Lydia Garcia named NEA-Alaska’s new Executive Director
(Posted April 26, 2007)

In a unanimous vote, the NEA-Alaska Board of Directors hired Lydia Garcia, an NEA Organizational Specialist with deep roots in Alaska.

Lydia was born in El Paso, Texas, and began life as a self-described "Army brat." Her strong Mexican American heritage helped her adjust to the many different cultures she experienced during family moves throughout Europe and United States.

Earlier in her career Lydia spent 20 years in Alaska, during which time she served in the Alaska Air National Guard and concurrently worked for the State of Alaska and the Municipality of Anchorage. She began her work as a labor activist with the Anchorage Police Department. For the past 16 years Lydia has worked as an advocate for educators and education issues. She came to NEA-Alaska as a UniServ Director in 1992 and for five years served teacher locals and organized Education Support Professional locals in the Bush. In 1997 she joined the Washington Education Association and for 8 years served as the UniServ Director for the 4th largest teacher local in the state.

Lydia retained her passion for organizing, earning an MA in Organizational Leadership, and in 2005 she joined the National Education Association as an Organizational Specialist. Since September Lydia has been on loan from NEA, serving as Interim Executive Director while NEA-Alaska conducted a search for a permanent Executive Director.

Lydia's leadership philosophy can be summarized by Kouzes & Posner:

"Leaders model the way, inspire a shared vision, challenge the process, enable other to act, and encourage the heart."