Anne Donahue

For the television writer, see Ann Donahue.
Anne Donahue
Member of the Vermont House of Representatives
from the Washington-2 district
Assumed office
January 2003
Personal details
Born (1956-03-20) March 20, 1956
Burlington, Vermont, U.S.
Political party Republican
Residence Northfield, Vermont, U.S.
Website http://annedonahue.blogspot.com

Anne de la Blanchetai Donahue is an American politician from the state of Vermont. She has served as a Republican member of the Vermont House of Representatives since 2003, representing the Washington-2 district, which includes the Washington County towns of Berlin and Northfield. She is also editor of Counterpoint, a quarterly mental health publication distributed for free throughout Vermont.

Education and early career

Anne Donahue was born on March 20, 1956, in Burlington, Vermont. She attended the Cours de Civilisation Française de la Sorbonne in Paris in 1976. Donahue earned a bachelor's degree in political science and philosophy from Boston College in 1978, and received a Juris Doctor law degree at Georgetown University Law Center in 1981.[1]

Starting in 1981, Donahue worked as a program director for the New York City location of Covenant House, the largest privately funded childcare agency in the United States providing shelter and service to homeless and runaway youths. She served as senior staff attorney for the New York location until 1986 and stayed on as program director until 1988,[2] when she left to become executive director of the Covenant Center location in Los Angeles. Whereas in New York the youths she helped consisted largely of urban poor street youths, the young people she served in California came originally from middle- and upper-middle-class homes from all around the country, but who had been living in the California streets for as many as three years and become exposed to psychological damage and AIDS.[3] Donahue served as the California location's executive director until 1990.[2] That year, she received the Jefferson Lifetime Achievement Award for Greatest Public Service by an Individual 35 Years or Younger.[4]

In 1990, Donahue moved to Northfield, Vermont in 1990, where her family has roots going back five generations.[4] From 1991 to 1996, Donahue worked as a junior high school teacher in Winooski, Vermont. In 1998, she became editor of Counterpoint,[2] a quarterly mental health publication published by Vermont Psychiatric Survivors, Inc., which is distributed free throughout Vermont and has a circulation of about 7,000.[5] As of 2009,[2] Donahue continues to serve as editor of the publication.[5]

Donahue has served on a number of non-legislative committees, including the Act 129 Parity Committee (2000–2004); the State Standing Committee for Adult Mental Health (2000–2004); the Fletcher Allen Health Care Mental Health Task Force (2001–2004); the State Hospital Futures Committee (2004) and the Corrections Stakeholder Mental Health Committee (2004).[2] She has also served on the U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services Advisory Committee on Human Research Protections,[1] and was a member of Rotary International from 2003 to 2004.[2]

Vermont House

Anne Donahue, a Republican, has been serving as a representative on the Vermont House of Representatives since 2003. She represents the Washington-2 district, which includes the Washington County towns of Moretown, Northfield, and Roxbury. Donahue has been serving on the Mental Health Oversight Committee since 2003,[1] as has been described in the Rutland Herald as "one of the Legislature's strongest mental health advocates".[6] As of 2009, Donahue is also the ranking minority member of the Human Services Committee.[2]

On April 2, 2009, Donahue was one of five Vermont House Republicans who voted in favor of a bill allowing same-sex marriages in the state; the bill passed with an overall vote of 95-52.[7] Donahue was instrumental in amending the bill to clarify a distinction between civil and religious marriage.[7] The Log Cabin Republicans, a gay and lesbian political organization, awarded their annual Uncommon Courage Award in April 2009 to Donahue and seven other Vermont Republican lawmakers for their votes in favor of gay marriage.[8]

Personal life

Donahue is a single mother of an adopted adult son.[1] She is Roman Catholic, and is a member, lector and extraordinary minister of Holy Communion at the St. John the Evangelist RC Church in Northfield.[2] Her favorite movies are Life is Beautiful and Romero, and her favorite books are The Yearling by Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings, Little Men by Louisa May Alcott and To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee.[4]

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 "Vermont General Assembly Members, 2007". Vermont Elections Division. Retrieved 2009-05-05.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 "Representative Anne B. Donahue (VT)". Project Vote Smart. Retrieved 2009-05-05.
  3. ↑ McNally, Karen (1988-12-26). "Hollywood Journal; Promise of Sunshine, Reality of Night". The New York Times. Retrieved 2009-05-05.
  4. 1 2 3 "User Profile: Anne Donahue". Blogger (Official Site). Retrieved 2009-05-05.
  5. 1 2 "Counterpoint, Anne Donahue Editor". Vermont Psychiatric Survivors, Inc.
  6. ↑ Zicconi, John (2005-06-24). "Contract allows state hospital experiments". Rutland Herald. Retrieved 2009-05-05.
  7. 1 2 Hallenbeck, Terri (2009-04-03). "House gives final OK on gay marriage". Burlington Free Press. p. 2.
  8. ↑ Johnson, Chris (2009-04-24). "Conservative voices for marriage rights emerge". Washington Blade. Archived from the original on 27 April 2009. Retrieved 2009-05-05.
This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the Wednesday, April 27, 2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.