Making Democracy Work

LWVLA Education Fund

About the LWVLA Education Fund and Board of Dirctors

LWVLA Education Fund Mission and 2013 - 2014 Board of Directors

Making voting easier through voter education

The League of Women Voters Education Fund conducts voter service and citizen education activities. It is a nonpartisan nonprofit public policy educational organization, which:

  • Builds citizen participation in the democratic process.

  • Studies key community issues at all government levels in an unbiased manner.

  • Enables people to seek positive solutions to public policy issues through education and conflict management.

J. Mira Hashmall, Chair

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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.

Carryl Carter, Vice Chair

Carryl Carter graduated from UCLA Phi Beta Kappa. She has lived in San Fernando Valley since 1956, and has two adult sons as well as a grandson. Carryl retired in 2003 after teaching history at Fairfax High School from 1963 to 1965 and working as an insurance broker and president of Carter Pension & Insurance Services, Inc. from 1978 until her retirement. She holds the position of Vice-Chair for the League of Women Voters of Los Angeles Education Fund Board as well as the Friends of the Family Board. She is also involved with the Catholic-Jewish Women Steering Committee and volunteers as a docent for the Autry National Center and Museum of the West


Renee Chanon, Vice Chair

Renee is a former president of the League of Women Voters of Los Angeles and also served on the League of Women Voters of California State Board. She served for 10 years as a member of the Ballot Simplification Committee for the City of Los Angeles. As an active participant in civic affairs, Renee was appointed by Mayor Bradley to the Downtown Strategic Plan Advisory Committee as one of 60 civic leaders assigned the task of developing a 20-year plan for downtown Los Angeles. Renee is currently a member of the board of the League of Women Voters of Los Angeles Education Fund and has served on a variety of other nonprofit boards, including the National Women's History Project. Professionally, Renee has worked as a public affairs and community relations consultant.

Carrie Hidding, Treasurer

Carrie Tsang-Hidding is a founder of teamCFO Inc., a financial and accounting firm offering onsite customized CFO/controller services on an as-needed basis to businesses and nonprofits. Carrie has more than 25 years of combined financial, accounting, and consulting experience. Prior to founding teamCFO, she was an audit manager at PricewaterhouseCoopers and held senior positions in Fortune 500 firms and numerous small, midsize and start-up businesses. Carrie earned an MBA in international business and a bachelor's degree in accounting and finance from the University of Puget Sound and the University of Washington.

In addition to her service to the League of Women Voters Los Angeles Education Fund, Carrie also serves on the Board of the California Society of CPAs Los Angles as well as lends her expertise to the finance committees of several nonprofits involved in mental health, veterans' care and other causes. She is past president and past trustee of the American Society of Women Accountants, Los Angeles (ASWA) and ASWA Educational Fund. She also served as treasurer of the National Association of Women Business Owners, Los Angeles, and the League of Women Voters, Los Angeles.


Gerald Sallus, Secretary

Gerald Sallus was born in Albany, New York on January 31, 1927. He graduated from Cornell University BEE, 1949. JD Western State Univ. 1976. He retired from Hughes Aircraft in 1989. His last assignment was as Liaison to General Motors. He retired from a flourishing law practice specializing in wills, trusts and probate. He presently serves on the following boards: LWV Ed Fund, West LA College Education Foundation, Culver Marina Bar past President and Trustee, Brandies Men's Club past cochairman and member of steering committee, member of board of Ballona Creek Renaissance. A past member and officer of numerous professional organizations.


Elizabeth Ralston, Co-President

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 Trutt, Co-President

Sandra Trutt has been an active member of the LWVLA for six years. My most recent position has been as Membership Chair and third Vice-President on the Board of Directors. Previous to that I was the San Fernando Valley Unit Chair for two years. My work experience as an elementary teacher and school librarian has given me the skills to lead and set goals for our organization. It has been a rewarding experience to meet new members and encourage them to get involved with the League. I am thrilled to have the opportunity to be Co-President of the League of Women of Voters of Los Angeles with Elizabeth Ralston. We complement each other in our leadership styles and work well together. As we tackle the challenges ahead of us in the coming years, I hope we can count on you for your input, volunteering and financial support to reach our goals of being a vital force and resource in Los Angeles.

