Ann Lewis
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Ann C. Frank Lewis (born December 19, 1937) is an American Democratic Party strategist. Lewis served as
White House Communications Director The White House communications director or White House director of communications, also known officially as Assistant to the President for Communications, is part of the senior staff of the president of the United States. The officeholder is resp ...
in the
Clinton administration Bill Clinton's tenure as the 42nd president of the United States began with his first inauguration on January 20, 1993, and ended on January 20, 2001. Clinton, a Democrat from Arkansas, took office following his victory over Republican in ...
and in senior roles under
Hillary Clinton Hillary Diane Rodham Clinton ( Rodham; born October 26, 1947) is an American politician, lawyer and diplomat. She was the 67th United States secretary of state in the administration of Barack Obama from 2009 to 2013, a U.S. senator represent ...
. She is currently the co-chair of the Democratic Majority for Israel.


Personal life

Lewis was born to a
Jewish Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of History of ancient Israel and Judah, ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, rel ...
family in 1937 in Jersey City, New Jersey. She is the older sister of former United States Congressman
Barney Frank Barnett Frank (born March 31, 1940) is a retired American politician. He served as a member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Massachusetts from 1981 to 2013. A Democratic Party (United States), Democrat, Frank served as chairman of th ...
. She attended
Radcliffe College Radcliffe College was a Women's colleges in the United States, women's Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Cambridge, Massachusetts, that was founded in 1879. In 1999, it was fully incorporated into Harvard Colle ...
, the former women's college within
Harvard University Harvard University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1636 and named for its first benefactor, the History of the Puritans in North America, Puritan clergyma ...
in Cambridge, Massachusetts, but did not graduate. While there, she met Gerald A. Lewis, whom she married and with whom she subsequently moved to Florida. They divorced in 1968 and Lewis moved back to Massachusetts. Ann married Myron Sponder in 1989.


Career


Early career

From 1994 to 1995, Lewis was the vice president for public policy at the
Planned Parenthood The Planned Parenthood Federation of America, Inc. (PPFA), or simply Planned Parenthood, is an American nonprofit organization
Federation of America, where she was responsible for policy, legal and communications initiatives. She has served as the national director of Americans for Democratic Action, as the political director for the Democratic National Committee, and as chief of staff to then Congresswoman
Barbara Mikulski Barbara Ann Mikulski ( ; born July 20, 1936) is an American politician and social worker who served as a United States senator from Maryland from 1987 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, she also served i ...
. She served as political director of the
Democratic National Committee The Democratic National Committee (DNC) is the principal executive leadership board of the United States's Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party. According to the party charter, it has "general responsibility for the affairs of the ...
(DNC) from 1981 to 1985.


Clinton White House

Lewis was director of communications and deputy campaign manager for the Clinton-Gore Reelection Campaign in 1995 to 1996. From 1997 to 2000, Lewis served as director of communications and counselor to President
Bill Clinton William Jefferson Clinton (né Blythe III; born August 19, 1946) is an American politician and lawyer who was the 42nd president of the United States from 1993 to 2001. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, ...
in the White House.


Hillary Clinton (2000–2008)

Lewis served as senior advisor to Hillary Clinton's 2000 campaign for U.S. Senate. She served as director of communications for HillPAC and Friends of Hillary 2005 to 2007. She also served as national chair of the DNC Women's Vote Center, where she led the Democratic Party's major initiative to reach, engage, and mobilize women voters from 2003 to 2004.


Hillary Clinton 2008 presidential campaign

Lewis was senior advisor for
Hillary Clinton Hillary Diane Rodham Clinton ( Rodham; born October 26, 1947) is an American politician, lawyer and diplomat. She was the 67th United States secretary of state in the administration of Barack Obama from 2009 to 2013, a U.S. senator represent ...
's 2008 – 2016 presidential campaign. Lewis was co-chair for Jewish Women for Hillary 2016.


Other work

Following the conclusion of Clinton's 2008 presidential campaign, Lewis founded NoLimits.org, an issue-based educational organization encouraging people to support the public policies championed by Clinton. She also served as president of the JAC Education Foundation.


Academia

In 2001, Lewis was the Richman Visiting professor at
Brandeis University Brandeis University () is a Private university, private research university in Waltham, Massachusetts, United States. It is located within the Greater Boston area. Founded in 1948 as a nonsectarian, non-sectarian, coeducational university, Bra ...
, teaching a course on the presidency entitled "The West Wing and The Real World" and a Public Policy Fellow at the Annenberg School of Communications of the
University of Pennsylvania The University of Pennsylvania (Penn or UPenn) is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. One of nine colonial colleges, it was chartered in 1755 through the efforts of f ...
. Lewis was appointed by President Clinton as co-chair of the President's Commission on the Celebration of Women in American History, and she was appointed by the President and Senator Daschle to the Women's Progress Commission, established by Congress to report on women's historical sites. She chaired the U.S. Government Working Group for the Women 2000: Beijing Plus Five Special Session of the General Assembly.


Women's Suffrage Collection

Lewis maintains the Ann Lewis Women's Suffrage Collection, an archive of
suffrage Suffrage, political franchise, or simply franchise is the right to vote in public, political elections and referendums (although the term is sometimes used for any right to vote). In some languages, and occasionally in English, the right to v ...
-related objects and ephemera.


