Afifa Khaliq
President, SEIU Florida Public Services Union (FPSU)
Afifa Khaliq is the President of the SEIU Florida Public Services Union (FPSU), representing more than 17,500 public sector workers across Florida, including school support staff, municipal employees, and frontline workers who sustain communities every day.
Afifa is a strategic labor and nonprofit leader with over 20 years of experience advancing worker power, social justice, and international development. She has built a career at the intersection of organizing, policy, communications, and coalition-building—leading campaigns that challenge systemic inequality and expand opportunity for working families.
Prior to becoming President, Afifa served in multiple senior leadership roles at FPSU, including Chief of Staff, Director of Programs, Communications Director, and State Director of the Fair Economy Campaign. In these roles, she led statewide campaigns on housing justice, fair taxation, corporate accountability, and public education funding, including the Florida For All “Fund Our Future” campaign. She has overseen strategy across organizing, bargaining, political advocacy, communications, and operations—while mentoring staff, building leadership pipelines, and strengthening partnerships with elected officials, labor allies, and community organizations.
Afifa believes community unions are essential because workers are whole people whose lives extend far beyond the workplace. She argues that labor must evolve from an institution focused on contracts into a movement rooted in communities—one that addresses housing, education, healthcare, and economic opportunity. In her view, workers must have the power to shape their own economies, rather than relying on billionaires who profit from their labor and influence policies that do not reflect workers’ needs.
Afifa’s leadership extends beyond Florida. Her work has included collaborations with global institutions such as the United Nations, USAID, the European Union, and other international partners, where she designed and led programs on governance, human rights, women’s empowerment, and youth engagement.
In addition to her union leadership, Afifa serves as a board leader and advisor across key organizations building multiracial, immigrant, and faith-based power. She is a board member of the Florida Immigrant Coalition, Florida For All, and serves as Founder and Advisor to the South Florida Muslim Federation. Through these roles, she works to strengthen civic engagement, economic justice, and inclusive representation across Florida.
As President, Afifa is leading FPSU through a defining moment for workers in the state. Amid legislative attacks on unions and growing economic pressures on working families, she is advancing a bold vision—“Bigger, Bolder, Better”—focused on building membership, developing worker leaders, and securing the power needed to protect and expand collective bargaining rights.
Afifa is widely recognized for her ability to connect strategy with storytelling—centering the lived experiences of workers to drive organizing, policy change, and public narrative. She believes that lasting change is built through organized people, strong leadership, and coalitions that reflect the full diversity and strength of Florida’s communities.
