Bio

The Rev. Richard Witt has served as Executive Director of Rural & Migrant Ministry since 1991. Named among just a handful of individuals by City & State New York as both a Top 100 Faith Leader and a Top 100 Labor Leader, Richard has long been at the forefront of fighting for the rights of farmworkers and rural workers. For two decades, he was a powerful force in gaining passage of the Farm Laborers Fair Labor Practices Act, and is well-known throughout New York State and across the country for his longtime advocacy for marginalized workers and their families.

Under Richard’s leadership, RMM was invited in 2023 by the Clinton Global Initiative to make a Commitment to Action, specifically for the organization’s work in bringing the New York Episcopal Federal Credit Union to rural workers across the state. Richard’s passion for financial equity is aligned with his profound calling to fight for social and racial justice, as well as dignity and honor, for rural and farmworking families.

Ordained as an Episcopal priest, Richard has served in congregations in New York and Massachusetts and as a chaplain at Vassar College. He has worked for a number of nonprofit organizations in Massachusetts and New York, including Greater Boston Legal Services, Oficina Hispana, and the Episcopal City Mission. A Trinity Transformational Fellow with Trinity Church Wall Street, Richard has been honored with the Kennedy-Sam Hirsch Award from the New York State Labor-Religion Coalition, the President’s Award from Marist College and by the Westchester ACLU.