[ NYSUT Awards 2026 ]

Patricia Crispino

A lifelong union advocate, Patty Crispino has devoted nearly four decades to advancing the values of solidarity, equity and service.

As the United Federation of Teachers representative for District 79 and Transfer Schools, she has been a tireless champion for educators and students, ensuring that often-overlooked communities receive the attention and resources they deserve.

Crispino’s impact extends far beyond her local role. A trailblazer in the labor movement, she has been a leading voice for LGBTQ+ rights and inclusion at every level. She served as NYC chapter chair of Pride at Work and has led nationally as chair of the American Federation of Teachers Pride Caucus, while also contributing to LGBTQ+ committees within both AFT and NYSUT. Through these roles, she has helped shape policy, promote equity and ensure that all members are represented and respected.

Throughout her years in the classroom, Crispino was known for ensuring her classroom was not just a place for academics, but a sanctuary for all.

Her humanitarianism and commitment to service is perhaps most powerfully illustrated by her courageous work during the AIDS crisis, when she helped operate a critical hotline, providing lifesaving information and compassion to those in need. “The AIDS epidemic came up when I was a young adult. I lost my best friend in 1984 … so when I got the opportunity to work in (the UFT office), it made me feel better about all the friends I had lost,” Crispino said.

A mentor, leader and parent to Liam and Julia, Crispino is dedicated to developing the next generation of advocates, ensuring the continued fight for justice and opportunity.

Sara Rodland

Sara Rodland has been a tireless labor champion since 1976, and colleagues praise her selflessness and her ability to connect with people.

Rodland started her career in Buffalo Public Schools in 1971 as an elementary teacher who delighted in watching children’s minds at work. The Buffalo Teachers Federation strike in 1976 galvanized her union involvement and, over the years, she served her local in various capacities, including building delegate chairperson, Political Action Committee member, Executive Committee member and co-chair of the public relations committee. She was eventually elected secretary for the BTF.

“There was always something going on that needed to be addressed, and we needed to stand up and fight for what was right,” Rodland said.

Rodland served as an NEA NY board member and delegate, NYSUT Board member and delegate, and NEA, AFT and NYSTRS delegate.

Mentorship and professional development have always been important to Rodland and, during her teaching career, she mentored all the new elementary teachers in her district. She was an active member of the policy board for the Buffalo Teacher Resource Center and went on to be named co-director of the center.

She reluctantly retired from teaching in 2010, only to be almost immediately elected vice president of the still-nascent Retiree Council 44. With her organizational skills and indefatigable energy, she helped build the new retiree organization into a vital part of NYSUT’s daytime army. Rodland was elected president of RC 44 in 2017 and continues to serve in that capacity.

Rodland volunteers as the school liaison for The Teacher’s Desk, a non-profit organization that annually distributes more than $8.5 million worth of classroom supplies to teachers who teach children in need.

Naomi Rodriguez

“I lead with respect, and I require that back. I am accountable and I hold them accountable,” said Naomi Rodriguez. Those qualities and others are central to her success.

As the leader for the United Federation of Teacher’s Teachers Assigned chapter, Rodriguez represents New York City Department of Education employees whose work often parallels that of a school-based teacher. Her work requires her to mentor and support members from 15 different schools, including early childhood, pre-K, and 3K settings and help guide them to the best and most effective teaching practices. Rodriguez began her career as an instructional coordinator for the division of early childhood education and knows intimately the struggles her members face.

In 2022, when the DOE announced its misguided intention to excess these education professionals, Rodriguez and her members set about to demonstrate the value of this unit, by inviting department personnel into the classroom, and showing them all the ways that Teachers Assigned contribute.

“We showed them that our work is impactful through these learning walks,” Rodriguez said. “We make significant moves within the DOE and we deserve dignity.” It was meaningful, too. She added that parents, educators spoke on their behalf and praised their work. “We are professionals. We do this job not only from a place of leadership, but a place of love,” she said.

