Lori Alhadeff ('' née'' Robinovitz; born February 11, 1975) is an American activist, member of the

Broward County School Board Broward County Public Schools is a public school district serving Broward County, Florida, is the sixth largest public school system in the nation. During the 2016–2017 school year, Broward County Public Schools served 271,517 students enrolle ...

, and founder of school-safety organization Make Our Schools Safe. Her 14-year-old daughter, Alyssa Alhadeff, was murdered in the Stoneman Douglas High School shooting on February 14, 2018. Alhadeff gained national attention after making an appearance the day after the shooting on CNN, pleading President Trump to increase school security and calls for gun control.

Education

Lori Robinovitz grew up in

Hillsborough Township, New Jersey Hillsborough Township is a township in Somerset County, New Jersey, United States. The township is centrally located in the Raritan Valley region within the much larger New York Metropolitan Area. As of the 2010 United States Census, the ...

, where she attended Hillsborough High School and played on the school's soccer team. She earned a Bachelor of Science in health and physical education from

The College of New Jersey The College of New Jersey (TCNJ) is a public university in Ewing Township, New Jersey. It is part of New Jersey's public system of higher education. Established in 1855 as the New Jersey State Normal School, TCNJ was the first normal school, or ...

. She completed a Master of Arts in education at

Gratz College Gratz College is a private Jewish college in Melrose Park, Pennsylvania. The college traces its origins to 1856 when banker, philanthropist, and communal leader Hyman Gratz and the Hebrew Education Society of Philadelphia (established in 1849 ...

. She is certified in the states of New Jersey and New York in health and physical education.

Career

Alhadeff worked for the

Union Township School District The Union Township School District is a community public school district that serves students in kindergarten through eighth grade from Union Township, in Hunterdon County, New Jersey, United States. A new elementary school, named "Union Towns ...

over the course of four years. She was a volleyball, cheerleading, and softball coach. Alhadeff worked for a year as a health and physical education teacher at the

Windward School Windward School is an independent school in the Mar Vista neighborhood of Los Angeles, California, accredited by the Western Association of Schools and Colleges. It was founded by writer/teacher Shirley Windward in 1971. The school currently enr ...

where she also coached cheerleading. A former soccer player, Alhadeff coached the sport for years.

Activism

On February 14, 2018, Alhadeff's daughter Alyssa was killed in the Stoneman Douglas High School shooting. Alhadeff and her husband attended a memorial for the victims at Pine Trails Park the following day, where she appeared on CNN, pleading President Donald Trump demanding action to increase gun control and improve school safety. Alhadeff founded a nonprofit organization, Make Our Schools Safe, which is aimed at providing safety features tailored to the specific needs of schools. These features include metal detectors, bullet-resistant glass and enhanced fencing and gates. In March, she traveled to

Tallahassee Tallahassee ( ) is the capital city of the U.S. state of Florida. It is the county seat and only incorporated municipality in Leon County. Tallahassee became the capital of Florida, then the Florida Territory, in 1824. In 2020, the population ...

to work alongside other victim's families to pass the

Florida Senate Bill 7026 The Florida Senate Bill 7026 or the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School Public Safety Act is a Florida bill to tighten gun control, school security and school safety. The bill bans bump stocks and raises the minimum age to purchase a firearm from ...

. She attended the

March for Our Lives March for Our Lives (MFOL) was a student-led demonstration in support of gun control legislation. It took place in Washington, D.C., on March 24, 2018, with over 880 sibling events throughout the United States and around the world, and wa ...

rally in Washington, D.C. In April 2018, Alhadeff announced her candidacy alongside Ryan Petty for the

. On August 28, 2018, Alhadeff was elected to the District 4 seat with 65% of the vote. On February 2, 2019,

New Jersey New Jersey is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York; on the east, southeast, and south by the Atlantic Ocean; on the west by the Delaware ...

Governor

Phil Murphy Philip Dunton Murphy (born August 16, 1957) is an American financier, diplomat, and politician serving as the 56th governor of New Jersey since January 2018. A member of the Democratic Party, he served as the United States ambassador to Germa ...

signed A764, also known as "Alyssa's Law", requiring all New Jersey public schools to install silent panic alarms that will alert law enforcement during emergencies such as an active shooter, or to employ an alternative emergency mechanism approved by the

Department of Education An education ministry is a national or subnational government agency politically responsible for education. Various other names are commonly used to identify such agencies, such as Ministry of Education, Department of Education, and Ministry of Pub ...

Personal life

Alhadeff is a fundraising volunteer for the Parkland Soccer Club.

References

External links

Lori Alhadeff
on

Twitter Twitter is an online social media and social networking service owned and operated by American company Twitter, Inc., on which users post and interact with 280-character-long messages known as "tweets". Registered users can post, like, and ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Alhadeff, Lori Stoneman Douglas High School shooting activists American gun control activists Living people People from Parkland, Florida Women founders Jewish American community activists Gratz College Hillsborough High School (New Jersey) alumni The College of New Jersey alumni American health educators Schoolteachers from California 21st-century American women educators 20th-century American educators 21st-century American educators Gun politics in the United States 1975 births People from Hillsborough Township, New Jersey 20th-century American women educators 21st-century American Jews