Anne Donahue
Encyclopedia
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 Moretown
, Northfield
, and Roxbury
. She is also editor of Counterpoint, a quarterly mental health publication distributed for free throughout Vermont.
, 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.
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 youth
s. She served as senior staff attorney for the New York location until 1986 and stayed on as program director until 1988, 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
. Donahue served as the California location's executive director until 1990. That year, she received the Jefferson Lifetime Achievement Award for Greatest Public Service by an Individual 35 Years or Younger.
In 1990, Donahue moved to Northfield, Vermont
in 1990, where her family has roots going back five generations. From 1991 to 1996, Donahue worked as a junior high school teacher in Winooski, Vermont
. In 1998, she became editor of Counterpoint, 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. , Donahue continues to serve as editor of the publication.
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). She has also served on the U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services Advisory Committee on Human Research Protections, and was a member of Rotary International
from 2003 to 2004.
, 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, as has been described in the Rutland Herald
as "one of the Legislature's strongest mental health advocates". As of 2009, Donahue is also the ranking minority member of the Human Services Committee.
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. Donahue was instrumental in amending the bill to clarify a distinction between civil and religious marriage. 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.
, and is a member, lector and extraordinary minister of Holy Communion at the St. John the Evangelist RC Church in Northfield. 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
.
Politician
A politician, political leader, or political figure is an individual who is involved in influencing public policy and decision making...
from the state of Vermont
Vermont
Vermont is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. The state ranks 43rd in land area, , and 45th in total area. Its population according to the 2010 census, 630,337, is the second smallest in the country, larger only than Wyoming. It is the only New England...
. She has served as a Republican
Republican Party (United States)
The Republican Party is one of the two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Democratic Party. Founded by anti-slavery expansion activists in 1854, it is often called the GOP . The party's platform generally reflects American conservatism in the U.S...
member of the Vermont House of Representatives
Vermont House of Representatives
The Vermont House of Representatives is the lower house of the Vermont General Assembly, the state legislature of the U.S. state of Vermont. The House comprises 150 members. Vermont legislative districting divides representing districts into 66 single-member districts and 42 two-member...
since 2003, representing the Washington-2
Washington-2 Vermont Representative District, 2002-2012
The Washington-2 Representative District is a two member state Representative district in the U.S. state of Vermont. It is one the 108 one or two member districts into which the state was divided by the redistricting and reapportionment plan developed by the Vermont General Assembly following the...
district, which includes the Washington County
Washington County, Vermont
Washington County is a county located in the U.S. state of Vermont. As of 2010, the population was 59,534; Vermont's third-most populous county after Chittenden County and Rutland County. Its shire town is Montpelier, the state capital. The center of population of Vermont is located in Washington...
towns of Moretown
Moretown, Vermont
Moretown is a town in Washington County, Vermont, United States. The population was 1,653 at the 2000 census.-Geography:According to the United States Census Bureau, the town has a total area of 40.2 square miles , of which 40.1 square miles is land and 0.1 square mile is...
, Northfield
Northfield, Vermont
Northfield is a town in Washington County, Vermont, United States. It lies in a valley within the Green Mountains, and has been the home of Norwich University since 1866. The town contains the village of Northfield, where over half of its population lives. The population was 6,207 at the 2010...
, and Roxbury
Roxbury, Vermont
Roxbury is a town in Washington County, Vermont, United States, created by Vermont charter on August 6, 1781. The population was 691 at the 2010 census, an increase of 20.0% over the 2000 census.-Geography:...
. 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 BurlingtonBurlington, Vermont
Burlington is the largest city in the U.S. state of Vermont and the shire town of Chittenden County. Burlington lies south of the U.S.-Canadian border and some south of Montreal....
, Vermont
Vermont
Vermont is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. The state ranks 43rd in land area, , and 45th in total area. Its population according to the 2010 census, 630,337, is the second smallest in the country, larger only than Wyoming. It is the only New England...
. She attended the Cours de Civilisation Française de la Sorbonne
Cours de Civilisation Française de la Sorbonne
The Cours de Civilisation Française de la Sorbonne depends on the Société des Amis des Universités de Paris , a public utility and non-profit association of private status regulated by the French law of 1901 on associations...
in Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
in 1976. Donahue earned a bachelor's degree in political science and philosophy from Boston College
Boston College
Boston College is a private Jesuit research university located in the village of Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts, USA. The main campus is bisected by the border between the cities of Boston and Newton. It has 9,200 full-time undergraduates and 4,000 graduate students. Its name reflects its early...
in 1978, and received a Juris Doctor
Juris Doctor
Juris Doctor is a professional doctorate and first professional graduate degree in law.The degree was first awarded by Harvard University in the United States in the late 19th century and was created as a modern version of the old European doctor of law degree Juris Doctor (see etymology and...
law degree at Georgetown University Law Center
Georgetown University Law Center
Georgetown University Law Center is the law school of Georgetown University, located in Washington, D.C.. Established in 1870, the Law Center offers J.D., LL.M., and S.J.D. degrees in law...
in 1981.
