Mary Kay Henry, the eldest sister of ten siblings, grew up in and around Detroit, Michigan. She credits her organizing skill to her years herding her brothers and sisters to school and her commitment to social justice to her Catholic education, particularly two nuns who helped her see first hand through charity work in hard hit communities the importance and dignity of work for all people.
After graduating from Michigan State with a degree in Urban Policy Planning and Industrial Labor Relations in 1979, Henry joined Service Employees International Union (SEIU), an organization of 2.2 million members, as a research specialist. During a year's training in California, she worked on campaigns for child care and public sector workers. Assigned next to Minneapolis, Henry learned and participated in all aspects of bargaining, organizing and legislative advocacy. She has served as Organizing Director for the union and head of the healthcare division. She has been a strong advocate for immigrant rights.
Known best for her organizing skills, Henry's vision and leadership has helped pave the way to groundbreaking agreements between SEIU and hospital chains such as Beverly Enterprises, Catholic Healthcare West, Tenet and HCA that united tens of thousands of members in SEIU. She played a significant role in creating the national Labor-Management Partnership at Kaiser Permanente, the nation's largest HMO. She was formerly a labor adviser to and member of the U.S. Catholic Conference of Bishops' Subcommittee on Catholic Health Care, and she has played a critical role in the union's fight to extend state health insurance coverage to children.
On May 8, 2010, the 73-member International Executive Board (IEB) of SEIU met in Washington DC to elect Executive Vice President Mary Kay Henry the 10th president of the union. Mary Kay Henry is the first woman to hold the position.