Elaine, Born in San Francisco, raised in Burlingame, graduated from UCLA in Business Education and obtained her teaching credential from SF State. She taught high school in Napa and Terra Linda High School in San Rafael. After her marriage to Larry Biagini, she taught in the San Fernando Valley. She moved back to Marin County before her two children were born.  After her husband died at 31, she became a stay-at-home Mom and took in secretarial and bookkeeping work.   Over the 16 years that she was President/CEO of the statewide Association of California Hospital Districts, it grew from a meager $24,000 operating budget to over $165,000,000 in programs and services.  She retired in January, 2010, leaving her last “paid” position with the Kaiser Permanente Marin/Sonoma Marketing Department. She enjoys daily work outs at the YMCA, hiking, her book club; attending her grandchildren’s sports events and enjoying friends & family. Her new interest is drawing, and was thrilled to have her very first art work in pastel win a ribbon at the Marin County Fair in 2011.

Judy is the Chair of our Transportation/Land use/Housing Committee.  An active and committed member of the community, she has been a member of the LWVMC since 1992 and served as President from 1995-1998.   She is also Board Chair of EAH Housing, a nonprofit affordable housing corporation, and is well known as a tireless advocate for affordable housing, which she sees as the cornerstone to healthy, stable and productive lives for its tenants and for the community as a whole.  Judy represented the League on the St. Vincent’s/Silveira Task Force from 1998-2000.  She also sat on the Board of Directors for Ritter House.   Judy has a JD degree from Hastings College of the Law and practiced as a Legal Aid attorney.   She has been a resident of Marin for over 26 years.

Linda is a native of New York City, and has lived in Marin County since 1974.  She attended Brooklyn College and received a Masters Degree in Operations Research from New York University’s School of Engineering.  Linda retired from Visa International in 2004 as Senior Vice President, responsible for working with merchant partners to enhance Visa products and services.  Prior to Visa, she worked in technical, consulting and management roles, designing and implementing large-scale information systems for I.B.M. and major U.S. financial entities.  Currently, Linda enjoys teaching English as a Second Language (ESL) at the Canal Alliance in San Rafael.  Linda has two grown children and lives in Larkspur with her husband Drew.

John is our Transportation expert and keeps us up to date on the SMART train project between Sonoma and Marin. He works as a Transporation consultant and used to work for the County of Marin in the CommunityDevelopment Department and was the staff to the 101 Corridor Plan, one of the first efforts to do transportation planning in collaboration with Sonoma County. He met his wife Elizabeth when he joined our board a number of years ago. We aren’t sure how many other couples can claim that the League brought romance into their lives. 

Veda comes from a long line of National Service, her Father, Command Sargent Major of the U.S. Army 96th Arcom and her Mother, an Embassy interpreter.  She is a first generation citizen of the United States and passionate about civic duty. She works with the Voters Services Committee and plays an active role on the Media Relations Committee. She has a firm commitment in educating the public through media communications and produces, directs and edits our local debates. Her training includes the Rockefeller Foundation for Grant Writing and Fundraising.  She has a background in non-profit work for the American Red Cross and volunteered for several disaster relief emergency fundraisers.  Veda has an MBA with an emphasis in Marketing and a Masters Certificate candidate at Stanford.  Her work history includes Pharmaceutical Marketing.  Veda serves her first term on the Board of Directors and carries the message that every vote counts.

Marcia is a Los Angeles native, a graduate of UCLA with a BA in history and a general secondary teaching credential. She moved to Marin to begin teaching at Drake High where she met her husband. In 1972, mother of two young children, she joined the League to further her interest in politics. She returned to work as a substitute teacher, and then in the non-profit sector, in 1979. For most of the 1980’s she was a financial aid counselor for the Marin Educational Foundation (now 10,000 Degrees). She became active again in the League in 1997 and published the Voter for several years. She has volunteered for the Library Foundation, Friends of the Marin County Free Library and the Drake Scholarship Foundation. She also enjoys gardening, cooking, reading, visiting her four grandchildren and spending time with friends.

Annie was born in Boston to an activist family, descended from abolitionist William Lloyd Garrison and suffragist Lucretia Mott’s sister.  All her mother’s friends belonged to the League, so she joined as soon as she could on her 21st birthday after registering to vote.  She majored in American Government at college and worked in the 1956 election.  She moved to Marin County in 1967, when her husband was recruited to the UCSF faculty.  She wrote the PTA newsletters wherever her three children were attending school, and became active in the League during the days of Serrano v. Priest and Prop 13.  She was LWVMC President 1989-92, and since then has been coordinator of Voter Service and monitor of the board meetings of the Marin Municipal Water District.  Besides the League, Annie’s passion is her vegetable garden, and with her husband, Elderhostel trips and classical music, both symphonic and chamber. 

