President
In April 2024, Jennifer S. Higgins was elected AFT New Jersey’s president, and she assumed leadership of the state federation on July 1.
Previously, Higgins served three consecutive terms as the state federation’s treasurer. In that position, she supervised the revision of the organization’s chart of accounts, negotiated the lease for its current office space, and served on the search committees for the communications coordinator and two staff representative positions. She also spent two years as a vice president of AFT New Jersey’s Higher Education division.
Prior to and concurrent with her AFT New Jersey tenure, Higgins has held other positions rooted in education, labor and leadership. In 2006, she became an active participant in AFT Local 1904 at Montclair State University. Higgins began as a member of the professional staff negotiating team and an alternate delegate to the Council of New Jersey State College Locals. In May 2008, she was first elected as an officer to the local and subsequently held the positions of associate vice president for personnel (grievances), vice president for internal affairs, acting president, professional staff negotiations coordinator, vice president for external affairs, and chair of the COPE (Committee on Political Education) Committee.
Higgins has been active with the New Jersey State AFL-CIO as a speaker at its Women in Leadership Development (WILD) Conference and its COPE Convention. In November 2021, the N.J. State AFL-CIO nominated her to the State Health Benefits Commission. She serves as one of the two labor representatives on the commission, which continuously looks out for state public employees and their rights as they relate to health benefits. Higgins also is a participant in two central labor councils, serving as a delegate to the Essex-West Hudson Central Labor Council and as a trustee on the Northwest Jersey Central Labor Council.