New York- Teach NYS, a project of the Orthodox Union, welcomed Annie Watman as the new Director of Grassroots and Community engagement this week. In her new capacity Annie will oversee a comprehensive community development plan to mobilize parents, rabbinic and shul leaders, day schools, and educators on behalf of the Teach NYS policy agenda.
Watman previously served as Director of the South Shore Long Island for AIPAC, the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, where she oversaw development, community engagement, and political mobilizations for the community. Through her work at AIPAC, and previously on Capitol Hill and other political organizations, she brings many years of experience engaging and mobilizing communities to Teach NYS.
“I’m very excited to join the team at Teach NYS and the larger Teach family,” said Watman. “I truly believe in the work we are setting out to do here. Education affordability is to domestic policy what pro-Israel advocacy is to foreign policy and I’m eager to get to work on behalf of the community,” she added.
In the last year Teach NYS increased state funding for nonpublic schools and created a first in the nation program to reimburse schools for the cost of qualified STEM instructors.
“Annie is a veteran advocate for our community who’s talents are a tremendous asset to the community,” said Jake Adler, Teach NYS Director. “We are looking forward to building a groundswell of community advocacy around the successes we have achieved. With increased communal involvement we can continue to aggressively pursue funding and policy that benefits our schools and parents.”
“We are thrilled to have Annie join our advocacy team,” said Allen Fagin, Executive Vice President of the Orthodox Union.” I am confident that Annie’s skills will lead our community to new levels of civic engagement.”
In addition to community engagement and policy teams, Teach NYS also employs a full time staff to ensure that all schools are utilizing government programs efficiently. For more information or to get involved please go to www.teachadvocacy.org or 212 613 8227.