Harriet Borson, Director

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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.

Amelia MacRae, Director

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.

Marķa Montero, Director

Marķa Montero graduated with a BA from UC Berkeley and a MA from CSULA, both degrees in Political Science. She presently is a lecturer at Cal State University, Dominguez Hills, in the past she has taught at Santa Monica College. She also worked as a bilingual teacher for LAUSD. She has lived and taught in London and New Zealand as well. Marķa worked on the 2011 Education Study and currently co-chairs the Program Planning Committee.

Bonnie Nijst, Director

Bonnie Nijst is President and CEO of ZEESMAN, a full-service brand strategy, marketing and design firm where she brings more than 20 years of experience in sales, marketing, public relations and communications consulting to the branding and marketing programs the company creates for corporations, nonprofits and government agencies. ZEESMAN's clients have included HMSHost, Warner Bros., Pioneer Electronics, Toshiba Displays, Four Seasons, Los Angeles World Airports, the City of Los Angeles, the City of Beverly Hills, Griffith Observatory, the W. M. Keck Foundation, Walt Disney Company, Rock the Vote and the National Association of Women Business Owners. Active in the business and nonprofit communities, she is past president of the National Association of Women Business Owners + Los Angeles and past vice chair of the NAWBO-LA Foundation. She currently serves as a member of the executive committee of the board of directors for the California Family Health Council, on the Advisory Board of Barco's Nightingales Foundation, and as vice chair of the Minority Business Enterprise Input Committee of the Southern California Minority Business Development Council. She has a bachelor's degree in English from the University of Southern California and is a graduate of the Management Development for Entrepreneurs Program at UCLA Anderson School of Management.

Martha Sklar, Director

put caption here 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.


Bob Stern, Director, Director

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Bob Stern is past President of the Center for Governmental Studies and was the first general counsel of the California Fair Political Practices Commission, the agency in charge of administering California's campaign disclosure, ethics and lobbying laws. He was the co-author of the Center's study: "Democracy by Initiative: Shaping California's Fourth Branch of Government." For the past 25 years, he has led discussions of the issues facing California's voters as they go to the polls. The Washington Monthly magazine described him as a "campaign finance guru," and Peter Schrag, in the Sacramento Bee, called Stern the "godfather of modern political reform in California." He was a principal co-author of the Political Reform Act of 1974 (Proposition 9) and principal drafter of the City of Los Angeles' Ethics and Public Campaign Financing laws. He is a graduate of Pomona College and Stanford Law School.

Rosalind Tyson, Director

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.

Anne R. Whatley, Director

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Anne Whatley has served on the Los Angeles League of Women Voters Board for several years. She is Vice President at the communications consulting firm, Hershey/Cause where her work involves counseling organizations and foundations on the most effective strategies for conveying who they are and what they do. Her commitment to civic engagement has been central theme in her career choices as well as personal passions. Anne's past experiences in Los Angeles include directing operations and programs at the Coro Center for Civic Leadership as well as coordinating a strategic planning process for UCLA's Center for Research, Education, Training and Strategic Communications on Minority Health Disparities. This includes supporting her husband in his Neighborhood Council adventures. Prior to moving to L.A. Anne spent her time in St. Louis, Washington D.C. and London directing public education campaigns. Her educational background includes graduating magna cum laude from Washington University in St. Louis and receiving her MSc degree with honors from the London School of Economics in the U.K.

Liza White, Director

put caption here Liza White has balanced a life of family, career and community building activity. With a BA in Political Science from UCLA and an MS in Communication Disorders and Science from CSUN, her career was as a speech therapist in private practice. She joined the League of Women Voters of Los Angeles in 1998 while also helping to develop and serve her CSUN Communication Disorders & Sciences Alumni Association chapter. Her engagement with the League has included areas of Membership and Voters Service as well as serving as President for four years. She is currently a director on the Education Fund Board with enthusiasm for League's work on climate change issues and securing grants. She is married and takes great pleasure in her daughters and grandchildren.