Alphonso Mayfield
“Ordinary people should have the power to shape their communities and their economies.”
Alphonso Mayfield led FPSU for more than a decade and changed what a union could be in Florida. He believed workers are whole people, shaped by their neighborhoods, their housing costs, and the decisions made about their communities. So he built a union that showed up in all of those places.
Under his leadership, FPSU became a community union. Our members organized at work and where they live. We helped lead the People’s Budget Review in St. Petersburg, launched Unify the Community in Palm Beach County, and supported the Set Transformation Fund in Delray Beach so residents could shape the development happening on their own land.
Alphonso passed away in January 2026. The institutions he built were designed to outlast him, and they will. So will the leaders he developed, the relationships he invested in, and the vision he never stopped pushing toward.
Now FPSU President Afifa Khaliq and longtime organizer Eric Brakken have written about his life and legacy for Convergence Magazine.
What he taught us
- Invest in relationships before strategy.
- Hold a clear and audacious vision.
- Be willing to build many kinds of vehicles for change.
- Confront racial division directly.
- Think and act intergenerationally.