Affiliations

Lewis was a board member of the Jewish Women's Archive. She participated in the 1971 founding meeting of the
National Women's Political Caucus The National Women's Political Caucus (NWPC) is an organization which was founded in 1971 by leaders of the women's liberation movement to promote women's participation in government. The group describes itself as a multi-partisan grassroots or ...
in Houston, Texas and was chosen to serve on its operating committee. Lewis was a supporter of
Ready for Hillary Ready may refer to: Film and television * ''Ready'', a 2002 British short starring Imelda Staunton * ''Ready'' (2008 film), an Indian Telugu-language film by Srinu Vaitla ** ''Uthamaputhiran'' (2010 film), working title Ready, an Indian Tamil ...
, a national grassroots political action committee that organized grassroots support ahead of Hillary Clinton's 2016 presidential campaign. Lewis is a member of the national advisory board for Emerge America.


Writing and statements

Lewis is the author of "The West Wing: An Insider's View" in the Spring 2001 edition of Television Quarterly, the journal of the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences, and other articles about American politics. She served on the advisory committee for the book ''Jews and American Politics'', published in the fall of 2001, and is a member of the board of the Jewish Women's Archive. A regular speaker on politics and current events in the United States, Lewis delivered the keynote address to the European Forum in Alpbach, Austria, in 1999 on "Media and Democracy". She was a member of the U.S. delegations to the
Vital Voices Vital Voices Global Partnership is an American international, 501(c)(3), non-profit, non-governmental organization that works with women leaders in the areas of economic empowerment, women's political participation, and human rights. The organiza ...
"Dawn of a New Millennium" Conference in
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,
Iceland Iceland is a Nordic countries, Nordic island country between the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic and Arctic Oceans, on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge between North America and Europe. It is culturally and politically linked with Europe and is the regi ...
and to the European Preparatory session for the Beijing Plus Five Session in Geneva; led workshops in
South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...
in preparation for the first-ever democratic elections in that country, and has participated in training seminars for political leaders in Eastern Europe. Representing Hillary Clinton's campaign in a March 17, 2008
United Jewish Communities The Jewish Federations of North America (JFNA), formerly the United Jewish Communities (UJC), is an American Jewish umbrella organization for the Jewish Federations system, representing over 350 independent Jewish communities across North Ameri ...
forum in Washington, Ann Lewis was quoted as saying "The role of the president of the United States is to support the decisions that are made by the people of Israel. It is not up to us to pick and choose from among the political parties".


Awards

In 2002, Lewis was nominated for an
Emmy Award The Emmy Awards, or Emmys, are an extensive range of awards for artistic and technical merit for the television industry. A number of annual Emmy Award ceremonies are held throughout the year, each with their own set of rules and award categor ...
for her work on the script '' America: A Tribute to Heroes'', broadcast on all networks following the
September 11 attacks The September 11 attacks, also known as 9/11, were four coordinated Islamist terrorist suicide attacks by al-Qaeda against the United States in 2001. Nineteen terrorists hijacked four commercial airliners, crashing the first two into ...
. In June 2009, Lewis was honored with the inaugural
National Jewish Democratic Council The National Jewish Democratic Council (NJDC) was a political lobbying organization that advocated within the Democratic Party for viewpoints aligned with the American Jewish community and in support of the state of Israel, and within the polit ...
's
Belle Moskowitz Belle Moskowitz ( Lindner, Israels; October 5, 1877 – January 2, 1933) was a Jewish-American Progressive Era , progressive reformer and political advisor in the early 20th century. She worked as a political advisor and publicist to New York (s ...
Award in
Washington, D.C. Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from Virginia, and shares land borders with ...
President Bill Clinton was the special guest. Other notable guests included
Secretary of Health and Human Services The United States secretary of health and human services is the head of the United States Department of Health and Human Services, and serves as the principal advisor to the president of the United States on all health matters. The secretary is ...
Kathleen Sebelius Kathleen Sebelius (; née Gilligan, born May 15, 1948) is an American politician who served as the 21st United States secretary of health and human services from 2009 until 2014. As Secretary of Health and Human Services, Sebelius was instrumenta ...
, Senator
Kirsten Gillibrand Kirsten Elizabeth Gillibrand (; ; born December 9, 1966) is an American lawyer and politician serving as the Seniority in the United States Senate, junior United States Senate, United States senator from New York (state), New York since 2009 ...
, Congressman
Barney Frank Barnett Frank (born March 31, 1940) is a retired American politician. He served as a member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Massachusetts from 1981 to 2013. A Democratic Party (United States), Democrat, Frank served as chairman of th ...
, former Congressman
Martin Frost Jonas Martin Frost III (born January 1, 1942) is an American politician, who was the Democratic representative to the U.S. House of Representatives for Texas's 24th congressional district from 1979 to 2005. Personal life Frost was born to a J ...
, and Frank R. Lautenberg. In 2015 she was named as one of ''
The Forward ''The Forward'' (), formerly known as ''The Jewish Daily Forward'', is an American news media organization for a Jewish American audience. Founded in 1897 as a Yiddish-language daily socialist newspaper, ''The New York Times'' reported that Set ...
'' 50.


References


External links


Ann Lewis, Honored
* , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Lewis, Ann 1937 births American women chief executives American political consultants American political writers American television writers American women screenwriters Counselors to the president of the United States Clinton administration personnel Radcliffe College alumni Jewish American screenwriters Jewish American government officials Jewish American non-fiction writers Jewish American television writers Living people Massachusetts Democrats Politicians from Jersey City, New Jersey White House communications directors Writers from Massachusetts Writers from Jersey City, New Jersey American women non-fiction writers American women television writers American Zionists 20th-century American screenwriters 20th-century American Jews 20th-century American non-fiction writers 20th-century American women writers 20th-century American women civil servants