Biography
GREG ASBED is a co-founder of the Coalition of Immokalee Workers (CIW) and a principal author of the CIW's Fair Food Program, a breakthrough, worker-driven approach to verifiable corporate accountability recognized by observers from the United Nations to the White House for its unique effectiveness in combatting forced labor, sexual violence, and other gross human rights violations in agriculture. Mr. Asbed coordinates relations among farmworkers, global food retailers (including Walmart, McDonald’s, and Sodexo), and agricultural industry leaders in the development, implementation, and expansion of the Fair Food Program's innovative rights standards, worker education processes, and market-backed enforcement mechanisms. On behalf of the CIW, Mr. Asbed has accepted the 2013 Roosevelt Freedom From Want Medal, the 2014 Clinton Global Citizen Award, and the 2015 President Medal for Extraordinary Efforts in Combatting Human Trafficking. Mr. Asbed also heads up the CIW’s communications efforts, is a lead strategist in the CIW’s national consumer movement, and has spent the past 18 seasons harvesting watermelons across the Southeastern United States.