Harry Bridges Institute President Dave Arian (right) handed over his position to HBI Executive Director Shannon Donato (left) at the HBI Board of Directors meeting in San Francisco April 16. The board members voted for Donato to take over and then launched a new initiative to educate the current generation of union members on the importance of building on their rich heritage of fighting for workers rights.
“My first challenge is to help Institute members in other West Coast port cities to build the strong community links we have forged in the Ports of Long Beach and Los Angeles,” said Donato. “I am going to have to hit the road and help other communities embrace the legacy of Harry Bridges and the importance of building power for working families.”
The board of the HBI selected Donato to replace founding president Arian who stepped down after 11 years at the helm of the organization. Recently elected as president of longshore Local 13, Arian’s new duties will keep him focused on his local, but he will continue to serve the Institute as a board member.
“I have enjoyed my time with the Harry Bridges Institute, but because Shannon Donato is such a capable leader it made it much easier for me to step down as the president of the board,” Arian said. “I have worked day-to-day with her and I know she will continue to expand the programs and resources of the Institute in new and exciting ways.”
Donato came to the HBI in 2001 as the event coordinator for the hugely successful 100th anniversary of the birth of Harry Bridges. Shortly after that event she was named as executive director of the institute and has been responsible for running the day-to-day programs of the Institute as well as spearheading such critical community projects as the Adopt-a-Family Program that supported striking and locked-out members of the UFCW last fall and winter.
The HBI was launched in 1993 as a non-profit education institute to carry forward its namesake’s legacy of innovation and his commitment to bettering the lives of working families.
In addition to educating working families about Harry Bridges through productions such as “From Wharf Rats to Lords of the Docks” by Ian Ruskin, the Institute works to maintain his commitment to civil rights for all workers by sponsoring special Juneteenth celebrations honoring Black workers and an annual Cesar Chavez tribute honoring the founder of the United Farm Workers, as well as events honoring working-class women and celebrating the life-long commitment of union members in the community.
