By Donna Gordon Blankinship, Editor, JTNews
More than two years after leaving her job as the Jewish Federation’s first professional lobbyist in Olympia, Randi Abrams is returning to the work of Jewish community advocacy, but this time she’ll be in the other Washington.
At the start of 2002, Abrams will be working for the United Jewish Community’s Washington Action Office as director of public affairs and community services. She will be handling media relations and working with state government affairs directors — being a resource person for those doing the job she did for the Jewish Federation of Greater Seattle for three and a half years.
Since leaving the federation, Abrams has worked for the state Office of the Insurance Commissioner and most recently for the City of Seattle. Both jobs involved lobbying in Olympia. At her new job, she’ll be taking a step back from in-person advocacy and instead will be helping Jewish Federation advocates across the country do their jobs, while also doing some work on the UJC’s federal agenda and working with Congressional lobbyists. She’ll also organize monthly conference calls and satellite broadcasts on national issues and work to get communities to send citizen advocates to Washington, D.C.
Abrams says the new job just “came out of the blue.” She wasn’t looking to move to a new job or a new city.
“I have mixed emotions. I’m very excited to embark on this new adventure and go to the seat of our democracy. But I still feel Seattle is the best city in the country,” Abrams said earlier this month, adding that she will miss all the wonderful friends and colleagues she has made here and hopes to return to live here again someday.
Because every Jewish community has different needs, Abrams’ job will be varied and creative. Her goal is to work closely with the different communities to find out how the Washington Action Office can better serve them. Abrams says she looks forward to combining what she has learned working for government with her experience advocating on behalf of the Jewish community.
“Believe it or not, I think government actually works efficiently… They have really good practices … expectations of when things should be done and a level of professionalism that is expected,” Abrams said. “There are no excuses for not doing your absolute best work at all times.”
She said she looks forward to more of the same at the Washington Action Office.
“It’s exciting to combine the mandate we have from Torah to do the work we’re doing out of the Washington action office,” she said.