Janella T. Hinds serves as Secretary-Treasurer of the New York City Central Labor Council, AFL-CIO. She brings a wealth of experience in both labor and education to her work at the NYC CLC, and to her role as Vice President for Academic High Schools for the United Federation of Teachers.

Janella worked from 1996 to 2004 as a social studies teacher, dean, student council advisor and conflict resolution specialist at G. W. Wingate and South Shore HSs and the School for International Studies. For the following two years, she was the public policy director for the New York State AFL-CIO.

Janella joined the staff of the United Federation of Teachers in 2006, and was elected Vice President of Academic High Schools in 2012. 

Janella has been a champion of equity for students and a more meaningful voice for educators across the broad spectrum of the city’s schools. She has convened task forces to address salient issues across the divergent academic high school landscape: from test-based admissions policies for the city's elite specialized high schools to the challenges confronting schools serving students most at risk.

Janella’s advocacy on behalf of students, families and labor — both in-service and retired — spans from education-based affiliations to an executive board membership at a healthcare rights group.

Janella is a delegate to the annual conventions of the National Education Association, the American Federation of Teachers and the AFT’s state affiliate, New York State United Teachers (NYSUT). She is a member of the AFT’s black and Latino caucuses, the A. Philip Randolph Institute, the NAACP and the Delta Sigma Theta Sorority and sits on the executive board of the Medicare Rights Center.

Janella earned her bachelor's degree in sociology with a concentration in African American studies from Princeton University and her master's in social studies education from New York University.