1970s, 9to5 had a strong focus on the treatment of women in many workplaces, especially what it perceived as demeaning, inappropriate, or paternalistic behavior by their managers. It operated “Worst Boss in the City” competitions to condemn managers who treated female employees poorly, such as one boss who sent his secretary to a bar to “find him a woman who meets his specifications” and page him when she had located one. ¹¹

In more recent years, 9to5 has transitioned to operating more traditional policy campaigns that promote left-of-center public policy priorities, such as government-funded childcare programs, environmental activism, voter registration campaigns, paid family leave and sick leave, additional funding for public housing programs, corporate taxation, renter protections, and minimum wage campaigns. ³

It has also embraced left-of-center identity politics and intersectional theory. In 2025, co-president Mica Whitfield, who was identified as leading 9to5’s “mission for economic justice for working women and non-binary people of color,” criticized the second Trump administration’s tariff policies “through a gendered lens.” ⁴

In 2021, the AFL-CIO used 9to5’s story to advocate for the federal Protecting the Right to Organize (PRO) Act, which was an attempt to advance labor unions’ top policy priorities such as abolishing state right to work laws, eliminating the secret ballot in union elections, and eliminating many kinds of common independent contractor arrangements such as owner-operator truck drivers, freelance reporters, and rideshare drivers. ^{12 13}

Funding

9to5 receives most of its funding from contributions, though a small fraction (around 4 percent) is derived from its offered programming and services, and less than 2 percent is generated by investment income.  ¹⁴

Several of its donors include the AFL-CIO, the Amalgamated Charitable Foundation, ¹⁵ American Association of University Women, Caring Across Generations, Center for Community Change, Center for Law and Social Policy (CLASP), the Chinook Fund, ¹⁶ Coalition on Human Needs, Family Values at Work, Groundswell Fund, ¹⁷ Half in Ten Campaign, the Hopewell Fund, ¹⁸ Human Rights Watch, Institute for Women’s Policy Research, Interfaith Worker Justice, Jobs With Justice, Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights, MomsRising, National Committee on Pay Equity, National Domestic Workers Alliance, National Employment Law Project, National Gay & Lesbian Task Force, National Partnership for Women and Families, National Women’s Law Center, NEO Philanthropy, ¹⁹ New Venture Fund ²⁰ Opportunity Agenda, Oxfam America, ²¹ OUR Walmart, Restaurant Opportunities Centers (ROC) United, Rockefeller Philanthropy Advisors, ²² Rose Family Foundation, ²³ the Service Employees International Union (SEIU), ²⁴ Voter Registration Project, ²⁵ Windward Fund, ²⁶ and Working America ⁹

Leadership

Co-Founders

Karen Nussbaum, who co-founded the organization, had been involved in political activism since college. She joined an organization called the Black Panther Support Committee in the late 1960s, participated in the anti-Vietnam War movement and rallies, and participated in a pro-Fidel Castro Venceremos Brigade initiative in 1970, which transported hundreds of young Americans to Cuba to interact with Communist revolutionaries. ²⁷ In a 2003 interview, Nussbaum described her visit to Cuba in 1970 as “thrilling,” describing it as “a society that was combating racism, that had provided free health and educational care to every person in society, that had reduced income inequality more dramatically than any place else on earth.” ²⁸

Nussbaum then moved to Boston, continuing her work with the antiwar movement and worked as a clerical worker at Harvard University. During this time, she, along with some friends, founded 9to5 as an organization of female clerical workers in the Boston area. Nussbaum served as director until 1993, when she left to serve as director of the Women’s Bureau in the U.S. Department of Labor under then-President Bill Clinton’s first term. ⁵ She was executive director of Working America, an affiliate of the AFL-CIO focusing on recruiting non-unionized workers, from 2003 through 2018. ⁶

Ellen Cassedy co-founded 9to5 with Nussbaum. She co-wrote a book with Nussbaum on labor issues titled 9to5: The Working Woman’s Guide to Office Survival. ²⁹

Co-Presidents and CEOs

Ashley Panelli is the co-president and CEO of 9to5 as well as the 9to5 Action Fund. She previously worked for the Denver chapter of the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) as well as the Colorado FAMLI Coalition and the Colorado Families First Coalition. Panelli sits on the board of Family Values at Work, the Women Foundation of Colorado’s Women and Girls of Color Fund advisory council, and the steering committee for the State Priorities Partnership with the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities. ³⁰

Mica Whitfield is the co-president and CEO of 9to5. She previously served as the organization’s Georgia state director. Prior to this, she was the vice president and advocacy chair for the Georgia chapter of Postpartum Support International. ³¹

