Ann Lee Hussey

Ann Lee Hussey of South Berwick has made the eradication of polio and the alleviation of suffering by polio survivors her life’s work. Over the past several years she has participated in 28 volunteer National Immunization Days (NID) teams, organizing and leading the last 24 teams herself. She has taken those NIDs to places that do not often see westerners—Chad, Mali, Bangladesh, Niger, Nigeria, and Madagascar, as well as less-travelled destinations in Egypt and India—where the need is greatest and where the publicity and goodwill surrounding the trip are as critical as the immunizations themselves to help communicate the need for eradication. She is determined that no child will needlessly have to suffer what she herself, a polio survivor, has been through. Her concerns for polio survivors includes working to ensure mobility and dignity for those who survived the disease, but did not have access to the kinds of surgeries and treatments that she was able to receive.

Ann Lee is a member of the Rotary Club of Portland Sunrise. Her work has earned her the Rotary Foundation Service Award for a Polio-Free World and the Rotary Service Above Self Award, and she was most recently was honored as a White House Champion of Change for her humanitarianism and contributions to public service, aimed at improving people’s lives and making a better future around the globe. She was also honored at the Maine State Senate chamber for her achievements.

Outside Rotary, Ann Lee serves as a trustee of York Hospital and previously served on the board of Port Resources, an organization that supports developmentally challenged adults in Portland. She is veterinary technician who with her husband, Michael Nazemetz, own Village Veterinary Clinic in Rollinsford, New Hampshire.