Call To Action Panelists from
"Moving the Agenda for California Women, 2005"
December 3rd & 4th 2004
Elahe Amani has been the Chair of the Coalition of Women from Asia and the Middle East since 1998 and is also currently Director of Student Financial Services at CSU Fullerton. She represents the California Women’s Agenda in the Orange County, California, is on the boards of the State Economic Network in California, the Women’s Intercultural Network, and the Women’s Resource Center at CSU Long Beach. She taught at the Women’s Studies Program of CSU Long Beach from 1974-2001. Ms. Amani has been a frequent guest speaker and is the recipient of many community service recognition awards. She holds degrees from both the University of Tehran and UC Los Angeles.
Betsy Apple, the Deputy Director of the Women’s Environment and Development Organization, has been a lawyer and activist for women’s rights, human rights, and environmental issues for the past fourteen years. Prior to joining WEDO in 2004, Betsy was a managing director and senior attorney at EarthRights International, where she started the Women’s Rights Project. She has also served as the director of an international human rights campaign, a consultant to the government-in-exile of Burma on women’s human rights issues, and a legal aid lawyer focused on issues affecting women and children in poverty.
Vicki L. Atwood
Ms. Atwood has spent nearly 37 years in state service, 30 of which have been with the California State Commission on the Status of Women. Her years with the Commission have afforded her unique opportunities to work on issues such as Economic Justice, Women’s Access to Health Care, Reproductive Freedom, Equity in Employment and Education; Child Care, Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault, Women & Girls in the Criminal Justice System, and most recently, Trafficking of Women and Girls. She has served as the Commission’s Legislative Coordinator since 1989.
Elmy is currently Chairperson of the California State Commission on the Status of Women, appointed for two terms by Governor Gray Davis. She is also Vice-Chair of The Women's Foundation of California and is Chairperson of HOPE (Hispanas Organized for Political Equality). Elmy is now special assistant to President pro Tempore, Senator Don Perata, working on issues that impact women and children, outreach to the Latino/Latina community and work with the ethnic media. Other elected officials for whom Elmy has worked include: former President pro Tempore Senator John Burton of San Francisco, Congresswoman Lynn Woolsey of Marin-Sonoma, former Congressman Mel Levine of Los Angeles, former Lt. Governor Leo McCarthy and for the late U.S. Senator Alan Cranston, where she developed expertise in immigration issues and procedures. Elmy has a BA in psychology and a graduate degree in Bilingual Vocational Counseling. Her family comes from Yucatan, Mexico and owns Tommy's Mexican Restaurant, one of the most successful family operated restaurants in San Francisco.
Serving the public, private and nonprofit sectors for more than twenty-five years as a Strategic Communications Specialist, Kathleen Cha specializes in community issues, public safety, transportation, and environment. Currently she serves as Senior Communications Officer for ABAG, the Bay Area regional planning agency and council of governments serving the nine Bay Area Counties and 101 cities. She is AAUW California State President providing leadership to more than 16,000 California members in 160 branches to meet AAUW’s mission of equity and education for all women and girls. She also serves as co-chair of the statewide Education Task Force and member of the Media Task Force for the California Women’s Agenda (CAWA). She serves on the Board of Directors for EdSource and Oakland YWCA, and is past President of the San Francisco/Bay Area Women Communicators Network (formerly Women in Communications) and past state second vice president of California Association of Public Information Officials (CAPIO). Kathleen has extensive post-graduate professional training in crisis communications, disaster management, and training module delivery from federal and state training institutes.
Wilma ChanAssemblywoman Wilma Chan (D-Oakland) is an outspoken advocate on behalf of California children and their families. Ms. Chan was elected to the Assembly in 2000, bringing 25 years of community service and ten years of hands-on legislative experience to the Legislature. Her legislative priorities include health care, senior services, early childhood education, environmental health, job creation and economic development. She Chairs the Assembly Committee on Health. Ms. Chan served as the Assembly Majority Leader from 2002-2004, the first woman and the first Asian American to hold the position. Chan is carrying legislation to make health insurance available to all California children and she is undertaking an initiative to provide voluntary pre-school for all children.
Mary Corrigan is trained in mediation and conflict resolution. Ms. Corrigan is internationally experienced in large scale systems change, strategic planning and visioning, leadership development, team building, with special interests in difficult and courageous conversations and creating communities of practice. An experienced facilitator, she currently leads The Spirit of Circle, an exploration of valuing voice and the voice of others. Her clients include Genentech, Visa International, Baptist Health System, The Center for Corporate Citizenship at Boston College, The Ball Foundation, The National Park Service, and The Aspen Institute.
