Charlene Obernauer headshot

Charlene Obernauer

Executive Director, New York Committee for Occupational Safety and Health (NYCOSH)

Charlene Obernauer became NYCOSH’s executive director in January 2014. In her role as director, she oversees and develops the NYCOSH’s campaigns and advocacy work; bringing an innovative vision to NYCOSH that incorporates research, education, training, coalition building, and member development in order to create healthier jobs in New York State. She is the co-founder of the New York Healthy Nail Salons Coalition, a project founded by NYCOSH and Adhikaar; which successfully advocated with NYS Governor Andrew Cuomo for the passage of statewide legislation to combat wage theft and mitigate safety and health hazards in nail salons. The coalition continues to organize for a Nail Salon Minimum Standards Council to ensure that the legislation that they fought to pass is truly implemented in nail salons.

Charlene heralded the release of NYCOSH’s annual report, “Deadly Skyline” on construction fatalities in New York and is an advocate for safe construction. She has served on Manhattan Borough President Gale Brewer’s Construction Safety Task Force and has worked closely with the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office to increase reporting of unsafe worksites among immigrant workers. Most recently, legislation that she spent nearly a decade advocating for, Carlos’ Law, was signed by the Governor.

Prior to joining NYCOSH’s staff, Charlene served as executive director of Long Island Jobs with Justice. During her seven-year tenure at the organization, she tripled its budget and initiated a number of organizing projects including a bus riders’ union and a campaign to organize Wal-Mart workers. She got her start in organizing through solidarity work with the Coalition of Immokalee Workers, a group of farmworkers in Southern Florida.

Charlene sits on the advisory councils of the downstate occupational health clinics and is the Chair of New Immigrant Community Empowerment. Charlene has been featured in numerous publications, including MSNBC, the New York Times, ABC, CNN, Fox News, and many more. She received her B.A. from Stony Brook University and her M.A. in Liberal Studies from the Graduate Center at CUNY.