Julie celebrated her 50th year as a League member last year.  For the first 12 - 15 of those years, she was very active in the Claremont (CA) League, serving in almost every capacity (except treasurer), and also served 2 years on the Los Angeles County board.  What an education in public policy!  She then went to work, first at Pomona College, setting up a student service in Career Planning and Placement, then went to the University of Chicago to take over a larger program there.  Five years later, she returned to California, first UCLA and then Scripps College in development, primarily foundation relations.  At election time, she writes voter service articles for her local, West Marin papers and discuss ballot measures on her local radio station, KWMR. She and her husband, Jim met at Stanford. They have 3 fabulous children and 4 grandchildren.

Kay joined the Board in 2011 after years of supporting but not actively participating in the League. She monitors and reports on activities of the California and national Leagues at the monthly Board meetings, which has broadened her understanding of the LWV. She also coordinated our chapter’s study committee for the national Privatization Study. She joined the Observer Corps and has been reporting on the Board of Supervisors meetings. Prior to her retirement in May 2010, she was supervising librarian at San Rafael Public Library. She has taken an active role in her community, serving on the Vision in Action Committee for North San Rafael (1998-2003), San Rafael’s 2020 General Plan Steering Committee (2000-2003), and the Citizens Advisory Committee on Redevelopment (2007-2011)

Susan became a Marin League member in the l970’s, after working with many wonderful League members on the Anti-Proposition 13 campaign At that time she was very active in Common Cause, another non-partisan civic organization, first as their Marin Coordinator, then Chair of their California State Board, then as a member of their National Governing Board.  She is probably one of the few Board members who actually graduated from Sir Francis Drake High School in San Anselmo.   She went on to receive a BA from Berkeley, an MA from San Francisco State University, and a Ph.D from Tufts University in Medford, Massachusetts.  Her field is political science, which she taught for many years at City College of San Francisco.  Her focus was American Politics, Public Policy, and grassroots mobilization.  At one point in her life, eons ago, she actually wrote a college American Government Textbook, with a citizen participation focus.  

Jessica has over ten years of experience in engagement, outreach and program management in the fields of sustainability, public governance and education. Professionally she has worked with CA Forward, the Spare the Air Employer Program, a carbon offset company and a couple of educational technology companies.  In addition, she has volunteered her time in areas she is passionate about including as the site manger for the San Francisco Obama presidential office, and as an education docent at The Marine Mammal Center and for the sustainable farm at UC Santa Cruz. She has a MBA in Sustainable Management from Presidio Graduate School and a Master’s of Arts in Teaching from Quinnipiac University. She is originally from New England but has settled in Novato, thrilled that she has found New England-stye salt marshes besides which to live and hike.

Donna, born in San Francisco, is a long time resident of San Anselmo.  She is the mother of four daughters and grandmother to six.  Her experience encompasses business, government and non-profit organizations. Donna spent 22 years working for Blue Shield of California; retiring as a Vice President with responsibility for managing a budget with over 150 employees and a budget in excess of  $12 million. From 1996 to 2005 Donna served as a board member for the Ross Valley Sanitary District and Commissioner for the Central Marin Sanitary Agency.  Following her retirement in 1994, she joined the League of Women Voters, was elected to the board the following year and was elected president in 1998.  She continued an active role on the League Board through 2012 and currently serves as its historian. 

Martha had her first contact with the League in Washington DC in 1958 while observing testimony by League members on legislation proposed to reorganize US Department of Defense. Other exposures impressed her further and she joined the Southern Marin League in 1964 after moving to Mill Valley with husband Roger. Martha has been involved with many committees and study groups, was our Treasurer for 28 years, and continues to serve as a trustee on the Education Foundation. Her League life intertwined with family, she has a son and daughter, and community life. Martha has volunteered at elementary schools and PTAs and served on the Mill Valley Planning Commission, 1974-81 with 2 years as Chair. With her League experience as Treasurer Martha was hired to be Financial Coordinator of Bread & Roses from 1989 - 2000. Stepping down from the board in 2012, Martha will continue as an interested League member and enjoy playing golf, walking/hiking, tap dancing, travelling, reading and her grandchildren.