Crystal Crawford is the Director of Public Policy of The California Black Women’s Health Project where she works to address Black women’s health disparities by crafting policy and legislative solutions to the current health care crisis. Prior to this position, Ms. Crawford has been the Legal Director of the Alliance for Children’s Rights, a litigation associate with the law firm of Manatt, Phelps & Phillips, and a public school teacher in Harlem, New York. She also currently serves on the boards of Volunteers In Parole, Inc. and the Dartmouth College Tucker Foundation, in addition to serving as an officer and active ministry participant in her church. Ms. Crawford has a B.A. from Dartmouth College and a J.D. from NYU.
Dr. del la Torre is currently the Director and Professor of Chicana/o Studies
& Director and Center for Public Policy, Race, Ethnicity and Gender at UC
Davis. She studies educational policies, border politics and policies, health-care
access and finance issues that affect the Latino community. Prior to this position,
she has been director of the Mexican American Studies and Research Center at
the University of Arizona, an executive fellow in the Office of the Chancellor
of the California State University system, and chair of the Chicano and Latino
Studies Department at Long Beach. Her books include: Mexican Americans and Health:
Sana! Sana! (2001) and Moving from the Margins: A Chicana Voice on Public Policy
(2004). Dr. de la Torre received her Ph.D. in Agricultural and Resource Economics
in 1982 from UC Berkeley.
Aimee Durfee
Aimee Durfee is the Program Manager of Californians for Family Economic Self-Sufficiency (CFESS), a project of the National Economic Development & Law Center (NEDLC). Ms. Durfee received her law degree from UC Berkeley Boalt Hall School of Law, her Bachelor’s degree from Mount Holyoke College, and is a licensed California attorney. Prior to joining NEDLC, Ms. Durfee was the Ruth Chance Law Fellow at Equal Rights Advocates, where she worked on gender discrimination employment litigation, specifically focusing her efforts on issues affecting women in the trades. Ms. Durfee’s recognitions include: Outstanding New Attorney at the 2001 National Lawyers’ Guild national conference, the Wiley Manuel Award for Pro Bono Service, and the University of California Chancellor’s Award for Public Service. In 2002, Ms. Durfee was recognized by the California Community Colleges Chancellor’s Office for her advocacy work in helping to restore funding to the Community College CalWORKs program.
Antonia Ecung is presently Dean of Learning at Porterville College in California and has been involved in education for over 35 years. She has been the Associate Dean of Liberal Arts at Morrisville State College in New York State, and the Director of the Learning Resource Center at the State University of New York. She began her work as an educational aide at the preschool level and continued on as a teacher at the elementary, middle and high school levels. Ms Ecung earned a BA from California State University at San Bernardino, an MS Ed. at State University College of New York, and is currently completing a Ph.D. in Higher Education Administration.
Marilyn FowlerMarilyn is Founder and President of the Women's Intercultural Network (WIN), an NGO consultative to the UN based in San Francisco, CA., linking women across cultures globally and in U.S. communities for collective action. Marilyn coordinates CAWA - California Women's Agenda, a state follow-up to the 4th World Conference on Women, Beijing, 1995, as part of WIN's mission to give all women and girls a larger voice in public policy. Marilyn's work with the women's movement began in the late '60s when she formed the first Information, Education and Public Affairs Committee for Planned Parenthood Federation of America, which became a prototype for Public and Community Affairs action committees throughout the U.S. during the 1970s and 1980s defending women's right to birth control and safe, legal abortion. Marilyn has organized delegations to Uganda, Afghanistan, Japan and China for WIN’s “Callling the Circle of Women for Full Participation in Democracy” initiative. She holds a Masters Degree in Public Administration and Organization Development.
Veronica Gomez has been involved in human resources management, labor relations and training development for the past decade in the US and Mexico. She is currently the Vice President of Human Resources of Reiter Affiliated Companies, She was previously Director of Human Resources at Barona Valley Ranch Resort & Casino. Prior to this position, she had been the Director of Human Resources at several large food production corporations, including Ruiz Foods, Orval Kent, and Delimax. She has also been a union avoidance consultant on many projects. Ms. Gomez holds a BS from UC San Diego in Psychology.
