Stefani Zinerman is an American

Democratic Party Democratic Party most often refers to: *Democratic Party (United States) Democratic Party and similar terms may also refer to: Active parties Africa *Botswana Democratic Party *Democratic Party of Equatorial Guinea *Gabonese Democratic Party *Demo ...

politician who currently represents New York State Assembly district 56, which includes Bedford-Stuyvesant and Crown Heights in

Brooklyn, New York Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...

Personal life

Zinerman grew up in

Downtown Brooklyn Downtown Brooklyn is the third largest central business district in New York City after Midtown Manhattan and Lower Manhattan), and is located in the northwestern section of the borough of Brooklyn. The neighborhood is known for its office and r ...

in Gowanus

public housing Public housing is a form of housing tenure in which the property is usually owned by a government authority, either central or local. Although the common goal of public housing is to provide affordable housing, the details, terminology, def ...

. Her parents were from Bedford-Stuyvesant, and lived in

Clinton Hill, Brooklyn Clinton Hill is a neighborhood in north-central Brooklyn, a borough of New York City. It is bordered by the Brooklyn Navy Yard and the Brooklyn-Queens Expressway to the north, Williamsburg to the northeast, Classon Avenue and Bedford–Stuyves ...

until they were able to move to Gowanus through the

New York City Housing Authority The New York City Housing Authority (NYCHA) is a public development corporation which provides public housing in New York City, and is the largest public housing authority in North America. Created in 1934 as the first agency of its kind in the U ...

. She credits her parents for encouraging her interest in politics. Zinerman studied

business management Business administration, also known as business management, is the administration of a commercial enterprise. It includes all aspects of overseeing and supervising the business operations of an organization. From the point of view of managemen ...

at the

Rochester Institute of Technology Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT) is a private research university in the town of Henrietta in the Rochester, New York, metropolitan area. The university offers undergraduate and graduate degrees, including doctoral and professional ...

. She worked in the banking industry and beverage distribution, and later was senior manager for a New York City

adult literacy Adult education, distinct from child education, is a practice in which adults engage in systematic and sustained self-educating activities in order to gain new forms of knowledge, skills, attitudes, or values. Merriam, Sharan B. & Brockett, Ralp ...

program. Zinerman also served as a pastor and was involved in community organizations including the Brooklyn NAACP and Age-Friendly, a program she chaired that helps local leaders improve their communities for the elderly.

Politics

Zinerman entered local politics after New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg defunded the Begin Education/Employment Gain Independence Now (BEGIN) program; struck by the callousness of this decision against literacy and job training, she volunteered with the Obama For America campaign, becoming the Bedford-Stuyvesant neighborhood volunteer leader. Zinerman served as Robert E. Cornegy's petition and campaign manager starting in 2012, and became his chief of staff once he was elected. As a staffer, she focused on serving the

African American African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American" generally denotes descendants of ens ...

community of Bedford-Stuyvesant and Crown Heights, being a member of the Black, Latino and Asian Caucus with Cornegy, which worked on issues such as juvenile criminal justice reform and classifying the murder of Timothy Caughman as a hate crime. When

Tremaine Wright Tremaine Wright (born November 2, 1972) is the Chairwoman of the New York State Cannabis Control Board and a former member of the New York State Assembly from the 56th district, which includes parts of Bedford-Stuyvesant in Brooklyn. On Septemb ...

announced she would not be seeking reelection in the 56th Assembly District in order to instead run for

State Senate A state legislature in the United States is the legislative body of any of the 50 U.S. states. The formal name varies from state to state. In 27 states, the legislature is simply called the ''Legislature'' or the ''State Legislature'', whil ...

, Zinerman announced her candidacy at the Weeksville Heritage Center, with the support of Wright. After winning the Democratic primary, she ran unopposed in November to take the seat. Zinerman is a member of the Black, Puerto Rican, Hispanic & Asian Legislative Caucus. Zinerman ran for the Assembly on a platform focusing on local concerns and constituent engagement, particularly community health and education equity. She advocates for several community-based health initiatives, including for healthy aging,

community-supported agriculture Community-supported agriculture (CSA model) or cropsharing is a system that connects producers and consumers within the food system closer by allowing the consumer to subscribe to the harvest of a certain farm or group of farms. It is an alterna ...

, access to healthy food,

doula A doula () is a trained professional who provides expert guidance for the service of others and who supports another person (the doula's client) through a significant health-related experience, such as childbirth, miscarriage, induced abortion or ...

care, more school-based health centers, and safe staffing standards for nurses. From the

Campaign for Fiscal Equity The Campaign for Fiscal Equity (CFE) was a not-for-profit advocacy organization that sought to protect and promote the constitutional right to a sound basic education for all public school students in the State of New York. Under the leadership ...

, she wants state aid for basic school funding. She advocates for lessened police contact and a

community policing Community policing, or community-oriented policing (COP), is a strategy of policing that focuses on developing relationships with community members. It is a philosophy of full-service policing that is highly personal, where an officer patrols ...

model with investment in education and social service programs, citing the

murder of George Floyd On , George Floyd, a 46-year-old black man, was murdered in the U.S. city of Minneapolis by Derek Chauvin, a 44-year-old white police officer. Floyd had been arrested on suspicion of using a counterfeit $20 bill. Chauvin knelt on Floyd's ...

and the

shooting of Breonna Taylor Breonna Taylor, a 26-year-old African-American woman, was fatally shot in her Louisville, Kentucky apartment on March 13, 2020, when at least seven police officers forced entry into the apartment as part of an investigation into drug dealing op ...

References

External links

Biography at the New York State Assembly

Ballotpedia profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Zinerman, Stefani Living people Democratic Party members of the New York State Assembly Rochester Institute of Technology alumni People from Gowanus, Brooklyn Politicians from Brooklyn Women state legislators in New York (state) 21st-century American politicians 21st-century American women politicians African-American state legislators in New York (state) 1964 births 21st-century African-American women 21st-century African-American politicians 20th-century African-American people 20th-century African-American women