This is the second article in a series describing the first six years, from 2014 to 2020, in the transformation of one of the largest local unions in the United States, United Teachers Los Angeles (UTLA). The transformation continues today under Cecily Myart-Cruz’s presidency.

The Los Angeles teachers’ union was profoundly influenced by Jane McAlevey, writes former president Alex Caputo-Pearl. If the loving and assertive push was her trademark, then thinking audaciously big was its complement.