El Schoepf (they/them) joined the American Guild of Musical Artists as a Business Representative in November 2023. They bring experience in labor organizing, counseling, music performance, and instrument repair to the role.
Prior to joining AGMA, El served as an organizer, union steward, and bargaining committee member for Lisa Operators United (LOU). LOU was the first union composed entirely of remote, part-time workers to successfully win their union vote with Communications Workers of America’s Campaign to Organize Digital Employees (CODE-CWA). As part of organizing their own shop, El completed Organizer Trainings with CWA and Industrial Workers of the World (IWW).
El’s passion for worker advocacy is informed by their own career trajectory in music and counseling psychology. They studied music composition, piano, and clarinet performance in college, and clarinet performance and musicology at the graduate level. El went on to work in musical instrument repair before returning to school to become a therapist specializing in performing artists’ issues. El holds a Master of Science in Counseling Psychology and postgraduate certificates in Gestalt Therapy and Psychedelic-Assisted Therapy. They worked in college counseling, private practice, and nonprofit psychedelic peer support before finding their calling in labor organizing – coming full circle to advocate for performing artists’ rights.
Originally from central Pennsylvania, El has lived in many places, including Ohio, Hawai’i, Arizona, and Maryland's Eastern Shore. They now call Baltimore City home.