Pride Month CWA Leader Profile: Carol Whichard

Carol Whichard has been a proud member of CWA since 1974, starting her career with Pacific Telephone and Telegraph as a Splicing Tech in Napa, California. Always a trailblazer, Carol was the first woman hired into a field traditionally held only by men.

Throughout her personal and professional life Carol has been an advocate of working families, the LGBTQIA+ community, women in the workplace, building coalitions to advance workers’ rights and the value of empowering workers and CWA stewards through education.

Below are highlights of Carol’s adventures with CWA:

1974: Joined CWA Local 9411, representing workers in Napa, Sonoma, Vallejo and Benicia.

1986: Became a Steward for Local 9411.

1987: Was elected to the Executive Board of Local 9411.

1989: Attended first CWA Women’s Conference in Ventura, CA.

1990: Was elected as President of CWA Local 9411. Carol went on to be elected for 8 consecutive terms, serving CWA members for 24 years as their President.

1990: Attended first CWA convention held in Toronto, Canada.

1993-1996: Carol was appointed to serve on the CWA National Women’s Committee for a three year term.

1994: Carol merged Local 9411 with Local 9404, adding hundreds of new CWA members by organizing unrepresented workers and eventually represented CWA members in 7 Bay Area counties.

1994-2004: Carol was appointed by the CWA District 9 Vice President to serve as the CWA administrator to the HORIZONS training/re-training fund; a $16 million dollar program aimed at education for CWA members who want to further their careers and/or leave employment for other opportunities. As the CWA administrator, Carol created educational programs specifically designed to educate and empower CWA Officers and Stewards to better serve CWA members.

1995-current: Carol was appointed to serve on the Napa County Workforce Investment Board.

2000-2004: Carol served as the President of the Napa County Democratic Club.

2002-current: Carol worked with a group of gays and lesbians in Napa to form the Unity League, a social and civic group who would go on to form many LGBTQIA+ groups in Napa County.

2003-2008: Carol was appointed to serve on the Napa County Commission on the Status of Women. While serving on this Commission she founded the Ophelia Conference, a daylong conference designed for 9th grade girls to create a sense of self-esteem and empowerment as these girls headed into adulthood.

2006-2014: Carol was appointed to serve as the education chair for the CWA Northern California/Nevada Council (NCNC). Carol created the NCNC stewards conference, held annually to educate and empower Union Stewards and Officers.

2009-current: Carol is a founding member of the Progressive Women of Napa Valley, a group of influential women throughout Napa County who work tirelessly to elect progressive candidates to local offices and work to empower and train women who want to seek elected office.

2009-2014: Carol was elected by her peers to serve as Chair of the CWA NCNC.

2014: After serving CWA members for 24 years, Carol retired in December of 2014. She remains a lifelong member of CWA.

2017-current: Carol is a founding member of the Napa Working Families Coalition. She was awarded the Labor Backbone award in 2018 by the Napa-Solano Central Labor Council. Through this Coalition, Carol is continually working to take the ugly out of the word Union.

Carol continues to fight for the rights of our LGBTQIA+ communities and for the rights of working families. She lives in Napa, California with her sidekick, Sofie.