+ − Contact Information
Email Address: barrettd@assembly.state.ny.us
Phone: (518) 455-5177
Fax: (518) 455-5418
Office Address:
LOB 553
Albany, NY 12248
+ − Biography
Didi Barrett, elected to the New York State Assembly on March 20, 2012, has been a longtime advocate and leader of not-for-profit organizations throughout the Hudson Valley and statewide. A former journalist, she writes a blog about the Hudson Valley. A longtime resident of the Mid-Hudson Valley, Assemblywoman Barrett has an extensive and accomplished record of strategizing, planning and successfully executing community initiatives that have worked to better the lives of hardworking families in the Hudson Valley.
Assemblywoman Barrett helped create and serves on the board of the North East Dutchess Fund (NED) of the Berkshire Taconic Community Foundation, an initiative that focuses on improving life in several towns in northeastern Dutchess County. Additionally, she helped pioneer NED Corps alongside the Dutchess Community Action Partnership and serves on its affiliated Latino Roundtable, working to provide social services to this region’s more rural communities.
Barrett’s commitment to the Hudson Valley’s families can be seen in her passion for agriculture and the natural and cultural resources in the area. She knows how important these resources are in creating jobs and the value they serve as jumpstarts to the region’s economic engines. She is an advisory board member for the Poughkeepsie Plenty, a food justice initiative, and the Poughkeepsie Farmer’s Alliance with the Walkway over the Hudson. She also serves on the advisory board of Smart Eating Every Day (SEED), a healthy lifestyle program geared toward families and children in rural communities. Additionally, she has done consulting for the Half Moon Theatre, the Hudson Valley’s resident professional theater company.
She is a trustee of the Anderson Foundation for Autism and is helping to establish the Anderson Leadership Program. Barrett is a board member of the Millbrook Education Foundation and has also served two times as the coordinator for Millbrook’s Community Day.
A strong advocate for women leadership, Barrett spearheaded the creation of the Dutchess Girls Collaborative which works to support local girls and young women, and is a founding chairwoman of Girls Incorporated of NYC. She has been affiliated with the New York Women’s Foundation, Planned Parenthood of NYC, the Women’s Campaign Forum and NARAL Pro-Choice New York as a former board member.
Barrett’s family has deep roots in the Hudson Valley and a history of involvement in both Dutchess and Columbia counties. In 1938, her grandfather and great-uncle purchased a farm in Ancramdale that remains in the family to this day. Her husband, David, grew up in Middletown. The couple has two children, Alec and Annabel.
+ − Committees (8)
NY - Agriculture (Assembly)
Title:
Member
NY - Energy (Assembly)
Title:
Member
NY - Environmental Conservation (Assembly)
Title:
Member
NY - Mental Health (Assembly)
Title:
Member
NY - Tourism, Parks, Arts and Sports Development (Assembly)
Title:
Member
NY - Legislative Women's Caucus (Assembly)
Title:
Member
NY - Puerto Rican/Hispanic (Assembly)
Title:
Member
NY - Women's Issues (Assembly)
Title:
Member
