Orlinsky, Jo-Ann

Born November 20, 1939, and raised in New York, Jo-Ann Orlinsky is the daughter of Henry J. and Celia (Schifrin) Mayer. Ms. Orlinsky attended high school in Suffern, NY, and obtained an A.B. degree from Mount Holyoke College in 1961. She became involved in politics while at college in Massachusetts, working on the 1958 congressional campaigns of John F. Kennedy and James MacGregor Burns.

She married Walter S. Orlinsky on June 18, 1961, and relocated to Baltimore, Maryland. Between 1961 and 1964, Jo-Ann Orlinsky was employed as secretary for the Nuclear Physics Research team at Johns Hopkins University, campaign secretary for U.S. House of Representatives candidate Carlton R. Sickles, and research assistant for the Baltimore Metropolitan Area Study Commission. She joined the U.S. Senate campaign of Joseph D. Tydings in 1964 as campaign headquarters director. Upon his election, she served as his special assistant until May 1970. Her primary responsibilities were keeping the senator abreast of Maryland political matters and informed on state, county, and local legislation in which he had a particular interest. In May 1970, Orlinsky became administrative assistant and scheduling chairman for Tydings' unsuccessful 1970 U.S. Senate reelection campaign.

Jo-Ann Orlinsky continued her involvement in politics as campaign manager and headquarters director for her husband's 1971 campaign for Baltimore City Council President. The following two years, she chaired the Worker Training Program for the Associated Jewish Charities. Then between March and August 1973, she served on the staff of the Democratic National Committee's Commission on Delegate Selection and Party Structure, known as the "Mikulski Commission." This commission was charged with providing technical assistance, recommendations, and requirements for opening the doors of party affairs to minorities, women, youth, and people of all economic classes; however, its primary objective was to elect a Democrat president in 1976. Since 1973, she has held various positions with Women Together, a coalition of thirty-three metropolitan Baltimore women's organizations, the Maryland Commission of Labor and Industry, and the Maryland Occupational Safety and Health Administration and Advisory Board.

Among Jo-Ann Orlinsky's significant awards and honors are nomination to Who's Who of American Women (1977-1979) and to International Who's Who in Community Service in 1979. In 1980, she was named Woman of the Year by the Business and Professional Women's Club of Baltimore. Ms. Orlinsky also served as a volunteer for numerous local, state, and national women and children's advocacy groups, political organizations, and Jewish Charities and associations (see Appendix A for list.) She and her former husband, Walter S. Orlinksy, were married for twenty-five years and have two children, Eric and Judith.