Carol Pier

Carol Pier is a lawyer with over 25 years of experience in the field of international labor rights, providing strategic leadership and management in public and nonprofit sectors and advancing workers’ rights through international technical assistance; advocacy; diplomacy; trade negotiations, monitoring, and enforcement; policymaking; stakeholder engagement; and research, analysis, and reporting. 

From 2019 through 2025, she was the Managing Director for International Labor at the American Institutes for Research (AIR), co-leading a $65M portfolio of international labor technical assistance projects, primarily focused on strengthening governmental labor law enforcement, labor justice administration, and labor rights awareness and understanding among workers and employers, with a particular focus on Mexico. Before joining AIR, Carol served for two years as the Director of Workers’ Rights and Global Programs at the American Bar Association Rule of Law Initiative.

From 2009 through January 2017, she was part of the political leadership at the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) Bureau of International Labor Affairs (ILAB), leading the agency as Deputy Undersecretary beginning in 2014. In that capacity, she led DOL’s efforts and engagement on international labor and global supply chain matters, including interagency, bilaterally, multilaterally, and with the U.S. Congress, international organizations, and union, civil society, and private sector stakeholders. Before joining ILAB, she worked on international labor rights and trade issues for Human Rights Watch, documenting workers’ rights violations around the world and engaging in related advocacy. 

Carol is a graduate of Harvard Law School and holds a B.A. from the University of Notre Dame. She speaks English and Spanish fluently.