Aaron Vanek (he/him) is a Minneapolis-born organizer, climber, and actor living in Brooklyn, NY. Aaron began his journey with the labor movement in 2021 after graduating from New York University with a degree in Drama. Auditioning in his spare time while relying on income from a job at the front desk of his local climbing gym exposed Aaron to the stark realities of working in the climbing industry, and catalyzed him to begin his first organizing campaign. He and his coworkers would go on to overwhelmingly win their union election and join Workers United in 2022, becoming the third-ever union climbing gym in the nation. Following the ratification of industry-first union contracts at his own workplace, Aaron now works as an organizer at Workers United, collaborating with climbing workers across the country to transform their gyms into spaces where their voices are truly heard. Aaron plans on beginning law school in fall 2025, and later continuing his work in the labor movement as an attorney.