1. “9to5”in “Stir It Up: Lessons in Community Organizing and Advocacy.” p. 31. Charon Press Series 2003. Accessed August 17, 2017.. https://chisineu.files.wordpress.com/2014/08/rinku-sen-stir-it-up-lessons-in-community-organizing-and-advocacy-2003.pdf
2. “History.” 9to5. Accessed October 31, 2025. https://9to5.org/about-us/history/.
3. “Campaigns.” 9to5. Accessed October 31, 2025. https://9to5.org/campaign.
4. Brown, Stacy M. “Tariffs Are Crushing Black Women, Advocate Warns.” The Washington Informer, April 17, 2025. https://www.washingtoninformer.com/trump-tariffs-affect-black-women/.
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6. Working America Announces New Executive Director, Matt Morrison.” Working America, February 12, 2018. https://workingamerica.org/news/post/workingamericaannouncesnewexecutivedirectormattmorrison/.
7. Murtha, Tara. “’9 to 5’ Turns 35, and It’s Still Radical Today.” Rolling Stone. December 18, 2015. http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/news/9-to-5-turns-35-and-its-still-radical-today-20151218
8. “9to5: The Story of a Movement.” PBS, February 21, 2021. https://www.pbs.org/independentlens/documentaries/9to5-the-story-of-a-movement/.
9. “Allies & Supporters (Accessed via Wayback Machine).” 9to5, July 2, 2018. https://web.archive.org/web/20180702025436/http://9to5.org/join/allies-supporters/.
10. Chapters.” 9to5. Accessed October 31, 2025. https://9to5.org/chapters/.
11. D’Aprile, Marianela. “9to5 Brought Women into Labor and Working-Class Women into the Women’s Movement.” Jacobin, January 2, 2021. https://jacobin.com/2021/02/9to5-labor-working-class-womens-movement-karen-nussbaum.
12.  Nussbaum, Karen, and Liz Shuler. “The Unfinished Story of Women at Work: 9TO5 Yesterday, Today the Pro Act.” AFL-CIO, January 26, 2021. https://aflcio.org/2021/1/26/unfinished-story-women-work-9to5-yesterday-today-pro-act.
13. “The Three Biggest Issues with the Pro Act.” NFIB, March 18, 2021. https://www.nfib.com/news/analysis/the-three-biggest-issues-with-the-pro-act/.
14. “9 to 5 National Association of Working Women.” ProPublica Nonprofit Explorer. Accessed October 31, 2025. https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/organizations/341246311.
15. Amalgamated Charitable Foundation Inc, Form 990, Schedule I.” ProPublica Nonprofit Explorer. Accessed October 31, 2025. https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/organizations/821517696/202212099349301211/IRS990ScheduleI.
16. Chinook Fund, Form 990, Schedule I.” ProPublica Nonprofit Explorer, 2020. https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/organizations/841076325/202113559349301526/IRS990ScheduleI.
17. “Groundswell Fund, Form 990, Schedule I.” ProPublica Nonprofit Explorer, 2020. https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/organizations/474003615/202102579349301960/IRS990ScheduleI.
18. Hopewell Fund, Form 990, Schedule I .” ProPublica Nonprofit Explorer. Accessed October 31, 2025. https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/organizations/473681860/202143169349311614/IRS990ScheduleI.
19. “Neo Philanthropy Inc, Form 990, Schedule I.” ProPublica Nonprofit Explorer. Accessed October 31, 2025. https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/organizations/133191113/202113009349301746/IRS990ScheduleI
20. New Venture Fund, Form 990, Schedule I.” ProPublica Nonprofit Explorer. Accessed October 31, 2025. https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/organizations/205806345/202243139349303999/IRS990ScheduleI
21. “Oxfam America Inc, Form 990, Schedule I.” ProPublica Nonprofit Explorer, 2020. https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/organizations/237069110/202542259349302709/IRS990ScheduleI.
22. Rockefeller Philanthropy Advisors Inc, Form 990, Schedule I.” ProPublica. Accessed October 31, 2025. https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/organizations/133615533/202232859349300818/IRS990ScheduleI.
23. Rose Community Foundation, Form 990, Schedule I .” ProPublica Nonprofit Explorer. Accessed October 31, 2025. https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/organizations/840920862/202223149349304047/IRS990ScheduleI.
24. Service Employees International Union, Form 990, Schedule I.” ProPublica Nonprofit Explorer, 2020. https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/organizations/840422521/202023219349313807/IRS990ScheduleI.
25. “Voter Registration Project, Form 990, Schedule I.” ProPublica Nonprofit Explorer, 2020. https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/organizations/264802468/202113199349303846/IRS990ScheduleI
26. Windward Fund, Form 990, Schedule I.” ProPublica Nonprofit Explorer. Accessed October 31, 2025. https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/organizations/473522162/202203139349304570/IRS990ScheduleI.
27.  “Karen Nussbaum.” Discover the Networks. 2015. Accessed July 19, 2017. http://www.discoverthenetworks.org/individualProfile.asp?indid=2554
28.  “Voices of Feminism Oral History Project: Interview with Karen Nussbaum.” Smith College. 2003. Accessed July 19, 2017. https://www.smith.edu/libraries/libs/ssc/vof/transcripts/Nussbaum.pdf
29. 9to5: The Working Woman’s Guide to Office Survival.” Penguin Books. 1983. Accessed August 17, 2017. https://books.google.com/books/about/9_to_5.html?id=JKILAAAAMAAJ
30. Ashley Panelli.” 9to5. Accessed October 31, 2025. https://9to5.org/staff/ashley-panelli/.
31.    “Mica Whitfield.” 9to5. Accessed October 31, 2025. https://9to5.org/staff/mica-whitfield/.