--- description: Find out why Mary Kay Henry is one of the 100 most influential people of 2020. title: Mary Kay Henry: The 100 Most Influential People of 2020 image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt06280eef886eefd2/698a125109208f21f34172e9/time-100-Mary-Kay-Henry.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 --- Sep 22, 2020 # Mary Kay Henry by Bishop William Barber II  Mary Kay Henry, international president of the Service Employees International Union, in New York on Dec. 5, 2019\. (Guerin Blask/The New York Times) Mary Kay Henry, international president of the Service Employees International Union, in New York on Dec. 5, 2019\. (Guerin Blask/The New York Times)Guerin Blask—The New York Times/Redux When [COVID-19 hit](https://time.com/5800901/coronavirus-map/ "undefined") and governors across the [U.S. began implementing shutdowns this spring](https://time.com/5852913/covid-second-wave/ "undefined"), my phone rang. It was [Mary Kay Henry](https://www.seiu.org/mary-kay-henry "undefined"). Politicians were talking about “[essential workers](https://time.com/collection/coronavirus-heroes/5816885/frontline-workers-coronavirus/ "undefined").” Crowds were cheering at the shift changes outside hospitals. But as the leader of Service Employees International Union (SEIU), one of the largest labor unions in America, which represents millions of health care workers, among others, Mary Kay knew we needed to hear from the workers themselves. We agreed to co-host a weekly web show called _Walkout Wednesdays_ as a virtual picket line where they could tell their stories. Meanwhile, she continued to advocate and [win protections for workers on the front lines](https://time.com/5808992/healthcare-workers-lack-ppe/ "undefined"), including PPE guarantees, [hazard pay](https://time.com/5836736/essential-workers-hazard-pay/ "undefined"), extended health care and paid sick leave. Now she’s working to help get them to the polls. Poor and [low-income Americans have gotten poorer in this pandemic](https://time.com/5821212/coronavirus-low-income-communities/ "undefined"), even as billionaires and banks have seen their wealth increase. Mary Kay knows that our democracy cannot endure this extreme inequality. But she also knows that poor and low-income people of every color and creed can revive the heart of this democracy when they are empowered to rise up together and build a society that works for all of us. This is why she fights to give them a voice. _Barber is president of Repairers of the Breach and co-chair of the Poor People’s Campaign: A National Call for Moral Revival_ ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"Article","@id":"https://time.com/collections/100-most-influential-people-2020/5888339/mary-kay-henry/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/collections/100-most-influential-people-2020/5888339/mary-kay-henry/"},"headline":"Mary Kay Henry","datePublished":"2020-09-22T23:19:19.000Z","dateModified":"2026-07-21T07:22:15.832Z","description":"","url":"https://time.com/collections/100-most-influential-people-2020/5888339/mary-kay-henry/","keywords":["TIME 100","T100 2020","T100 2020 Leaders"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt06280eef886eefd2/698a125109208f21f34172e9/time-100-Mary-Kay-Henry.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"TIME Staff","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/time-staff/"}],"creator":"TIME Staff","articleSection":"","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt06280eef886eefd2/698a125109208f21f34172e9/time-100-Mary-Kay-Henry.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/collections/100-most-influential-people-2020/5888339/mary-kay-henry/","name":"Mary Kay Henry"}}]}] ```