Ann Miller is the Director of the Political/Legislative Affairs Department for the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, a political operation that has become one of the most influential labor voices on Capitol Hill. She leads a seasoned staff of grassroots organizers, issue advocates and analysts with the expertise and the relationships to get IBEW members heard.
Miller was born and raised in Wakefield, Mass., northwest of Boston. Although neither of her parents were union members, all six of her siblings have been union members their entire working lives. Miller has been a political analyst for the IBEW since the beginning of the year.
After graduating from Mount Holyoke College in 1985, Miller went to work in Massachusetts Sen. Edward M. Kennedy’s Boston office as the secretary to the office director, Barbara Souliotis. Souliotis was the first person Kennedy hired, and the only person who worked with Kennedy his entire 47-year political career.
After a year in Boston, Miller transferred to the D.C. office and became Kennedy’s scheduler and in 1987, his personal secretary. In 1992, Miller reprised her role as personal secretary for incoming secretary of labor, Robert Reich, a man Miller called “another true champion for workers.” When Reich left after Clinton’s first term, Miller also left, joining the AFL-CIO for a brief stint as then-President John Sweeney’s scheduler. She then joined the newly formed Alliance for Retired Americans, a grass roots organization of retired union members.
In 2003, Miller joined the political staff of the AFL-CIO as special assistant to the new political director, Karen Ackerman. Miller was the federation’s primary point of contact for candidates running for office and the Democratic National Committee. This meant reminding labor-endorsed candidates of the importance of organized labor on Election Day and holding them to their promises once they were in office.
In 2011, Miller was promoted to assistant political director at the AFL-CIO, where she served until her move to the IBEW. She said she had always been impressed by the IBEW members she met out in the field and their willingness to stand up and be heard, especially on issues that weren’t just their own.
After her appointment, Miller joined Washington D.C., Local 121, which represents federal employees including workers at the Government Printing Office and the Architect of the Capitol’s office.