Starting in 1981, Donahue worked as a program director for the New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
location of Covenant House
Covenant House
Covenant House is the largest privately funded agency in the Americas providing shelter, food, immediate crisis care, and an array of other services to homeless, and runaway youth. In addition to basic needs, Covenant House provides a continuum of care to homeless youth aged 16–21 designed to...
, the largest privately-funded childcare
Childcare
Child care means caring for and supervising child/children usually from 0–13 years of age. In the United States child care is increasingly referred to as early childhood education due to the understanding of the impact of early experiences of the developing child...
agency in the United States providing shelter and service to homeless
Homelessness
Homelessness describes the condition of people without a regular dwelling. People who are homeless are unable or unwilling to acquire and maintain regular, safe, and adequate housing, or lack "fixed, regular, and adequate night-time residence." The legal definition of "homeless" varies from country...
and runaway youth
Runaway youth
A runaway is a minor or a person under an arbitrary age, depending upon the local jurisdiction, who has left the home of his or her parent or legal guardian without permission, or has been thrown out by his or her parent and is considered by the local authorities to lack the capacity to live under...
s. She served as senior staff attorney for the New York location until 1986 and stayed on as program director until 1988, when she left to become executive director of the Covenant Center location in Los Angeles
Los Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
. Whereas in New York the youths she helped consisted largely of urban poor street youths, the young people she served in California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
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
AIDS
Acquired immune deficiency syndrome or acquired immunodeficiency syndrome is a disease of the human immune system caused by the human immunodeficiency virus...
. Donahue served as the California location's executive director until 1990. That year, she received the Jefferson Lifetime Achievement Award for Greatest Public Service by an Individual 35 Years or Younger.
In 1990, Donahue moved to Northfield, Vermont
Northfield, Vermont
Northfield is a town in Washington County, Vermont, United States. It lies in a valley within the Green Mountains, and has been the home of Norwich University since 1866. The town contains the village of Northfield, where over half of its population lives. The population was 6,207 at the 2010...
in 1990, where her family has roots going back five generations. From 1991 to 1996, Donahue worked as a junior high school teacher in Winooski, Vermont
Winooski, Vermont
Winooski is a city in Chittenden County, Vermont, in the United States. Located at the mouth of the Winooski River, as of the 2010 census the city population was 7,267...
. In 1998, she became editor of Counterpoint, 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. , Donahue continues to serve as editor of the publication.
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
Fletcher Allen Health Care
Fletcher Allen Health Care, together with its partners at the University of Vermont College of Medicine and the College of Nursing and Health Sciences, is Vermont's academic medical center. Fletcher Allen target clientele are the one million people in Vermont and northern New York...
Mental Health Task Force (2001–2004); the State Hospital Futures Committee (2004) and the Corrections Stakeholder Mental Health Committee (2004). She has also served on the U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services Advisory Committee on Human Research Protections, and was a member of Rotary International
Rotary International
Rotary International is an organization of service clubs known as Rotary Clubs located all over the world. The stated purpose of the organization is to bring together business and professional leaders to provide humanitarian service, encourage high ethical standards in all vocations, and help...
from 2003 to 2004.
Vermont House
Anne Donahue, a RepublicanRepublican Party (United States)
The Republican Party is one of the two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Democratic Party. Founded by anti-slavery expansion activists in 1854, it is often called the GOP . The party's platform generally reflects American conservatism in the U.S...
, has been serving as a representative on the Vermont House of Representatives
Vermont House of Representatives
The Vermont House of Representatives is the lower house of the Vermont General Assembly, the state legislature of the U.S. state of Vermont. The House comprises 150 members. Vermont legislative districting divides representing districts into 66 single-member districts and 42 two-member...
since 2003. She represents the Washington-2
Washington-2 Vermont Representative District, 2002-2012
The Washington-2 Representative District is a two member state Representative district in the U.S. state of Vermont. It is one the 108 one or two member districts into which the state was divided by the redistricting and reapportionment plan developed by the Vermont General Assembly following the...
district, which includes the Washington County
Washington County, Vermont
Washington County is a county located in the U.S. state of Vermont. As of 2010, the population was 59,534; Vermont's third-most populous county after Chittenden County and Rutland County. Its shire town is Montpelier, the state capital. The center of population of Vermont is located in Washington...
towns of Moretown
Moretown, Vermont
Moretown is a town in Washington County, Vermont, United States. The population was 1,653 at the 2000 census.-Geography:According to the United States Census Bureau, the town has a total area of 40.2 square miles , of which 40.1 square miles is land and 0.1 square mile is...
