Linda Foley
Linda Foley (BSJ77) is a member of the Medill Hall of Achievement.
Foley is currently the president of the Berger-Marks Foundation, an organization that helps women organize into unions. She was elected President of The Newspaper Guild/CWA, AFL-CIO, CLC, in October 1995 and was sworn in as a Vice President of the Communications Workers of America, AFL-CIO, CLC, in July 1997.
Foley was the first woman in the 60-plus year history of the Guild to hold the office. She was re-elected in 1997, 1999 and again in 2002. She was elected Secretary-Treasurer in 1993 and also was the first woman elected to that position. She was instrumental in negotiating and then implementing the Guild's merger with the CWA.
After graduating from Medill, she worked the copy desk at the Lexington, Kentucky, Herald-Leader. She also served as a reporter, feature writer, and makeup editor. By age 24 she was president of Local 229 of the Newspaper Guild. In 1984, she went to work full time for the guild in Washington, D.C. She was elected secretary-treasurer of the Guild in 1993 and Guild President in 1995.