--- description: Find out why Bonnie Castillo is one of the 100 most influential people of 2020. title: Bonnie Castillo: The 100 Most Influential People of 2020 image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blte41d4be624dacc6b/698a124e97cdffe6276bb2ac/time-100-Bonnie-Castillo.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 --- Sep 22, 2020 # Bonnie Castillo by Dolores Huerta  Bonnie Castillo (illo image) Bonnie Castillo (illo image)Courtesy National Nurses United As a [registered nurse](https://time.com/5817435/covid-19-mental-health-coronavirus/ "undefined") and executive director of [National Nurses United and the California Nurses Association,](https://www.nationalnursesunited.org/california-nurses-association "undefined") [Bonnie Castillo](https://www.nytimes.com/2020/06/09/us/09IHW-nurses-union-bonnie-castillo-ppe-healthcare.html "undefined") is a visionary and a leader. She was among the first to call attention to the [lack of personal protective equipment](https://time.com/5823983/coronavirus-ppe-shortage/ "undefined") (PPE) available to nurses across the U.S. during the [COVID-19 pandemic](https://time.com/5800901/coronavirus-map/ "undefined"), and [fought layoffs and pay cuts](https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2020-05-02/coronavirus-california-healthcare-workers-layoffs-furloughs "undefined") that nurses faced despite their vital frontline work. Bonnie’s commitment to the [labor movement and unions](https://time.com/5663465/labor-day-union-history/ "undefined") is unwavering; she states that unions are the foundation of a democratic society. Bonnie does not just work to heal patients; she works to heal society. As a mother and grandmother of nurses, I thank Bonnie, and all nurses—including those who have died while serving—for their heroic work in this critical time. _Huerta is a civil rights activist who co-founded what is now the United Farm Workers of America_ ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"Article","@id":"https://time.com/collections/100-most-influential-people-2020/5888341/bonnie-castillo/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/collections/100-most-influential-people-2020/5888341/bonnie-castillo/"},"headline":"Bonnie Castillo","datePublished":"2020-09-22T23:16:46.000Z","dateModified":"2026-07-21T07:22:17.037Z","description":"","url":"https://time.com/collections/100-most-influential-people-2020/5888341/bonnie-castillo/","keywords":["TIME 100","T100 2020","T100 2020 Leaders"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blte41d4be624dacc6b/698a124e97cdffe6276bb2ac/time-100-Bonnie-Castillo.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/blte41d4be624dacc6b/698a124e97cdffe6276bb2ac/time-100-Bonnie-Castillo.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-2020/5888341/bonnie-castillo/","name":"Bonnie Castillo"}}]}] ```