LINC warmly welcomes Andrea Newborn to our Board of Directors!
Andrea Newborn is Executive Vice President, General Counsel and Secretary of ABM Industries, and in that role is responsible for all legal/compliance, risk and safety, corporate governance, and real estate affairs. Andrea has more than three decades of experience working in senior leadership roles at both public and privately held companies, including TravelClick, Inc. and Reader’s Digest Association. She recently completed her term as a David Rockefeller Fellow at the Partnership for New York City.
Read more about Andrea's favorite children’s book, current reads, and passion for our mission below:
What attracted you to Literacy Inc. and why are you excited about joining the board?
I learned about LINC a few years ago when a close friend joined the organization and invited me to attend my first LINC gala. I was immediately drawn to the organization as one that not only had a mission that was super easy to relate to and to get excited about, but a board and leadership team with the passion and skills that could execute on that mission. Something I’ve learned through various experiences with both for-profit and not-for-profit corporations over many years is that it takes both for an organization to be successful, and that one without the other usually isn’t enough. It was very clear to me from the start that LINC has both--in spades. So when asked to join the board, I was both honored and excited to be able to contribute even more directly to this great organization and its mission.
Why do books or reading matter in the life of a child?
Wow. There are lots and lots of reasons reading and books matter in a child’s life. The first thing that comes to mind is that reading gives a child the ability to escape and to start their journey of independence. I’m not using escape in a negative sense – more that through books and reading a child can go anywhere they want, in any time period they want, for as long as they want. As such, it’s often a first way of creating a sense of independence, of being able to decide for themselves where and what they want to dream.
What was your favorite book as a kid?
I am an only child so I spent a lot of time reading. I loved all Roald Dahl books so I’ll say James and the Giant Peach. As a side note, my fourth grade class at PS 13 in Queens put on the play of James and the Giant Peach (and I was James!).
What are you reading right now, and why?
I’m reading To Paradise by Hanya Yanagihara. I’m reading it because I read A Little Life by this author when it came out in 2015, and while I can’t say that was an easy read (far from it in fact), it was one that was so powerful that I never forgot it. I usually read books and forget them, but not A Little Life. It’s taken all these years for the author to write another novel and I’ve been waiting patiently. I don’t think it will affect me in the way that A Little Life did, but I'm already drawn in by her prose and the topics she writes about, however difficult they are.
We’re delighted to have Andrea join the LINC team. Welcome to the LINC Board of Directors, Andrea!
For more information about LINC’s current online literacy activities, please visit https://www.lincnyc.org/onlineprograms.