Officers
A native of Illinois, Paula Egelson has also lived in the states of Georgia, North Carolina, and South
Carolina. She has a BA in child development, a master’s in reading education, and a doctorate in
educational leadership. Paula has worked as a community organizer, an intermediate and middle school educator, a professional developer, a researcher, and director of a school improvement program. She has written journal articles on such topics as dropout prevention, literacy, school improvement, performance assessments, clinical practice, teacher evaluation, classrooms and COVID, the Program Evaluation Standards, career tech, and class size reduction. Paula has also co-authored books on successful research-based strategies for principals, formative assessments and is currently co-writing a book about the success and failure of various school improvement initiatives. She began participating in the League of Women Voters in her 20’s in Asheville, NC. After her two sons were grown, she rejoined the League in Charleston, SC, and has been VP for Citizen gagement and a member of the SC League. Dr. Egelson is president of the League of Women Voters of the Charleston Area from 2023 to 2025. In her free time, she enjoys reading, being outside, and traveling.
Administrative VP, Judy Peper
Citizen Engagement VP, Jeri Cabot
Treasurer, Kate Peralta
Secretary, Anna Peper
Elected Directors
Communications, Cara Erickson
Cara Erickson moved to downtown Charleston after living in suburban New York and Connecticut. Her first involvement with LWVCA was as a charter member of the Book Club! She has spent her career in media and publishing, holding business management roles at The New York Times before heading up marketing at Business Week Magazine and spearheading its early online publishing strategies. For the last 15 years she has had an executive recruitment consulting business focused on the media industry. She and her husband Mark have two 30-something daughters and sons-in-law and four fabulous grandchildren under the age of six, living in nearby Mt Pleasant and in New York City. She is on the advisory board of Report for America, a national journalism service nonprofit, and volunteers virtually as a college admissions counselor. She has a BA in history from Duke and an MBA from Columbia University.
Joy Brown is a Charleston native who has lived in West Ashley nearly her entire life. She has four children ranging in age from 26 to 6 years old. Throughout the years, she has been a part of Charleston’s food and beverage industry, played in a band, and was even a member of the local roller derby league. Now, as an advocate and supporter of public schools, Joy currently holds a position as a PTA President and serves West Ashley as a District 10 Constituent School Board member.
Cynthia was born and raised in New Orleans. She attended the University of Texas (Austin) for her
undergraduate degree and earned a Master’s degree at Georgia State University (Atlanta). After college she lived up and down the East Coast including 18 years in New England, retiring to Charleston in 2011. Cynthia had a 25 year career in the business end of the High Tech Industry. She was an avid mountain hiker for over 30 years. She was also active in her community over that time with specific interests in DEI issues and political action.
Vote 411 Director, Jennifer Metts
Growing up with a mom who has been an active League member across three states for 40+ years, Jennifer Metts finally decided to join in 2020! She is passionate about voting rights and redistricting reform. Jennifer has over 30 years’ experience in business management, marketing, project management, quality control, and human resources with environmental engineering firms, schools, and arts organizations. Jennifer has a B.A. from Wofford College in Spartanburg and has been with Meridian Energy & Environment in Charleston for 12 years. She has served on the boards of directors for the Advertising Federation of Charleston and the Footlight Players and is currently a board member of the MUSC Women's Club. She is also an active member of the Charleston Symphony Orchestra League. Jennifer lives in downtown Charleston with her husband, Chris.
Resource Development Chair, Donna Englander-Factor
Donna Englander-Factor moved to Folly Beach with her husband in 2017 after living in Northern Virginia for 30 years. She has worked for a variety of non-profit organizations as a fundraising professional. Currently she serves as Director of Development and Assistant Dean for the School of Humanities and Social Sciences at The Citadel. Her passions include public education and social justice issues.
Candidate Forums, Heidi Hupp
Voters Service Co-Directors, Judy Manning and Kathy Bennett
Off-Board Leaders
Nominating Committee Chair, Claire Fund