Billie HellerMs. Heller is a founder and current Chair of the National Committee on the United Nations Convention on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW). She has served on the National Boards of the U.S. Committee for UNIFEM and the National Women's Conference Committee and Conference Center and is a founding Board Member of the California Women's Law Center and their 2000 Pursuit of Justice Awardee. She documented the MID and END-Decade Conferences for women in Copenhagen and Nairobi as a journalist for Spokeswoman Magazine and Women's Political Times and is the recipient of numerous awards from organizations including: the Women's Intercultural Network (WIN), the California Women's Law Center, the National Women's Political Caucus (NWPC), California State University Northridge, and LA County Commission for Women. Ms. Heller received her degree in Political Science from UCLA in 1979.
Aileen Clarke Hernández is an urban consultant and CEO of her own firm, founded in 1967 and based in San Francisco. Appointed by President Lyndon Johnson, she was the only female member of the first United States Equal Employment Opportunity Commission created under Title VII of the 1964 Civil Rights Act. She was the second national president of the National Organization for Women (NOW). Prior to that, she served as Assistant Chief of the California Division of Fair Employment and Housing, and the Education and Public Relations Director for the Pacific Coast Region of the International Ladies’ Garment Workers’ Union. She is the State Chair of the California Women’s Agenda (CAWA), the Coordinator for the Bay Area’s Black Women Stirring the Waters, and Chair of the Coalition for Economic Equity. She holds a B.A. from Howard University and a M.S. from California State University at Los Angeles.
Barbara Kasoff is President and Co-Founder of GrassRoots Impact, Inc. a public policy strategies firm and Co-Founder/COO of Women Impacting Public Policy, Inc., a non-profit, public policy advocacy organization working on behalf of women in business on economic issues. Barbara previously owned Voice-Tel of Michigan, a voice messaging enterprise, Voice Response Corporation, a database marketing company and opened Voice-Tel of Australia. Prior to becoming a business owner, Barbara previously served as a Senior VP of Research and Software Development for World Computer Corporation. Barbara has been an active supporter for small businesses, and women in business in particular. Current board appointments include: Public Affairs Officer for National Global Trade and Technology; SCORE, National Women Business Owners Council; and Women's Leadership Forum for the Democratic National Committee.
Sally Lieber was elected to the California State Assembly in November 2002
to represent the 22nd Assembly District and reelected to another 2 year term
in November 2004. As a first-term legislator, Sally was appointed to serve as
Assistant Speaker pro Tempore of the State Assembly. In this role she serves
as a member of Assembly Speaker Fabian Nunez’s executive leadership team,
playing a key role in the development and passage of legislation and presiding
over Assembly floor sessions. Sally serves as Assembly Chair of the Joint Legislative
Committee on Ending Poverty in California, as Chair of the Assembly’s
Select Committee on Human Trafficking, as Chair of the Assembly’s Select
Committee on Mobile Homes and as Vice-Chair of the Assembly’s Committee
on Local Government. She also serves on the Assembly’s committees on Insurance,
Judiciary, and Revenue and Taxation. As a local elected official, Sally developed
a track record as a strong advocate for the needs of children and seniors, for
affordable workforce housing and for environmental sustainability.
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Supervisor Sophie Maxwell was re-elected to the San Francisco Board of Supervisors in 2002 as the representative of San Francisco’s District 10, encompassing the Potrero Hill, Bayview-Hunters Point, Visitation Valley, Portola/Silver Terrace, Dogpatch, and Little Hollywood, Portola, and neighborhoods. She is chair of the Board’s Land Use Committee and a member of Joint school Board and Board of Supervisors Committee. The Supervisor Maxwell’s main priorities are economic development cleaning up the Bayview-Hunters Point Shipyard, closing the polluting power plants, increasing childcare and after0school programs to engage and inspire youth and young adults, expanding affordable housing opportunities and preserving open spaces.
Emily Murase was appointed Executive Director of the Department on the Status of Women by Mayor Gavin Newsom in July 2003, after serving two terms on the Commission on the Status of Women, during which she chaired the Task Force on the U.N. Convention to Eliminate All Forms of Discrimination Against Women to oversee the pioneering local CEDAW ordinance that San Francisco passed in 1998. Dr. Murase previously served in the first Clinton White House as Director for International Economic Affairs, and later worked in the International Bureau of the Federal Communications Commission. She holds an AB in Japanese History from Bryn Mawr College, and a PhD in Communications from Stanford.
Mary Perry
Mary Perry, EdSource Deputy Director, serves as a senior publication writer,
and is responsible for project management and assisting the Executive Director.
Her past experience includes serving as Education Editor for Bay Area Parent
Magazine; Senior Advertising Copywriter for Carter, Callahan & Associates;
and as a former Trustee for Campbell Union School District. She has a B.S. University
of Oregon, Journalism. EdSource is an independent, impartial, not-for-profit
organization, focused on clarifying complex education issues and promoting thoughtful
decisions about public school improvement. EdSource has broadened the public
education policy topics it researches and has widened its audiences to include
policymakers, researchers, K–12 and college educators, the media, parents,
and the general public. EdSource does not advocate or lobby, and over two decades
has developed a solid reputation as a credible and respected source of K–12
education information.
