Annie Cotton-Morris (1949-2023) was a community leader who served as president of the Woodside Houses Tenants Association for over forty years. She was a graduate of the New York City public school system and attended City College of New York, where she majored in Early Childhood Education. She spent over 30 years working at Verizon. In 2015, Cotton-Morris was elected Queens District Chair on the Citywide Council of Presidents, where she worked to bring stability and assurance to New York City Housing Authority (NYCHA) residents citywide. She pushed political leaders for more affordable housing and to upgrade conditions for NYCHA residents, improving the quality of life for communities throughout Queens.

Cotton-Morris also started the Sisters in the Hood program, offering mentorship and career advice for teen girls, as well as the Woodside Gents program for young men, which provided mentorship and sports involvement for young people. She served as a board member of Urban Upbound, which is a non-profit organization dedicated to improving the lives of people living in public housing. In honor of her decades of dedication to her community, Cotton-Morris posthumously received the New York Senate’s Women of Distinction Award from Senator Michael Gianaris in May of 2023.