, Northfield
Northfield, Vermont
Northfield is a town in Washington County, Vermont, United States. It lies in a valley within the Green Mountains, and has been the home of Norwich University since 1866. The town contains the village of Northfield, where over half of its population lives. The population was 6,207 at the 2010...
, and Roxbury
Roxbury, Vermont
Roxbury is a town in Washington County, Vermont, United States, created by Vermont charter on August 6, 1781. The population was 691 at the 2010 census, an increase of 20.0% over the 2000 census.-Geography:...
. Donahue has been serving on the Mental Health Oversight Committee since 2003, as has been described in the Rutland Herald
Rutland Herald
The Rutland Herald is the second largest daily newspaper in the U.S. state of Vermont . It is published in Rutland. With a daily circulation of about 12,000, it is the main source of news geared towards the southern part of the state, along with the Brattleboro Reformer and the Bennington Banner...
as "one of the Legislature's strongest mental health advocates". As of 2009, Donahue is also the ranking minority member of the Human Services Committee.
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. Donahue was instrumental in amending the bill to clarify a distinction between civil and religious marriage. The Log Cabin Republicans
Log Cabin Republicans
The Log Cabin Republicans is an organization that works within the Republican Party to advocate equal rights for all Americans, including gays and lesbians in the United States with state chapters and a national office in Washington, D.C...
, 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.
Personal life
Donahue is a single mother of an adopted adult son. She is Roman CatholicRoman Catholic Church
The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the world's largest Christian church, with over a billion members. Led by the Pope, it defines its mission as spreading the gospel of Jesus Christ, administering the sacraments and exercising charity...
, and is a member, lector and extraordinary minister of Holy Communion at the St. John the Evangelist RC Church in Northfield. Her favorite movies are Life is Beautiful
Life Is Beautiful
Life Is Beautiful is a 1997 Italian film which tells the story of a Jewish Italian, Guido Orefice , who must employ his fertile imagination to help his family during their internment in a Nazi concentration camp.At the 71st Academy Awards in 1999, Benigni won the Academy Award for Best Actor and...
and Romero
Romero (film)
Romero is a film depicting the life of assassinated Salvadoran Archbishop Óscar Romero, played by Raúl Juliá. Richard Jordan played the role of Romero's close friend and fellow martyred priest Rutilio Grande, and actors Ana Alicia and Harold Gould also appeared in the film.Romero was the first...
, and her favorite books are The Yearling
The Yearling
The Yearling is a 1946 Technicolor family film drama made by MGM. It was directed by Clarence Brown and produced by Sidney Franklin. The screenplay was by Paul Osborn and John Lee Mahin , adapted from the novel of the same name by Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings...
by Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings
Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings
Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings was an American author who lived in rural Florida and wrote novels with rural themes and settings. Her best known work, The Yearling, about a boy who adopts an orphaned fawn, won a Pulitzer Prize for fiction in 1939 and was later made into a movie, also known as The...
, Little Men
Little Men
Little Men, or Life at Plumfield with Jo's Boys is a novel by American author Louisa May Alcott, first published in 1871. The novel reprises characters from Little Women and is considered by some the second book of an unofficial Little Women trilogy, which is completed with Alcott's 1886 novel...
by Louisa May Alcott
Louisa May Alcott
Louisa May Alcott was an American novelist. She is best known for the novel Little Women and its sequels Little Men and Jo's Boys. Little Women was set in the Alcott family home, Orchard House in Concord, Massachusetts, and published in 1868...
and To Kill a Mockingbird
To Kill a Mockingbird
To Kill a Mockingbird is a novel by Harper Lee published in 1960. It was instantly successful, winning the Pulitzer Prize, and has become a classic of modern American literature...
by Harper Lee
Harper Lee
Nelle Harper Lee is an American author known for her 1960 Pulitzer-Prize-winning novel To Kill a Mockingbird, which deals with the issues of racism that were observed by the author as a child in her hometown of Monroeville, Alabama...
.