Washington State School Directors' Association
Martharose Laffey
Executive Director
Washington State School Directors' Association
Martharose Laffey became executive director of the Washington State School Directors' Association in January, 2001. Prior to joining WSSDA, Laffey served for six and a half years as executive director of the National Council for the Social Studies, the largest national organization of social studies educators and other professionals, with a membership of over 24,000 in the U.S. and abroad.
Prior to joining NCSS, she was for eight years an assistant executive director of the National School Boards Association where she had a broad variety of responsibilities, including supervision of NSBA's program of advocacy for national public policy in education, research and training services, public relations program, and state legislative program. She also worked closely with NSBA's state affiliates.
Previously, Laffey served as a deputy director and legislative representative for the National Association of Counties (NACo), the national organization representing county government. She was responsible for oversight of legislative representation, grant and contract activities, and technical assistance efforts. As tax and finance lobbyist, she represented the NACo membership to Congress and the Administration on legislative and regulatory matters relating to county government finance.
Laffey received her BA in History and her MA in Anthropology from The Catholic University of America.
Laffey is an animal lover and has a variety of dogs, cats, and horses. She enjoys volunteering at her local animal shelter in her spare time.