He left his job as a labor leader for the AFL-CIO to run the Community Action Program in 1965.
[1] Conway was born and grew up in Detroit[2] and received a BA in sociology from the University of Chicago.
[1] Conway enlisted the help of Robert Kennedy to aid the migrant farm workers under Cesar Chavez and to support Ted Watkins and his Watts Labor Community Action Committee.
[2] He was the first president of Common Cause from 1970 to 1975, a group that opposed the Vietnam War and lobbied for campaign finance reform.
[1] he was the executive director of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees and then was the senior vice president of the United Way of America.