Kerry Kennedy, President of RFK Human Rights: “This recognition is a personal honor and a reminder that the pursuit of human rights demands boldness, compassion and an unshakable commitment to justice.”

Kerry Kennedy: “I march with Coalition of Immokalee Workers to demand dignity and respect for farmworkers. I march for fair wages and humane working conditions.”

It is our great pleasure to share the news that Kerry Kennedy — a longtime ally of farmworkers, the CIW, and of human rights defenders everywhere — has been awarded the prestigious Oscar Romero Human Rights Award by the University of Dayton’s Human Rights Center last month in Ohio. Recognized for her tireless dedication to advancing justice for all, Kerry Kennedy leads RFK Human Rights, an internationally respected rights organization that has stood with the CIW for decades, providing vital support to the cause of farm labor human rights and helping the farmworker community in countless ways to forge the groundbreaking Fair Food Program.

During her stewardship of RFK Human Rights, Kerry Kennedy heard — and answered — the clarion call for justice emanating from the tomato fields of Immokalee in the early years of the Campaign for Fair Food. And after visiting the small agricultural town and meeting with CIW members and leaders, Kerry quickly became a dedicated ally of the cause for Fair Food. The farmworkers’ vision of a more modern, more human agricultural industry was still a distant dream, but the CIW’s fearless work fighting modern-day slavery had caught Kerry’s, and her mother Ethel Kennedy’s, keen eye. Together, Kerry and her mother recognized three CIW members — Romeo Ramirez, Julia Gabriel, and Lucas Benitez — for their exceptional courage and commitment with the 2003 RFK Human Rights Award at a gala award ceremony in the US Senate.

That national recognition helped put the CIW on the map, drawing widespread attention from media, allies, and corporations alike. Thanks in part to this new national spotlight, the CIW reached an historic, legally-binding agreement with Taco Bell’s parent company Yum! Brands in 2005 — the first of what would become 14 Fair Food agreements. The Taco Bell agreement marked he first concrete step towards the launch of the Fair Food Program in 2010 and the birth of the new paradigm for protecting human rights in global supply chains, the Worker-driven Social Responsibility model.

For the next twenty years, Kerry and her mother, who recently passed away after a lifetime of fighting for civil and economic rights around the globe, remained outspoken champions for the cause of farmworker human rights: they marched with us during major actions, spoke at shareholder and investor meetings, penned powerful editorials, and met with food industry and p0litical leaders alike to help us forge a brighter future for farmworkers from Florida to California, and beyond. 

Not long ago, Kerry Kennedy told the story of her family’s history of support for farm labor justice spanning more than half a century, sharing a memory of her mother and father, Sen. Robert F. Kennedy, standing up for farmworkers in California organizing with the Cesar Chavez and the UFW, writing: 

… Daddy spoke passionately about the need for fair treatment and better wages for farm workers—working behind the scenes to broker negotiations between UFW and the growers, and finding a peaceful resolution to the labor dispute. In the heat of the struggle, he had a fiery exchange with the Kern County sheriff, who argued for arresting peaceful protesters—not for any crime committed, but on the assumption that they might break the law.

Daddy pushed back: “How can you arrest somebody if they haven’t violated the law?” The sheriff doubled down: “They’re ready to violate the law.” Daddy didn’t hesitate in his response: “Could I suggest that, in the interim period—the luncheon period—the sheriff and the district attorney take the time to read the Constitution of the United States?” The sheriff was caught in the undeniable truth of Daddy’s words. Because at the heart of it all, this wasn’t just about one protest or one dispute—it was about justice, about the fundamental rights enshrined in the Constitution that no badge or title could erase.

In 1968, Daddy joined Chavez in Delano once again, this time to help break Chávez’s 25-day fast—an act of solidarity for the nonviolent farm worker movement.

Years later, in 1988, in a personal act of penance for not having done enough to stop growers from spraying toxic pesticides on farm workers, Chavez embarked on his last great fast. I was honored to join Cesar when he broke bread at the end of the fast, along with Mum, Jesse Jackson, Alec Baldwin and others. I took up the fast, drinking only water for three days. I cannot imagine how Chavez endured his fast for 36 days.

Today, Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights continues the fight for farmworkers’ rights, honoring a legacy built on decades of advocacy for fair wages, dignity, and the fair treatment of those who work the fields.

On behalf of all of us within the Fair Food Nation, we offer our sincerest congratulations to Kerry Kennedy, the 2025 Oscar Romero Human Rights Award recipient!

For more on Kerry and the prestigious Oscar Romero Human Rights Award, here below is an excerpt from the University of Dayton’s release:

University of Dayton human rights award to honor Kerry Kennedy

For 40 years, Kerry Kennedy has worked on the frontlines of human rights protection around the world. For her commitment and impact, the University of Dayton Human Rights Center will honor Kennedy with its Oscar Romero Human Rights Award.

“Kerry Kennedy’s leadership in the global human rights movement is genuine, thorough and impactful. Her long-standing solidarity with human rights defenders, like those that embody Saint Oscar Romero’s legacy, fully expresses our Catholic mission and Marianist values; and makes her a deserving recipient of the Romero Award,” University of Dayton Human Rights Center Executive Director Natalie Hudson said about Kennedy, the seventh of Ethel and U.S. Sen. Robert F. Kennedy’s 11 children and president of the non-profit Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights…

“The University of Dayton Romero Human Rights Award is a powerful tribute to Saint Oscar Romero’s unwavering courage and sacrifice in the fight for justice. His fearless advocacy for the poor and disenfranchised continues to inspire us all to challenge oppression, amplify marginalized voices and uphold the dignity of every human being,” said Kennedy, author of The New York Times best seller Being Catholic Now, as well as Speak Truth to Power and Robert F. Kennedy: Ripples of Hope…

Created in 2000, the University of Dayton Romero Human Rights Award is presented to an individual or organization promoting the dignity of all human beings and alleviating human suffering. It honors the ministry and martyrdom of Saint Oscar Romero, a Salvadoran archbishop slain while officiating at a Mass because of his vocal defense of the human rights of the poor and disenfranchised.

Kennedy’s ties to the University and Saint Romero date back nearly four decades.

She began her human rights career as an intern with Amnesty International in El Salvador in 1981 the year after Romero’s assassination. In 2002, Kennedy was part of the University’s Distinguished Speaker Series discussing Speak Truth to Power, her book chronicling the lives and struggles of 51 human rights defenders from 41 countries. More recently, the Human Rights Center has partnered with Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights on national and international human rights advocacy projects.

United by a commitment to realize her father’s dream of a more just and peaceful world, Kennedy and her team of human rights attorneys, experts and advocates work on issues including civic space protection, reducing the scope and power of mass incarceration, advancing the rights and dignity of workers, and training the next generation of human rights defenders through human rights education.

Kennedy has received honors from President Lech Walesa of Poland for aiding the Solidarity movement; the humanitarian award from the congress of Nobel Peace Prize laureates; and honorary doctorates of law from Le Moyne College and the University of San Francisco School of Law.

She has served on the boards of the United States Institute of Peace and Human Rights First; and the advisory committees for the Association of American Indian Affairs, the Albert Schweitzer Institute and the Center for Victims of Torture…