About Alma

Alma Rutgers has been writing an opinion column for Hearst Connecticut Media Group since 2010 and has long been active in Democratic politics. She served in local town government in Greenwich, Connecticut for more than 30 years, including on the Board of Health, Housing Authority, and for 12 years as an elected Democratic member of the town’s bi-partisan finance board.

For nine years she coordinated the diversity writing contest for the Greenwich First Selectman’s Diversity Advisory Committee. The contest was subsequently named after her. She has been a member of the board of directors of numerous nonprofit organizations, most recently as chair of the Barbara’s House board of directors, a human service agency that mainly serves residents of Greenwich Housing Authority developments.

She was a housing specialist for the Connecticut League of Women Voters for 10 years, lobbying on affordable housing legislation at the state Capitol in Hartford. She was a hospice volunteer in a home hospice program for more than a decade.

Among the community awards she has received are the League of Women Voters Mary Award, the YWCA Spirit of Greenwich Award, and the Westchester Region Hadassah Hand of Healing Award.

She is a member of Temple Sholom in Greenwich, a Conservative synagogue, and a member of the Martha’s Vineyard Hebrew Center in Vineyard Haven on Martha’s Vineyard. She is also part of the Greenwich Chabad community.

A graduate of Greenwich Academy, a private girls’ school, she holds a B.A. from Barnard College, an M.Phil. from Columbia University, and a Master of Arts in Writing (M.A.W.) from Manhattanville College.

A widow since 2023, she has one son from an earlier marriage and two grandchildren.