A committed labor, civil rights, and community activist, Yvonne Wheeler has spent her life championing the rights of working people and is continuing that tradition as the newly elected President of the Los Angeles County Federation of Labor, the second largest Central Labor Council in the country. Growing up as the daughter of a longtime union activist in Baton Rouge, Louisiana during the civil rights movement. At an early age, she applied the principles of direct action and civil disobedience when as a result of the 1965 Desegregation Decree, she was forced to attend desegregated Baton Rouge High School. The school district refused to provide school buses for Wheeler and her classmates, so she joined a group of African American students who marched on district offices, producing some arrests but compelled officials to provide the buses.

Wheeler attended Southern University before being married and working for South Central Bell (SBC), where she labored from 1978 to 1984.

Wheeler's fearlessness in defending aggrieved union members and confronting abusive practices by management convinced her co-workers to elect her as their local’s next union vice president from 1996 to 1999. She focused on organizing, legislation, and women's equity. In 1999, she became the first African American elected as president of the Communications Workers of America Local 9586, and ensured that her successor was also African American.

In 1996, she became President of the Los Angeles Chapter and 1st Vice President of the California State A. Philip Randolph Institute, an AFL-CIO-sponsored group, bridging the gap between the African American community and the labor movement through civil rights campaigns, voter registration, and job training. She managed a drive among African Americans to defeat former Gov. Pete Wilson's anti-labor Proposition 226, dramatically increasing voter turnout.

In 2002, she was recruited by the AFL-CIO as a national field representative. Her credits include crucial Los Angeles area campaigns, such as the longshoreman union lockout, supermarket strike/lockout, and helping to defeat Gov. Schwarzenegger's 2005 special election initiatives. Wheeler was co-chair of the Los Angeles Immigrant Workers Freedom Ride in 2003, championing the plight of immigrant workers.

Prior to joining AFSCME International Wheeler was the AFL-CIO Senior Field Representative covering all Southern California. She served as the Area Field Services Director for the American Federation of State County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME. Working directly with AFSCME’s Councils and local unions, she also implemented and directed AFSCME’s programmatic goals.

Currently, she serves as the President of the Los Angeles County Federation of Labor, and is the Vice Chair of the California Democratic Party’s Labor Caucus. She is a proud mother of two, daughter L'Toya, and son Daryl, and even prouder grandmother of two, Kamryn and Kaleb Tate.