Karen McLean

Karen McLean has served the Herricks school district as payroll supervisor for more than 30 years and as treasurer of the Herricks Teachers Association for the past 15. Union work was never discussed in McLean’s childhood home, she first ran for treasurer at the encouragement of a past HTA president.

“The fiduciary responsibility that I hold in this office means a whole lot to me,” McLean said, crediting her executive team as the reason the work runs so smoothly. “They got my back, they got my front, and every part.”

Her leadership reaches well beyond the local. McLean chairs NYSUT’s SRP Advisory Committee and serves as one of five ERS consultants who travel to locals to help members understand their pension options. She is also helping to pilot a new SRP Mentoring Program at Herricks that she hopes will inspire mentees to eventually become mentors themselves.

McLean’s advice to new members is simple: come in with an open mind. The contracts and benefits members enjoy every day, she said, were won by people who sat at the bargaining table on their behalf. “We all have a voice,” McLean said. “Open up your mouth. Speak, ask questions.”

Born in Jamaica and raised with little, McLean moved to the United States at 13 and never forgot the people who poured into her along the way. That gratitude fuels everything she does — in the union and in her community.

Paul Cole

Paul Cole, one of NYSUT’s founding activists and executive director of the American Labor Studies Center, spearheaded the successful preservation efforts of the Kate Mullany House, establishing the home as a National Historic Site — one of the few that celebrates women’s contributions to the labor movement.

Mullany was a young Irish immigrant laundry worker who organized the first all-female labor union in 1864.

Prior to his turn at historic preservation, Cole was a high school social studies teacher for 23 years who developed a course on labor history and served as the former president of the Lewiston-Porter United Teachers. Cole has held numerous leadership positions within NYSUT and the American Federation of Teachers and currently serves as secretary-treasurer emeritus of the state AFL-CIO.

“Someone said to me once, ‘You don’t retire from something, you retire to something.’ And I think that’s what I’ve done with this project,” Cole said.

Cole worked diligently to assemble the funding and support necessary to turn the formerly blighted three-story building in downtown Troy into a fully functioning, restored historic site, with exhibits and a re-creation of Mullany’s living quarters. The site officially opened to the public in 2023.

The building is also home to the American Labor Studies Center, where Cole and other labor leaders will help teachers bring the labor movement into their classrooms.

Sterling W. Roberson

A nationally recognized leader in Career and Technical Education, Sterling Roberson has had a transformative impact across public education, workforce development and policy.

As vice president for CTE high schools at the United Federation of Teachers, he championed systems that equip students and adult learners with college- and career-ready skills aligned to labor market demands. Roberson has played a pivotal role in advancing CTE at the local, state and national levels. His leadership extended through service on the American Federation of Teachers CTE Committee, the NYSUT Board of Directors, and the New York City CTE Advisory Council, where he helped drive policy alignment, expand access, and promote equitable pathways to economic mobility.

“We need to ensure that every student, every adult and young person has a pathway into their career of interest,” Roberson said. “They have the talent; they have the energy; they just need our knowledge and our experience to guide them.”

A proud graduate of the Success Via Apprenticeship program, Roberson began his career teaching technical electronics. After serving as a violence prevention facilitator and school safety specialist, he later became UFT director of school safety.

In retirement, Roberson remains an influential voice in education and workforce policy. Through his Substack publication, CTE Champion, he continues to shape conversations on education equity, labor market alignment, and the future of career-connected learning.

James Werner

James Werner has been an English professor at Westchester Community College since 2003. A devoted reader, Werner knew from an early age that he wanted to create a space for meaningful discussion. “What I like best about teaching is really the classroom … being in the classroom with a bunch of smart people, talking about ideas that matter,” Werner said.

From the start, Werner was an active member of his local, the Westchester CC Federation of Teachers. He served as a grievance officer, then vice president, and has been president of the local since 2019.

