Josh Newman is a United States Army veteran, community leader, veterans’ advocate, and State Senator.
Prior to being elected to the State Senate in 2016, Josh founded and served as the executive director of ArmedForce2Workforce, a not-for-profit initiative to assist young veterans in the Orange County/Greater Los Angeles area in the pursuit of rewarding, career-oriented employment. At the core of Af2Wf’s approach is the fundamental belief that no single group has as much to offer to employers as young veterans, and that the effective delivery of early post-transition career counseling and support will yield substantial dividends for not only veterans themselves, but also the communities to which they are returning.
Josh served as an officer in the United States Army following graduation from Yale University and commissioning through the US Army Officer Candidate School at Fort Benning, Georgia. His active duty assignments included service in South Korea with a nuclear weapons detachment and conventional artillery units in the 25th Infantry Division. His post-service experience prior to founding ArmedForce2Workforce included work in local government, marketing and public relations, film and video production, and executive and consulting positions with a number of technology start-ups in the mobile and internet media technology spheres.
In the State Senate, Josh serves as chair of the Committee on Veterans Affairs. He also sits on the Business and Professions, Health, Insurance, and Human Services Committees. His legislation focuses on finding commonsense, pragmatic solutions that help improve the quality of life for California families. His priorities in addition to helping veterans are more funding for our schools, equal rights for women, and protecting the quality of our air and water.
In his freshmen term, Josh has introduced 18 pieces of legislation that focus on improvements for veterans, mental health, education, jobs, and transportation. His work on these issues strives to make government work more efficiently and effectively for the communities that he serves.
Josh and his wife Darcy live in Fullerton with their daughter and three weird but likeable rescue Chihuahuas.
