LWV of Greater Los Angeles Board of Directors

LWV of Greater Los Angeles Board of Directors

 

Board of Directors

 
  Mona Field

Mona Field, President

Mona Field is a former political science professor at Glendale Community College. Mona was elected to the LA Community College District to serve as a member of the Governing Board. Mona has facilitated workshops and panels for the Faculty Association of the CA Community Colleges, the Community College League of CA, and the California Studies Center.  She is a member of the Board of the Los Angeles Leadership Academy and is on the Board of the Foundation for the LA Community College District. Mona is author of a best selling college textbook, California Government and Politics Today, now in its 15th edition. 

Penny

Laurice Sommers, 2nd Vice President

Laurice Sommers came to the attention of the College Board and was elected to the Board of Trustees. Penny served as Senior Educational Manager, assisting superintendents, administrators, counselors and teachers from school districts in southern California, Idaho, Arizona and Hawaii. She believes that every student deserves to graduate from high school equipped with the knowledge, skills, attitudes and behaviors to be successful in college and the workforce.

Gina

Gina Thornburg, Secretary

Gina K. Thornburg, PhD, is an author, editor, and independent scholar-activist based in Woodland Hills. She holds a PhD in geography from Kansas State University and a master's degree in geography from California State University, Northridge, as well as journalism and French degrees from the University of Kansas. A nearly 34-year resident of Los Angeles, she is the executive director of Coalition for Valley Neighborhoods, which has fought for affordable housing and community-serving development in the southwest Valley. She has also served as an active member of the West Valley Neighborhood Alliance on Homelessness. As the at-large alternate member of the Woodland Hills Warner Center Neighborhood Council since fall 2017, she has stood for truth-telling, transparency, and inclusive governance.

Cathy

Cathy Kaiser, Treasurer

Cathy Kaiser has an M.B.A. from the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor and a B.S. in Accounting from Wayne State University in Detroit. She is a retired licensed CPA in California. She has over 40 years of experience working in various executive-level audit, finance, and accounting roles. Cathy is a Consultant with Executive Services Corp and serves as a Board Member for two other nonprofits:  Notre Dame Academy Schools of Los Angeles and Brave Trails.

Mary Dickson

Mary Dickson

Mary has been a member and served on the board of the Glendale/Burbank League for nearly 30 years, most recently as President. She has experience with local non-profit organizations and helped form Walk Bike Burbank, a local chapter of the Los Angeles Bicycle Coalition. She is a certified bicycle instructor and speaks frequently to groups about bicycle safety both for individuals and in planning of infrastructure. In her working life, Mary is an attorney working in the affordable housing group of a national law firm specializing in real estate finance. Naturally, Mary enjoys bike riding in her spare time, as well as gardening and reading.

British Wagya

British Wagya, Director-at-Large

British has been a resident of Los Angeles for 15 years, and is originally from Chicago, IL. She began her career as a Bank Examiner with the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation and now works in the Regulatory Relations department of USAA. She received her B.S. in Finance from Hampton University in Hampton, VA. British joined the LWVLA Board in 2020. British initially attended a LWVLA new members' meeting back in 2017, but was a little preoccupied with her newborn twins to fully participate. She has been an active member with LWVLA since 2019, when she began her service on the DEI committee. In addition, British volunteers on the Voters Service Committee. She also volunteers with Operation Hope, proving financial literacy outreach for youth to young adult participants throughout LA County; and is an active member of her lay buddhist organization SGI-USA.

Jake Ebright

Jake Ebright, Director-at-Large

Jake Ebright was born in Baltimore, Maryland and moved to Los Angeles in 2019 to pursue a career in acting. Prior to moving out west, Jake graduated magna cum laude from the University of Pennsylvania where he majored in economics and minored in public policy. In addition to volunteering for the LWVLA, where he is also a member of the Board of Directors and Speakers Bureau team lead on the Voter Service Committee, Jake is a member of SAG-AFTRA. His prior experience includes interning for the International Rescue Committee as an employment specialist, volunteering for the American Civil Liberties Union as a court observer, and interning on Capitol Hill for the congressional office of Representative John K. Delaney. Jake decided to join the League of Women Voters because he wants to stay politically active and informed while he works on getting himself on the big screen, and the LWV, with its strong reputation as a non-partisan voting advocacy organization, seemed like just the right place to do it.

Monserrat Ramirez-Palacios, Director-at-Large

(bio will be uploaded soon)

Julia Tewel, Director-at-Large

Julia Teweles is a Los Angeles-based writer, editor, and publisher. In 1984, she Founded and was CEO of Roxbury Publishing Company, where she published over 120 books. She sold the company to Oxford University Press in 2007 to pursue other endeavors. From 2010 to 2012, Julia was the Executive Editor in the social sciences for Wiley Publishing. She attended Beloit College, where she double-majored in Comparative Literature and International Relations. Julia joined the Board of LWVGLA in January this year, adding to her impressive list of volunteer service which includes being a Volunteer Facilitator for the Los Angeles LGBT Center, and a member of the U .S. Dept. of Justice’s sponsored Planning Board that liaises with the LAPD, the LASD, and the Los Angeles Mayor’s Office to ensure that critical issues impacting the trans community are prioritized.

 

 

 

Staff

 

Raquel Beltran, Interim Executive Director (she/her)

Raquel Beltran is a native of San Diego and has lived in the greater Los Angeles area for over 25 years. Her background is in public administration, public policy, labor organizing, and nonprofit board governance. Her experience spans over 40 years in various cities of California, leading efforts in the area of civic engagement, elections management, and transformational change. Raquel is a native of San Diego and has received numerous recognitions throughout the years, including representatives of local, state, and federal government, community-based, and business entities from throughout the State. In addition, she received her Bachelor of Political Science from Cal State University, East Bay, and her M.B.A from Cal State University, Dominguez Hills, with Delta Mu honors.  

Lauren Buisson - Administrative Assistant

Lauren Buisson (pronounced bwē-sŏn; pronouns she/they) is a decades-long community activist, beginning at 13 when she joined her school’s volunteer service club. More recently, she served two terms as an elected Representative of the Echo Park Neighborhood Council, and supervised the kitchen for the inaugural Echo Park unhoused shower and services program with fellow neighborhood SELAH volunteers. The weighty responsibility of voting was impressed upon Lauren at an early age when she accompanied her mother to the polls. The hushed solemnity of  ballot casting remained a vivid memory which makes joining the celebrated League of Women Voters seem fated. A journalist by training, and a teacher by temperament, Lauren occasionally lectures and writes on the enduring lessons of the struggles of American Civil Rights movements and the lives of those who sacrificed for them.

 

Advisory Council

 

Lizette Carbajal, VP of Community Relations & Communications for Telemundo 52 & NBC 

Carrie
Hidding, Founder and Co-President, teamCFO 

Laura Kim, Executive Vice President, Campaigns & Engagement, Participant Media

Georgia Mercer, LACCD Boardmember, Ret.