Member Spotlight: Kathleen Ruff

Signs reading “Equal Pay for Equal Work” bobbed in the crowd. As chants rose up, Kathleen Ruff reasoned with her colleagues about who should take the podium: the political figures they had recruited or one of the workers whom Ruff, a career human rights activist, had developed as a union leader.

“She was very intimidated — she had never done anything like this before,” said Ruff. “To me it was very clear that what this worker had to say was the most important and powerful message of anyone at the rally.”

When the worker finally worked up the courage to step up to the podium, it was her words that catalyzed the multi-day strike at the nursing home in Victoria, British Columbia, that helped secure benefits for immigrant workers.

Ruff looks back on that moment in 1971 as her reason for organizing and ultimately serving on Corporate Accountability’s board of directors.

“Without such selfless acts, major policy reforms are not possible,” said Ruff. “And policy advances depend on the ongoing vigilance of grassroots movements and an informed electorate.”

Ruff had counted herself a supporter of Corporate Accountability since the Nestlé boycott. But when a staff organizer asked to stay at her home on a campaign trip ten years ago, Ruff realized how deeply the organization shared her commitment to social change from the ground up.

“After a few days getting to know Stacey Folsom, we forged a connection, and I’ve been an active member of Corporate Accountability ever since.”

In addition to her post on Corporate Accountability International’s board, Ruff also works with the Lito Institute on International Affairs and the Northwest Institute on Bioregional Research. She is the founder of RightOnCanada.ca, an online portal for citizen action on human rights in Canada.