Biography
Andrea Stewart-Cousins was born and raised in New York to parents that encouraged a life grounded in education and service. From the very beginning of her public service in government - as the first African American to serve as the Director of Community Affairs in the City of Yonkers, Andrea Stewart-Cousins has always espoused the values of empathy, empowerment and service. These values, coupled with her strong belief in advocating for the underserved and championing the needs of working families has distinguished her as a trailblazer in local and State government.
First elected to the New York State Senate in 2006 to represent Greenburgh, Mount Pleasant and Yonkers, Andrea Stewart-Cousins brings years of community involvement and experience in public service on behalf of all of the residents of the 35th district in Westchester County. Prior to being elected to the Senate, Ms. Stewart Cousins served for a decade as a Westchester County Legislator representing Yonkers. Throughout her tenure (from 1996-2006), she was elected Majority Whip and Vice-Chair – authoring and passing such landmark legislation as: Westchester County’s first human right’s laws; living wage laws; smoke-free workplace laws, tougher gun laws, laws that prosecute “predatory lenders,” and tax cuts for seniors and veterans. As Chair of the Health Committee, Ms. Stewart-Cousins was responsible for bringing the
“Sexual Assault Nurse Examiner Program” to Westchester County – after a successful pilot of this program in Yonkers. This model has since become a national cornerstone of enhanced community/medical rape crisis assistance. Beginning in 1992 as the Director of Community Affairs for the City of Yonkers, Andrea Stewart-Cousins created an internship program for the hearing impaired and for children in working families. She has advocated for and contributed to the revitalization of the City of Yonkers and was a founder of the original “Art on Main Street,” as well as a co-creator of “River Fest”, which – in its fifteenth year – is a widely attended multi-cultural, ecologically oriented city-wide celebration.
Senator Stewart-Cousins is an advocate for human rights, quality education, accessible and affordable health care, youth development, environmental protections, and, making government more open, transparent and accountable to all of our citizens. Her belief that creating change locally affects changes on the State level has driven her legislative and policy agenda at home and in Albany. The Senator proudly announced that, after a year of community activism, lobbying, negotiations and relentless attention – Community Hospital at Dobbs Ferry was saved from closure – as had been mandated by the NYS Berger Commission. Senator Stewart-Cousins has also assembled a Task Force to examine alternative methods of funding for public education, comprised of a distinguished list of stakeholders, who also believe that simply increasing property taxes is not the answer to adequately funding public education. Throughout this year’s budget process, Senator Stewart-Cousins fought hard for additional State funds for the City of Yonkers and its schools – to avert a financial crisis and prevent lay-offs and cutbacks in services, as well as to ensure that State foundation aid to Westchester schools increased on an average on ten percent per school – the highest increase in the last decade.A former First Vice-Chair of the Westchester County Democratic Committee, Senator Stewart-Cousins currently sits on the Boards of The Riverside Health Care System and Yonkers Community Action Program. For her extensive legislative work and community service Senator Stewart-Cousins has been honored with numerous citations and awards from organizations, including: the American Cancer Society, American Civil Liberties Union, the Hudson River Museum, and the National Association of Social Workers. The Senator was also named, “Woman of the Year” by the Business and Professional Women’s Club; “Legislator of the Year” by the Community Health Association of New York State; “Leader in Social Justice” by Pace Law School; and was the recipient of the “Thurgood Marshall Award” from the NAACP.
Senator Stewart-Cousins earned her Bachelor of Science Degree from Pace University and her teaching credentials in Business Education from Lehman College. She is a recent graduate of Pace University (May 2008) with a Masters of Public Administration and is a proud member of Pi Alpha Alpha - Public Administration Honor Society. She spent twenty years in the public sector, and after thirteen years in sales and marketing with New York Telephone/AT&T, she pursued a career in journalism and teaching, prior to entering public service. Currently Senator Stewart-Cousins serves on the Commerce; Economic Development and Small Business; Finance; Judiciary; Tourism, Recreation and Sports Development Committees, and sits as the Ranking Member on the Cities Committee. Senator Stewart-Cousins also serves as the Downstate Co-Chair of the Senate Democratic Task Force on Minority and Women Owned Business Enterprises.Senator Stewart-Cousins resides in Yonkers and has three children and two grandchildren.