Who is Representative Anna V. Eskamani?
Anna is a bold and unapologetic fighter for Florida families and everyday people. Born and raised in Orlando, she’s the daughter of working-class immigrants who came to Florida from Iran in search of the American Dream. Anna went to Orange County Public Schools and the University of Central Florida. She earned dual degrees as an undergrad and graduate student, works as a nonprofit professional, and recently completed her PhD in Public Administration from UCF.
A bridge builder, Anna flipped her legislative seat in 2018 and won her re-election by an overwhelming majority in 2020, 2022, and 2024. She made history as the first Iranian-American elected to any public office in Florida and has championed critical issues like housing affordability, tax breaks for working families, environmental protection, equality for all, funding for public schools, human trafficking and sexual assault prevention, and support of arts and culture funding. With a track record of kind sacrifice, endless hard work, and iron-clad values, Anna is known across the state and nation as a leader who is unbothered, unbossed, and committed to the people of Florida.
Anna is bringing her passion for helping people to Orlando City Hall and you can learn more about her and her work below.
Anna’s Family
The Eskamani family is no stranger to adversity. Anna’s father worked full-time as a waiter in college and graduated with an electrical engineering degree from UCF in 1994.
He would work at Florida’s Space Coast for nearly 10 years, but in an effort to make ends meet, he also worked as a customer service representative at Walt Disney World on the weekends.
During this time, Anna’s mother worked minimum wage jobs at fast food restaurants and K-Mart. Anna, her twin sister Ida, and older brother Arya, would spend late nights helping their mother at K-Mart clean the shelves and refold clothes.
After fighting a five year battle with cancer, Anna’s mother passed away in 2004. Anna was 13 years old. This loss in her family, coupled with the economic challenges her parents faced, inspires Anna every day to work hard for the most marginalized members of her community.
Anna’s Educational Background
Anna and her siblings are graduates of Orange County Public Schools. They each attended Bonneville Elementary School, Corner Lake Middle School, and University High School.
Anna was a community builder even early in life. At age 10, she successfully collected petitions to keep her best friend from being relocated to another lunchtime. While in high school, Anna was involved in the performing arts as a theatre tech, working backstage and building props, costumes, and set pieces.
It was an AP Government teacher during her senior year at University High School that brought Anna back into the field of civic engagement.
Anna would continue her education at the University of Central Florida. Here she became engaged with environmental issues, international human rights, and the College Democrats at UCF. Anna soon began serving as the organization’s Women’s Caucus Chair and eventually the State Women’s Caucus Chair. She was also member of the Iranian Student Organization, the Political Science Honor Society (Pi Sigma Alpha), along with many other advocacy organizations including the Florida League of Women Voters, where she served as one of their youngest members and board members.
Anna led the Keep PBS in Orlando campaign in 2011, a community-based campaign in support of WUCF-TV. Anna did not have cable growing up, and her family relied on PBS for objective and educational programming. This campaign helped to create WUCF-TV, that we know and love today.
Anna earned two bachelor's degrees at UCF in Political Science and Women’s Studies, along with a certificate in Service Learning. She was a Top Honor Graduate and received the Order of Pegasus– the highest honor any UCF student can receive.
She continued her pursuit of higher education at UCF and received dual Masters in December 2015 with graduate degrees in Nonprofit Management and Public Administration, along with a Certificate in Gender Studies. She is also a Certified Nonprofit Professional. In 2016, she was recognized by UCF’s College of Health and Public Affairs as a leading alumni in the field of Nonprofit Management. That same year, she was recognized by the UCF Alumni Foundation as an outstanding young alumni who continues to “Reach for the Stars” in their professional and personal lives, and four years later Anna was recognized as 2020 Distinguished Alumnus, the highest annual honor UCF Alumni bestows upon a graduate!
In 2024, Anna completed her PhD in Public Administration from the University of Central Florida, with a dissertation focused on Florida’s broken unemployment system and crisis communications. She also has published academic papers focused on health disparities in the Parramore community and aging in place.
Anna’s Professional Career
Today, Anna holds a PhD in Public Administration, serves as an adjunct professor and policy educator when she has time, and works full-time at the nonprofit NEO Philanthropy, serving as a State Advisor in Florida and helping nonprofits with grant writing, strategic planning, board development, capital campaigns, and more. She has several academic papers published, with more on the way.
From 2012 – 2018, Anna served as a Senior Director for Planned Parenthood of Southwest and Central Florida where she managed a team of six across 22 counties, supporting 40,000 Floridians in their efforts to gain access to reproductive health care services. Anna is known in the legislature and across the nation as an advocate for women’s health and equality.
In 2021, Anna launched People Power For Florida, a statewide voter registration, empowerment, and educational organization. She serves as the Executive Director of this organization but does not receive a salary for her work.
She also continues to serve on numerous boards, including Orlando Mayor’s Veterans Advisory Council, Keep Orlando Beautiful, the UCF College of Arts & Humanities Dean’s Executive Council, the US Global Leader Coalition, the Valencia College Peace and Justice Institute, Winter Park Playhouse and just ended her term on the board of the Orlando Gay Chorus.
Read more about Anna’s professional career via her LinkedIn profile here.
Anna’s published academic articles:
Mixed methods evaluation on village neighborhood social cohesiveness and quality of life (link); co-author published in Quality in Ageing and Older Adults; June 2022
In Her Own Words The Impact of Poverty on Health Outcomes for Women in a Central Florida Community (link); co-author published in Critical Studies: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal; July 2021
Connecting in Crisis: Exploring Online Informal Communications in Florida’s Unemployment Struggle (link); A dissertation submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in the Department of Public Administration in the College of Community Innovation and Education at the University of Central Florida Orlando, Florida, August 2024
Anna’s Work in the State Legislature
Anna continues demonstrating strong bipartisan leadership while serving in the Florida State Legislature, representing House District 42, including parts of Orlando, Winter Park, Belle Isle, Edgewood, Maitland, and the Historic Town of Eatonville. She just ended her term as the Chair of Orange County’s Legislative Delegation and serves as the Ranking Member of the Florida House’s Ways and Means Committee.
Despite being a member of the Minority Caucus, she finds ways to work across the aisle to deliver on important policy goals, like eliminating the sales tax on diapers in Florida and bringing funding back to House District 42. At the same time, she holds firm on the values she was elected to uphold, defending our everyday freedoms, protecting our public schools, environment, and more. She has been one of the only state lawmakers brave enough to challenge corporations that price-gouge Floridians and leverage their overt influence to get corporate tax breaks that everyday people end up paying for.
But it’s not just Anna’s work in the policy and budget arena that matters; her commitment to constituent services and solving everyday problems Floridians face is why she stands out. During the COVID-19 pandemic, Anna and her team assisted more than 60,000 Floridians in securing their unemployment benefits, and she used her own salary to help families in need. She takes on insurance companies to get results for constituents, isn’t afraid to ask tough questions of powerful industries, serves on multiple community boards, and is on the ground providing direct services to constituents in need.
With your support, Anna hopes to bring her people-centered approach to public service to Orlando City Hall.
“I have never not known struggle, and grew up in Orlando as witness to my parents’ hard work and commitment to family. I was 13 years old when I lost my mother to cancer, and knew I needed to honor her life through action and serving my community.”
-Representative Anna V. Eskamani, PhD