More Questions Than Answers After Senate Energy Hearing The Senate Energy and Commerce Committee held a hearing on the path forward for Puerto Rico’s electricity grid, eight months after Hurricane Maria devastated the Island. Committee […]
More Questions Than Answers After Senate Energy Hearing The Senate Energy and Commerce Committee held a hearing on the path forward for Puerto Rico’s electricity grid, eight months after Hurricane Maria devastated the Island. Committee […]
It is with a heavy heart that I share the sad news that our friend, Judy Schneider, passed away on Friday, June 21, 2024, at 6 p.m. Judy’s passing is an enormous loss for BoricuActivatEd . She was pivotal in the creation of our curriculums and their initial execution. Judy not only designed our very first curriculum, but she also agreed to help me by joining me on the road as we embarked together to teach our first high school courses in New Jersey and Northern Philadelphia. While I had been expecting the news for a while, I am very much heartbroken by her passing.
She was a talent like no other and her generous spirit in sharing her knowledge and insights about Congress had a profound impact during my career in Congress. I could not have navigated the legislative duties of my early days in Congress without Judy’s advice. No one had the institutional knowledge that Judy had nor the capacity to speak truth to power when she believed a member of Congress could do better. If you knew Judy well, you would know better than to ask a stupid question. Her reactions were the purest form of authenticity one could ever see, and I am grateful to have enjoyed her friendship until the end.
Judy had a legendary career working first for Senate and House committees and, from 1979-2019, for CRS. Her specialties ranged from the rules of the four party caucuses to the organization of the House and Senate to procedures and jurisdictions of committees to procedural strategy in the House and Senate. Her special power was her knowledge of individual members, their states and districts, and their political strengths, weaknesses, and objectives as a consultant to individual members–backbenchers and rising and incumbent leaders. For congressional staff and other young professionals desiring to make it on Capitol Hill and in Washington, Judy taught or mentored and befriended thousands of people. I was lucky to have been one of these people.
In February 2023, Judy was diagnosed with two forms of cancer. Through December, she underwent treatment by chemotherapy and immunotherapy. In January 2024, her oncology team informed her that they had run out of treatment options and recommended she enter hospice, which she did.
We join Judy’s family and many friends in remembering this talented, generous, warm-hearted individual. To say that she will be missed is a vast understatement.
Jennice Fuentes
Founder
BoricuActivatEd