6/28/2004 - Clem Richardson from New York's Daily Press published an article about Annie's transition and about CAE. Click here to read.




Annie Ellman's Legacy

As Co-founder and Executive Director Annie Ellman guided and shaped the Center for Anti-Violence Education through 30 years of growth and change. Annie is a renowned anti-violence teacher and activist, recognized nationally for her vision and accomplishments. As Head Martial Arts Instructor, Annie created the violence-prevention curricula that form the basis of CAE’s wide-ranging programs.

In the early 1970s—as both the feminist and anti-war/anti-violence movements were moving people to action—Annie and her co-founder Nadia Telsey envisioned a woman’s karate program that would strengthen and empower women while contributing to collective action against war and violence.

At that time, women were often not welcome in traditional karate dojos. Annie and Nadia both saw martial arts as part of a political vision. From personal experience, they knew what it could do for a women’s sense of herself as individual – and they wanted to share that. Of course there were setbacks. Not everyone was so excited about women learning to fight. And still fewer liked the idea of out-lesbians being a part of that effort.

After Nadia left New York in 1980, Annie kept the vision alive when the times changed – after that wave of the women’s movement had receded and energy was a bit harder to come by. Along with the changes some things have remained the same – especially Annie’s dedication to the values of justice, anti-oppression politics, and the empowerment of women and children – and to the ideal of a world without violence.

Annie is a committed community activist and change-maker—bringing activism into the heart of CAE’s work. She is a firebrand and a fiercely committed activist whose passion for change has never abated. She motivates the CAE community to take action—to protest injustice and fight for a peaceful, just, and equitable world.

A savvy institution-builder who spent three decades turning a small project with no office, funding, or even telephone into a nationally-recognized anti-violence center that serves people of all ages throughout New York City and across the country, Annie is a visionary and strategic thinker who kept CAE moving forward and upward.

It is perhaps in the dojo that Annie is most fully alive, sharing skills and knowledge to make students’ bodies and minds strong. She is a compassionate and generous teacher who truly understands that the smallest internal changes can generate profound change in the world at large.

Annie’s exceptional ability to teach, to use her power in the service of others resulted in her building a lasting institution.