Honoring Outstanding Organizers After a Historic Year of Growth

International President Kenneth W. Cooper shared this stunning figure, which represents the IBEW’s growth over the past 12 months, with attendees at the union’s annual Membership Development Conference in August.

“That’s more than we’ve organized in any year in the last half-century,” Cooper told the gathering of organizers in Chicago. “That’s 24,000 men and women whose lives have been made better thanks to the security and stability of IBEW membership.”

When Cooper took office in 2023, he set a goal to get the union to 1 million members by the end of the decade.

“That is now closer to reality than ever,” he said. “After decades of playing defense and clinging to what we had, we’re finally going on the offense, taking back work that’s rightfully ours.”

The three-day organizing conference closed by honoring organizers and business managers who distinguished themselves over the past year in support of the union’s effort to grow its ranks.

Here are the Local 71 winners recognized during the Membership Development Conference in Chicago:

Outside Construction Organizer of the Year: Calvin Martin

Calvin came on staff as an organizer just last year. But since then, Martin has brought into the IBEW more than 150 lineworkers and others, and he continues to look for ways to organize even more.