Carol Pier

Carol Pier is a lawyer with more than 20 years of experience in the field of international workers’ rights. She is presently the managing director for International Labor at AIR. Her areas of expertise include international labor-related technical assistance, advocacy, diplomacy, trade negotiations, policymaking, monitoring and enforcement, and research, analysis, and reporting.

Prior to joining AIR, Pier served as the Deputy Undersecretary for International Affairs at the U.S. Department of Labor from January 2014 until January 2017, leading the Bureau of International Labor Affairs' (ILAB) efforts to advance workers' rights, acceptable conditions of work, living standards, social protection, and inclusive economic growth and development around the world.

At AIR, Pier co-leads a portfolio of international labor technical assistance programming in Mexico and Honduras. The projects focus on strengthening government labor law enforcement, labor justice administration, and data-driven, strategic decision-making; supporting worker exercise of the right to organize and bargain collectively; and combatting gender-based discrimination in employment and the workplace.

Before joining ILAB in 2009, where she served first as Associate Deputy Undersecretary, Pier worked for ten years on international labor rights and trade issues for Human Rights Watch, the largest U.S.-based non-governmental organization dedicated to promoting and protecting human rights.