Board of Directors

Charley Williams

President

cjwilliams@g-e-c.com

Expertise:
Voter Services, Elections, Business Development

Member Since:
2006
2008 Elected to Board
2009 Co-President
Chairperson Voter Services Committee

Profile:
Charley Williams is Director of Business Development with Geotechnical and Environmental Consultants, GEC, an engineering firm founded by League of Women Voters member Joanie Schirm.

Charley worked to lay the groundwork for the first Super Tuesday Regional primary on March 9, 1988 when he served as director of the Atlanta office, Council of State Governments. Southern states worked in concert to move from caucus to primary requiring coordination and agreement between executive and legislative branches in fifteen states. Community-based projects for Charley include the 1994 World Cup, 1996 Olympic Soccer and Legacy Soccer Foundation. Charley is a graduate of Davidson College (BA, Political Science) and grew up in Jacksonville. He has been a Central Florida resident since1990 and lives in Winter Park.

Ann Hellmuth

Vice President

ANNHELL@aol.com

Expertise:
Newspaper reporter/editor

Member since:
2008
2008 Appointed to the Board
2009 Co-President

Profile:
Ann Hellmuth retired in August, 2008, as deputy managing editor of the Orlando Sentinel, ending a career in journalism that began in 1956 in England and took her to South Africa at the start of the anti-apartheid movement. After being declared a prohibited immigrant because of political activities, she worked in Canada before moving to the United States. As a reporter, she covered everything from Royal tours to riots, presidential campaigns and conventions, courts, hurricanes and plane crashes to disasters at sea. In 1973, she was named Florida news editor for The Associated Press, the first woman to head a state news gathering operation in the history of The Associated Press. Ann joined the Orlando Sentinel in 1986 and served as state editor and national/foreign editor before becoming deputy managing editor.

Vera Rushmer

Treasurer

rushmer@earthlink.net

Expertise:
Writing, Common Sense

Member Since:
2002
2008 Elected to the Board of Directors
2008, 2009 Treasurer

Profile:
Vera Rushmer was born in Yugoslavia, grew up in the Bronx, graduated from Cornell University and taught school in upstate New York. After moving to Orlando, she continued teaching and volunteered to participate in the 1970 school integration process. Leaving teaching to raise two daughters, she served in various PTA positions, including Treasurer of the Orange County Council of PTAs, and credits her knowledge of nonprofit procedures to that experience. She also served as Treasurer, then President of the South Orlando Rowing Association, as board member of The Mustard Seed of Central Florida for over ten years, and currently serves on the Advisory Council of The Infant-Child Care Center of the First Presbyterian Church of Orlando. As a League member, Vera has participated in Adopt a Precinct.

Nancy Rudner Lugo

Secretary

nancy.rudner@gmail.com

Nancy Rudner Lugo, DrPH, NP, has focused her career on improving health through the lifespan. A family nurse practitioner with a doctorate in public health and health policy, Dr. Rudner Lugo has developed interventions to help patients, families and communities improve their health and interaction with health care. Her work has included university teaching, policy advocacy, evaluation and assessment of health programs and outcomes. She earned her doctorate in public health from the University of Michigan as a Pew Scholar in Health Policy, her Masters in Public Health from the University of North Carolina, and her Masters in Nursing from Pace University. As a health care consultant, Dr. Rudner Lugo has assisted organizations and companies with strategic planning and operations to improve health services. Active in her community, she leads the LWVOC’s redistricting effort, is Vice Chair of the Health Planning Council of East Central Florida, and volunteers at Shepherd's Hope clinic.

Deirdre Macnab

2009 President Emeritus
(non voting)

didimacnab@earthlink.net

Expertise:
Public Education, Marketing, Business Management

Member Since:
2004
2005 Elected to the Board of Directors
2006 President
2007 Elected Florida State Board of Directors
2009 President Emeritus

Profile:
Deirdre Macnab is President of the League of Women Voters of Florida and immediate past-president and President Emeritus of the League of Women Voters of Orange County.
As the mother of two teenage sons, Deirdre Macnab is a passionate advocate for public education and civic engagement. Graduating with an MBA from Columbia University, she has worked for Dun & Bradstreet, Johns Manville Corporation, the New York City Board of Corrections, and was president of her own direct marketing firm. She was elected to the Board of Education in Nashville, TN (70,000 students), and appointed by Mayor Shirley Franklin of Atlanta to serve as her designate on the Fulton County Library Board. She is a member of the board of MyRegion.org, a seven county visioning coalition, past member of WMFE's Citizen's Advisory Board, and involved with a number of other local civic boards and organizations. As the mother of two teenage sons, Macnab is a passionate advocate for public education and civic engagement.

