Joanne M. Sanders was unanimously elected International Vice President on February 1, 2018, at the Mid-Winter General Executive Board meeting in Los Angeles. In addition, she serves as the Director of the Trade Show and Display Work Department. She is a member of IATSE Locals 30 and 893 in Indianapolis, serving as Business Agent for 893. Sanders is also the Chair of the IATSE Women’s Committee, a Labor Trustee for the National Benefit Funds, National Secretary of the Coalition of Labor Union Women, and Financial Secretary-Treasurer of the Hoosier Heart Land Area Labor Federation.

Over the past 30 years, Sanders has been an activist in local, state, and federal politics in Indiana, advocating for workers’ rights, women’s issues, and overall civil rights. She was elected to three consecutive terms as Councilor, at Large, on the Indianapolis City-County Council, where she spent four years as Vice President of the Council and another four years as Minority Leader. She has served on numerous community boards and commissions, including two terms as President of the Indianapolis Marion County Public Library and the Indy Fringe Theatre.

Joanne holds a bachelor’s degree in Industrial Management from Purdue University and a Master’s in Public Administration from Indiana University. Before working full time for the IATSE, Joanne served as the Director of the Indiana AFL-CIO Labor Institute for Training, where she developed and administered grant programs for dislocated workers, skills for new technologies, and school to work training. Prior to that, she served as Fiscal Officer for several departments at Indiana University’s Indianapolis Campus.