Dusti Gurule named regional representative of US Secretary of Labor Hilda L. Solis

WASHINGTON – Secretary of Labor Hilda L. Solis today announced the appointment of Dusti Gurule as her regional representative in Colorado, New Mexico, Kansas, Texas, Oklahoma and Nebraska. Gurule is based in Denver, Colo.

"I am delighted to welcome Dusti to the Labor Department team," said Secretary Solis. "Her years of community experience reflect her ability to work cooperatively and effectively with labor, business and government, and her commitment to educating workers about their rights. Her knowledge and skills will be valuable in our efforts on behalf of America's working people."

Within the U.S. Department of Labor, secretary's representatives, also known as "sec reps," serve as liaisons to state and local government officials and community stakeholders, and are responsible for amplifying key programs and initiatives of the department.

Gurule has been executive director of the Latina Initiative since 2004. She spent the majority of her childhood as a student at Escuela Tlatelolco, the school founded by the Crusade for Justice, the Denver Chicano social justice organization of the 1960s and '70s. She received her bachelor's degree in Chicano studies at the Metropolitan State College of Denver and a master's degree in nonprofit management from Regis University in Denver as a Colorado trust fellow.

A Denver native, Gurule has been an active participant in organizing and policy reform on a variety of issues, including Latina civic engagement and economic justice/civil rights. She is an appointee of the Denver Latino Commission and serves on the boards of the Colorado Conservation Voters Education Fund, Metropolitan State College of Denver, the Chicano Studies Advisory Council, the Organizational Representative Council and the Executive Committee for the Colorado C3 Roundtable.

The Department of Labor fosters and promotes the welfare of the job seekers, wage earners and retirees of the United States by improving their working conditions, advancing their opportunities for profitable employment, protecting their retirement and health care benefits, helping employers find workers, strengthening free collective bargaining, and tracking changes in employment, prices and other national economic measurements. In carrying out this mission, the department administers a variety of federal labor laws including those that guarantee workers' rights to safe and healthful working conditions; a minimum hourly wage and overtime pay; freedom from employment discrimination; unemployment insurance; and other income support.