Paula Petrotta has served as the Executive Director and administrative head of the Los Angeles City Commission on the Status of Women for the past fourteen years. Prior to this appointment, Ms. Petrotta served for more than a decade in the Office of former Mayor Tom Bradley where she was the Mayor’s legislative advocate for women’s issues in Washington, D.C., and Sacramento. Ms. Petrotta is a frequent guest speaker on issues such as pay equity, sexual harassment, domestic violence. She is currently a guest lecturer for the School of Social Work at USC in Los Angeles. She holds a BA in Sociology from CSULA and a Masters in Public Administration from CSUN.
Eva Royale is an activist, organizer and fundraiser with over 30 years of organizing
experience as a student organizer at SFSU; community organizer in the Mission
in San Francisco; a labor organizer, with United Farm Workers, 1987-2002; Peace,
Jobs, & Justice; Justice for Dolores Huerta Coalition; Cesar Chavez Street
Campaign; Cesar Chavez Holiday Parage & Festival; Cesar Chavez Birthday
Breakfast; with voter registration and get out the vote campaigns with the Southwest
Voter Registration & Education Project. Currently Eva is the Development
Director for the Dolores Huerta Foundation. She has a BA in Economics, BA in
La Raza Studies and a
MSW Social Work (abd). She was born in Hanford California Central Valley; attended
San Francisco State University. Eva is married and has four children and five
grandchildren.
Ellen R. Shaffer is a Director of the Center for Policy Analysis which sponsors policy research and analysis on access to health, health care, and trade. She also directs the Center for Policy Analysis on Trade and Health (CPATH), a project of the Center for Policy Analysis. She is an Assistant Clinical Professor in the Department of Clinical Pharmacy at the University of California, San Francisco, and is a Board member of the National Women's Health Network. Ms. Shaffer served as health policy advisor to U.S. Senator Paul Wellstone from 1992 to 1995, and was on the Governing Council and on the Joint Policy Committee of the American Public Health Association. She has a Masters in Public Health from the University of California, Berkeley and a Ph.D. from the School of Hygiene and Public Health at Johns Hopkins University.
Charlie Toledo
Charlie Toledo is of Towa descendant, native to New Mexico. She is the Executive Director of the Suscol Intertribal Council, a community-based organization incorporated in 1992 and located in Napa, California. She is a Convenor of the California Women’s Agenda (CAWA) in Napa County, previously Chair of the Women’s Intercultural Network (WIN), and has been on the Boards of the DQ University and serves on the Board of the Community Technology Foundation of California. Ms. Toledo is a public speaker, presenter, and community organizer in regional, statewide, national and international forums. She also has been in private practice as a certified masseuse, hypnotherapist, and meditation teacher since 1982.
Mary Wiberg
Since October 2001, Mary M. Wiberg has been the Executive Director of the State of California Commission on the Status of Women. Her previous position was as Gender Equity Administrator for the State of Iowa Department of Education. While in Iowa, she also worked extensively on welfare reform and workforce development issues, served as a member of the Iowa Commission on the Status of Women and the Board of the National Association of Commissions for Women. She is a former member of the Federal Committee on Registered Apprenticeship, advisory to the U.S. Secretary of Labor, and was Co-Chair of the Gender Equity Expert Panel, advisory to the U. S. Department of Education. Under Wiberg’s leadership, the California CSW is addressing numerous issues of concern to women, including women and girls in correctional facilities, access to health care, human trafficking,pay equity, Title IX, older working women, and the impact of California’s budget crisis on women and their families.
Congresswoman Lynn C. Woolsey represents California's Sixth Congressional District, which consists of Marin County and most of Sonoma County. She is currently the Chair of the Democratic Caucus Task Force on Children and Families, the Ranking Member of the House Education Committee’s Subcommittee on Education Reform, and a Senior Member on the House Science Committee's Subcommittee on Energy. Before coming to Congress in 1992, Woolsey worked as a Human Resources Manager for a high-tech manufacturer in Marin County and opened her own human resources consulting and employment agency, Woolsey Personnel Service. Woolsey served on the Petaluma City Council from 1984 until she was sworn into Congress. She graduated from the University of San Francisco with a B.S. in Human Resources and Organizational Behavior.
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Last edited on August 10, 2005 by Molly Klett