LWVLA Board

Elizabeth Ralston retired from a career in software development and joined the League in 2003. She has served on the League Board since 2004, and is currently serving as Action Chair. She co-chaired the League's study of retirement benefits for employees of the City of Los Angeles, and is a consultant on state and local finance for the League of Women Voters of California. She is also a second-generation League member. Her mother advocated for constitutional reform in Illinois, and Elizabeth would love to see constitutional reform in California.

Sandra has been an elementary school teacher and school librarian for over 15 years. She joined the League of Women Voters after her exposure to LWV voter information some years ago. The Easy Voter Guide helped make sense of the propositions on the ballot and she joined to show support for the League's work. She served as the San Fernando Valley Unit Chair and helped increase attendance at monthly meetings. In January 2009, she accepted the post of Membership Chair.

Mira Hashmall is an attorney who practices with a boutique litigation firm in Century City. Mira attended the University of California at Berkeley and obtained her law degree from the University of Southern California. She is a current board member of the League of Women Voters of Los Angeles Education Fund, and was part of the committee that planned the Celebrating Leadership Awards Dinner in March 2011.

Amelia MacRae moved to L.A. in mid-2011 and currently works in the development department at Children's Hospital Los Angeles. She joined the League specifically to focus on local election reform issues but is excited to be expanding her involvement in other areas as well. Amelia grew up in Portland, OR. In 2005 she earned her BA in Media and Cultural Studies at Macalester College in Saint Paul, MN. She received a Master of Public Administration degree in 2011 from the University of Pittsburgh's Graduate School of Public and International Affairs where she majored in Public and Nonprofit Management. A life-long activist and engaged citizen, Amelia is passionate about equal rights, environmental protection, health care, and the power of local governments to improve communities.

María Montero graduated with a BA from UC Berkeley and an MA from CSULA , both degrees in Political Science. She currently is a lecturer at Cal State University, Dominguez Hills. In the past she has taught at Santa Monica College, El Camino Community College, and Glendale Community College. She also worked as a bilingual teacher for LAUSD. She has lived and taught in London and New Zealand as well. María has been a member of the League for many years. Recently she was an active participant in the 2011 Education Study, and she currently co-chairs the Program Planning Committee and sits on the LWWLA board as secretary.

Cecilia Schlesinger, retired Los Angeles Times Advertising Manager, joined the League of Women Voters of Los Angeles in 2001. She served previously as Action Chair and as Chair of the Nominating Committee and also as Program Co-Chair.

Martha Sklar was born in Havana, Cuba and immigrated to Detroit, MI when she was eight and a half years old. Martha has a BA and MA in Mathematics and Ph.D. in Mathematics Education. She taught mathematics at high school and community college levels. Later she entered administration and was a dean of Academic Affairs at Los Angeles City College until her retirement seven years ago. Upon joining the League she joined both the LWVLA and the LWV Ed Fund Boards. Currently she is Treasurer of LWVLA and continues to serve on both boards as well as the Membership Committee. She has two sons, Benjamin and Jonathan.

Harriet Borson graduated from UCLA with a degree in education and from CSUN with an MA in Child Development/Education Psychology. She taught in LAUSD and in BHUSD. She was a member of the LWV in Los Angeles and then in Beverly Hills in the sixties and seventies. She has always been an involved advocate for the education and health of children and families. Harriet was a long time member of the California State PTA Board serving on the Legislation Action Committee and was Director of Legislation for eight years. During that time she chaired the CSPTA participation in many State Ballot measures. Since rejoining LWV in 2009 she chaired the National Education study 2010-2011 and has presented ballot Pros & Cons and been active with the Voter Service Committee. She has two sons and is grandmother of two grandsons who attend Eugene Oregon Public Schools.

Cathe Caraway-Howard has been a trial attorney in Los Angeles who primarily represents employees in discrimination and unpaid wage cases. Her mother is Bette Caraway, a long-time active member of LWVLA. She joined LWVLA in 2010 both because of her mother's inspiration and because of her commitment to improving access to justice and improving the democratic process. She joined the LWVLA Board of Directors in July 2012.

Amelia MacRae moved to L.A. in mid-2011 and currently works in the development department at Children's Hospital Los Angeles. She joined the League specifically to focus on local election reform issues but is excited to be expanding her involvement in other areas as well. Amelia grew up in Portland, OR. In 2005 she earned her BA in Media and Cultural Studies at Macalester College in Saint Paul, MN. She received a Master of Public Administration degree in 2011 from the University of Pittsburgh's Graduate School of Public and International Affairs where she majored in Public and Nonprofit Management. A life-long activist and engaged citizen, Amelia is passionate about equal rights, environmental protection, health care, and the power of local governments to improve communities.

Carlos Medina has lived in Los Angeles for the past 25 years. He has worked as a bookkeeper for local small businesses. For the past five years he has been active with the Los Feliz/Silverlake unit of the League of Women Voters of Los Angeles and has most recently served on the LWVLA Board as Secretary. He will now serve as a Board Director. Locally, Carlos is a member of the ACLU, Library Foundation and Society of Architecture Historians. He and his partner Denis Cagna have lived in Los Feliz for the past 17 years.

Tamra has more than 16 years experience in neighborhood revitalization, community and fundraising (development), two (2) terms of city government experience, marketing, sales and public advocacy. She is a public speaker and trainer on various topics and has received awards highlighting community and advocacy achievements. In addition, was featured in the North Carolina May 2002 issue of "Our State Magazine" highlighting leadership and program development skills in working with critically at risk youth. Tamra's business experience and college studies from Mott College and Azusa Pacific University has allowed her the opportunity to hone her professional skills in community and program development, sales, small business development, government and leadership development. Her work in both the for-profit and non-profit industries has given Tamra deep insight and a varied skill-set. In addition to these great attributes she is also the proud wife of a Veteran who served our country faithfully for 21 years in the United States Army, the proud mother of three adult children and 2 beautiful grand daughters.

Rosalind Tyson has been active in LWV Los Angeles for the past year, working with Jean Thomson on sentencing reform in the advocacy arena, and serving as the SmartVoter coordinator for Fran Lapides' Voter Service Committee. Roz retired in 2012 from a 30-year career as a lawyer for the Securities and Exchange Commission; she was the head of the agency's 175-person Los Angeles Regional Office from 2007 to 2012. She is a first-time grandmother and an avid Sierra Club hiker.

Cynde Willis is an Occupational Therapist. She is currently homeschooling both of her children through middle school. Her Mother, Bette Caraway, has been a speaker for the League of Women Voters for as long as she can remember. Cynde joined the League because she believes that it is important for people to be educated voters.