Sarumathi Jayaraman
Saru Jayaraman is a labor rights advocate and co-founder of Restaurant Opportunities Centers United (ROC), an organization fighting for improved working conditions in the restaurant industry.
Saru Jayaraman became involved in this work after 9/11, when she helped displaced Windows on the World restaurant workers.
Her activism focuses on issues like raising the tipped minimum wage, combating discrimination, and promoting paid sick leave.
Jayaraman's approach combines research, worker organizing, and consumer education to push for industry-wide changes.
She has written extensively on restaurant labor issues and teaches at the University of California, Berkeley.