Our Board of Directors

Our Board of Directors

Officers

President, Paula Egelson

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

Judy has been a member of the League since 2017. She knew immediately that this was a perfect fit for her. Judy's interest in social justice and service began while employed at the Department of Social Services. She administered federal funds in order to remove barriers to employment for disadvantaged teenage moms. As Judy and her husband, Warren, reared 3 children, her mission continued by working in public education. She then transitioned her employment to her church, serving as the Director of Youth Ministries, where she coordinated district-wide events for 88 churches and organized a community-wide fundraiser that still exists annually. Judy considers herself a Charlestonian, as she has lived here almost all her life (even though her parents were not "from here"). She and her husband have 3 grown children, 2 daughters-in-law, and 2 grandchildren, all of whom live in the area. Judy currently serves on the Citizen's Education and Voter Services committees and eagerly awaits additional responsibilities and opportunities.
 
Issues & Action VP [vacant]
 

Citizen Engagement VP, Jeri Cabot

Read a member spotlight on Dr. Jeri Cabot here.

Treasurer, Kate Peralta

Secretary, Anna Peper

Anna is a native Charlestonian with strong family ties to the community. She graduated from Georgia Southern University with a BFA in Dance & Theatre, minoring in Psychology and Spanish. She continues to pursue her passion and love for dance by teaching Ballet, Tap, and Jazz at Susan Causey's School of Dance in West Ashley. She currently works at Trident Technical College as an Event Coordinator, and has been in the Event Planning industry for over 6 years. Anna's guilty pleasure is watching Professional Wrestling, and she now has a pro wrestling ally in her nephew, Andrew. Anna loves playing with her dog Lucy and spending time with her family, all of whom still call Charleston home. Like many others, Anna's passion for activism and community service was re-ignited in 2016, and she has been a member of the League since 2018.
 

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.

Education, Joy Brown
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.
 
Membership, Sharon Crossley
 
Natural Resources [vacant]
 
Good Government and Ethics, Cindy Boatwright
Cindy Boatwright began her career in communications, spanning editorial, public relations and marketing strategy positions for companies such as L’Oreal and Verizon. Mid-career she decided to go back to school to become a Licensed Professional Counselor and has been a therapist for 18 years, specializing in adolescents.
 
Cindy is a native South Carolinian who has lived in many places including Dallas, Chicago, Connecticut, New Jersey and NYC. She has been back in the Charleston area for 11 years. Cindy ran for the SC State House in 2017. She has been active in the LWVCA for several years, in voter registration. Newly elected to the Board, Cindy is excited to funnel her passion for improving government for the people through her position in Good Government and Ethics. Cindy has a B.A. in English and Psychology from The University of the South (Sewanee), an M.A. in English and Comparative Literature from Columbia University, an M.Ed. in Psychology from Rutgers University and an LPC from Kean University.
 
Cindy’s husband, Mike, is a small business owner with a company in North Charleston. Her son, Tom, is an opera singer in NYC, relocating to San Jose, California with San Jose Opera. Her daughter, Blakely, is a School Psychologist who is relocating to Virginia. She also has a therapy dog, Emmy, who works at MUSC.
 
Diversity, Equity and Inclusion, Cynthia Stetzer

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.

Health Policy, Sonia Donnelly
Sonia Donnelly has 20 years of nonprofit service in the Access to Healthcare field. Currently, she works for the Palmetto Project as the Director of Programs. She oversees their Medicaid outreach efforts; Marketplace and Medicare education and enrollment services; and vaccine equity and outreach. Previously, Sonia managed a suicide prevention and crisis intervention hotline. Sonia is originally from Manchester, England and received her undergraduate degree in Economics and Government from the University of Manchester. She received her MBA from Limestone University. 
 
Sonia is a Dorchester County resident who lives with her husband, two children, and two beagles. In her spare time, she likes a good medical history, nonfiction, or fantasy book with a nice cup of tea!
 
Criminal Justice [vacant]
 
Immigration, Maria Cordova-Salinas
 

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