With Werner’s help, the local successfully negotiated a six-year contract last year, revised its constitution, and has been actively building alliances with other locals and legislators.

During that time, Werner has also been a leading proponent of A New Deal for Higher Ed, a campaign co-sponsored by NYSUT that calls on lawmakers to re-invest in public colleges and universities and reverse decades worth of defunding. Public higher education, Werner said, should be one of the state’s most important investments.

Community colleges play an especially important role in our society, Werner said, because they are accessible to everyone. “It really is democracy in action,” he said. “Community colleges are a springboard for students — that’s available to anybody — and will speed them on their way to greater achievements in life.”

James Werner

James Werner has been an English professor at Westchester Community College since 2003. A devoted reader, Werner knew from an early age that he wanted to create a space for meaningful discussion. “What I like best about teaching is really the classroom … being in the classroom with a bunch of smart people, talking about ideas that matter,” Werner said.

From the start, Werner was an active member of his local, the Westchester CC Federation of Teachers. He served as a grievance officer, then vice president, and has been president of the local since 2019.

With Werner’s help, the local successfully negotiated a six-year contract last year, revised its constitution, and has been actively building alliances with other locals and legislators.

During that time, Werner has also been a leading proponent of A New Deal for Higher Ed, a campaign co-sponsored by NYSUT that calls on lawmakers to re-invest in public colleges and universities and reverse decades worth of defunding. Public higher education, Werner said, should be one of the state’s most important investments.

Community colleges play an especially important role in our society, Werner said, because they are accessible to everyone. “It really is democracy in action,” he said. “Community colleges are a springboard for students — that’s available to anybody — and will speed them on their way to greater achievements in life.”

Constance Griffin

Constance Griffin has been caring for students as a school nurse for 32 years. As a registered nurse at Valley Central School District, Griffin plays an active role in safeguarding students’ health and safety, and ministers to both chronic and acute conditions. She takes pride in watching students grow and learn to care for themselves independently.

School nurses also help with preventive care, she said, including hearing and vision screenings and physicals for athletics. “As a school nurse, we may be the first to observe and identify changes, and we also can see the long-term effects of our care and how we help students achieve,” Griffin said.

A national board-certified nurse, Griffin sits on the steering committee for NYSUT’s School Nurse Connection, which provides valuable training, on-the-job support, and advocacy for this underrepresented sector of the healthcare industry. Griffin has also been part of NYSUT’s Collective Care Team advocacy efforts and helped push for legislation that would develop school health and mental health professionals-to-student ratios in public schools and mandate all school districts and BOCES employ at least one registered professional nurse in each school building; currently, districts are not required to have RNs at every school.

“The biggest thing I can get across is the value of school nurses,” said Griffin. “They keep children in school healthy and ready to learn.”

Maria Paradiso

Maria Paradiso exemplifies the very best of healthcare professionalism and union advocacy.

A highly skilled registered nurse in the recovery room at NYU Langone Hospital — Brooklyn, Paradiso is recognized for her unwavering commitment to patient well-being. Colleagues and patients alike praise her as an “exceptional caregiver” who delivers not only outstanding clinical care but also compassionate, humanitarian support. Throughout the pandemic, she worked tirelessly to secure critical resources and protections to support her colleagues. “COVID was a warzone. We lost a lot of nurses and doctors … a lot of colleagues.”

Beyond the bedside, Paradiso is a fearless and dedicated leader within the United Federation of Teachers. She is a powerful voice in the fight for systemic improvements in healthcare, particularly in addressing chronic understaffing in hospitals. Her advocacy underscores a deep commitment to her colleagues and the communities they serve.

Paradiso has also demonstrated remarkable courage in holding hospital leadership accountable, challenging what she sees as an undervaluing of nurses’ contributions. “If I see that there is something wrong, I have to speak up. Not only for my patients, but for my colleagues,” Paradiso said. During contract negotiations, she stood firmly with her fellow nurses, emphasizing their resilience and willingness to take collective action if necessary.