AARP Connecticut Announces New Associate State Director, Advocacy and Outreach

AARP Connecticut today announced the addition of Anna Doroghazi as Associate State Director, Advocacy and Outreach. She will be responsible for developing and executing state and community advocacy campaigns on behalf of the nonprofit, nonpartisan organization’s nearly 600,000 members in Connecticut.

At AARP our mission is to empower people to choose how they live as they age. Through local lifestyle discounts, learning opportunities, community service and advocacy, AARP strengthens communities and fights for the issues that impact people such as healthcare, financial security, consumer protections and fraud prevention.

As part of the role, Doroghazi will plan and execute AARP advocacy campaigns that include grassroots mobilization, lobbying, media, community resources and organization, policy expertise, and political knowledge in support of AARP legislative and policy goals at the local and state level.

“Anna’s experience from positions in the public and private sectors adds a new dynamic to the AARP Connecticut team of 7 full-time staff members and hundreds of volunteers,” said Nora Duncan, state director, AARP Connecticut. “Her extensive skills, strong work ethic, enthusiasm for our mission and love of the Constitution State will benefit AARP and our work on behalf of nearly 600,000 Connecticut members and their families.”

Doroghazi added, “I’m looking forward to being part of the great work that AARP Connecticut does in communities throughout the state. I believe that people should be able to choose how they live as they age, and I’m excited to support AARP’s efforts to make that vision a reality for everyone who calls Connecticut home.”

Doroghazi previously worked in Connecticut where she served as the Director of Public Policy and Communication for Connecticut Sexual Assault Crisis Services (formerly CONNSACS, now the Connecticut Alliance to End Sexual Violence), the coalition of Connecticut's nine sexual assault crisis services programs, from 2007 to 2013. While there, she led successful efforts to update the state's stalking statutes and improve laws related to sexual violence and people with disabilities. She also managed the organization’s media and communications strategies and served on several statewide workgroups related to victim services.

She moved from Connecticut in 2013 to take on several roles within New York State government, serving most recently as the Director of Policy and Special Projects for the Executive Chamber’s Nonprofit Coordination Team where she worked directly with Governor Cuomo’s cabinet-level Interagency Coordinator for Nonprofit Services to develop policies and programs related to the nonprofit human services sector.

Prior to her work at CONNSACS, she interned with Freedom from Torture in London, England, and worked as a domestic violence victim advocate in Michigan.

Doroghazi graduated Magna Cum Laude with a Bachelor’s of Arts in European Studies and Spanish from Hillsdale College and received a Master’s of Science in Human Rights from the London School of Economics and Political Science.