Saba Waheed

Saba Waheed is the director of the UCLA Labor Center. Prior to this role, she spent 11 years as the center’s research director. In her time at the UCLA Labor Center, she has built the research infrastructure for, and led, more than 40 studies in partnership with community and labor organizations.

Among these was the first-ever study of domestic work employers, a multi-year study of workers and learners, and the first national study on nail salon workers and owners.

She has also conducted research related to gig workers, young workers, Black workers, LGBTQ+ grocery workers, retail workers, fast-food workers, and restaurant workers. With nearly 20 years of experience developing community-led research projects, Waheed’s work is grounded in the “research justice” framework, which she co-developed to address structural inequities in research. 

In addition to her research work, she is an award-winning radio producer and writer. She co-produces the podcast Re:Work, a storytelling show about workers, and she co-wrote and co-produced the animated film, “I am a #YoungWorker.”

Previously, she was a part of the shared leadership team and the research director of DataCenter and a researcher at the Urban Justice Center. Waheed received an M.A. in anthropology from Columbia University and a B.A. in English and religious studies from the University of California, Berkeley.