Jessica Govea Thorbourne

Jessica Govea Thorbourne was a labor activist, United Farm Worker union leader and educator. She is best known for her lifelong efforts to achieve justice, equality, education and economic opportunity for Latino laborers. Jessica was born in 1947 in Porterville, California to Juan and Margaret Govea, who were migrant workers. By the age of two, she had already began working in the fields. At an early age, she began leading boycotts, such as her very successful grape boycott in Canada. She graduated valedictorian from Bakersfield High School, and attended college for one year before deciding to join forces with the United Farm Workers Union.

Jessica became the national director of organizing at the United Farm Workers Union, working very closely with Cesar Chavez. At age 21, she led boycotts in Canada that led to UFW Union contracts with a California grape company. Additionally, she worked to raise awareness for Latino fieldworkers’ exposure to dangerous pesticides. She then went on to become a labor educator at Rutgers University and Cornell University.

Jessica died in 2005.