Sara B. Au

sarabau@aol.com

Expertise:
Public Relations, Communications, Writing

Member Since:
2008
2008 Elected to the Board of Directors
2009 Appointed to Board of Directors

Profile:
Sara Au writes most of the Action Alerts you get from League of Women Voters of Florida. She is the Community Development Manager for Girl Scouts of Citrus Council (Brevard, Lake, Orange, Osceola, Seminole, Volusia), and has a variety of professional communications experience. She holds a Bachelor's degree from Syracuse University's Newhouse School of Public Communications. Formerly a producer for CNN in Los Angeles, Atlanta and New York, she covered such stories as the 1996 Democratic National Convention and the Impeachment Trial of President Clinton. In addition to her work with Girl Scouts and the League, she is a speechwriter, magazine editor, author of a parenting book and host of a weekly podcast.

Lynn Eberly

Lynn.Eberly@hdrinc.com

Expertise:
Transportation, Writer, Marketing

Member Since:
2005
2007 Elected to the Board of Directors
2008 2nd Vice-President
2009 Vice President
Co-Chairperson Transportation Committee

Profile:
Lynn Eberly has been a Central Florida resident since 1973 and spent 10 years in the Orange County public school system as an English teacher. During that time, Lynn was also a freelance writer, providing news articles for an internal newsletter for General Mills Corporation in Orlando, Florida. In 1992, she joined for HDR Engineering, and she is a Marketing Manager for transportation in the HDR Orlando office. Lynn has two sons and five grandchildren who fill much of her leisure time.

Caroline Emmons-Schramm

Carolinees@cfl.rr.com

Expertise:
Nonprofit professional development, Community Action, Advocacy

Member Since:
1972
2006 Elected to the Board of Directors
Vice President
Co-Chairperson Advocacy Team

League Experience:
Caroline Emmons-Schramm believes that the League is the organization for "nosey citizens." She chaired the three year national Health Care Study at the local level for the League of Women Voters of Orange County. She was a member of the Board of Directors of the League of Women Voters of Orange County from 1989 to 1997 and served as President from 1994 to 1997. Caroline was elected to the Board of Directors of the League of Women Voters of Florida in 1997, where she held the portfolios of Action Chair and 1st Vice President/Development. She served as President from 2003 -2005. Currently, she represents LWVF on the Steering Committee of Fair Districts Florida, a nonpartisan coalition which is working to establish standards for redistricting in the Florida Constitution by citizen initiative.

She has served on the Community Action Board for the Orange County Department of Community Affairs. In 1996, she served as a member of the Steering Committee for the Orange County Blue Ribbon Commission appointed by the Chairman of Orange County to study infrastructure needs for the county, including public transit. . In 2004 - 2005, she served on the Florida Constitutional Accountability Commission, convened by the Florida School Boards Association, which developed recommendations for interpreting the Florida education clause in the Florida Constitution.

Tezlyn Figaro

tfigaro@thealliedgroup.info

Tezlyn Figaro is the Founder and CEO of The Allied Group, a human resource and mediation consultancy. The Allied Group volunteer “ally” network, comprised of over 500 volunteers, has provided more than 35,000 hours of community service in the company’s first 3 months of operation. Tezlyn Figaro’s prior corporate experience includes Bank of Oklahoma, GEICO Insurance, Farmers Insurance, General Motors Acceptance Corporation, Southwestern Bell, Robert Half International Staffing and Adecco Staffing. She is also a former US Air Force reserve security police officer M-60 gunner, a Florida Supreme Court Certified Mediator, TX Licensed Insurance Property & Casualty Agent, TX Workers Compensation Agent, TX Life/Health Insurance Agent, TX Licensed Insurance General Lines Liability Adjuster and a graduate of the UCF Society of Human Resources Certification Institution program (SPHR).

Chrissy Garton

chrissy.garton@gmail.com

Expertise:
Marketing, Community Relations, Communications

Member Since:
2006
Board of Directors Since: 2010

Profile:
Chrissy Garton is program manager for the Center for Advanced Entrepreneurship at the Rollins College Crummer Graduate School of Business.   Having prior experience with City of Winter Park Cultural & Economic Development, Orange County Government Board of County Commissioners and Intergovernmental Planning, Fry Hammond Barr Public Relations and Marketing management for the Christian Service Center, Garton brings keen understanding to the table from the public, private, higher education and nonprofit sectors.  She holds a BA in Political Science from Rollins College in Winter Park, FL.  Garton is particularly interested in citizen responsibility and education, community vitalization and social entrepreneurship. 

Sarah Goodwin

sgoodw222@bellsouth.net

Expertise:
Elections, Voter Services

Member Since:
1999
Elected to the Board of Directors
Chairperson Membership Committee

Profile:
Sarah Goodwin was born in Texas to Mexican-American parents that moved to Florida to establish a prominent farm. Sarah is bilingual (Spanish/English). She served one term as City Commissioner for the city of Belle Isle and currently serves as President of the Orange County Homeowners Association Alliance. Since retiring from General Electric and Progress Energy, Sarah spends her time volunteering for the Orange County Supervisor of Elections, visiting with her seven grandchildren, and traveling the world with her husband Charles Goodwin.

Adrienne E. Katz Katz

adriennekatzkatz@hotmail.com

Expertise:
Writing Projects, Special Events, Public Relations and Fund Raising

Member since:
2007
2008 Elected to the Board of Directors

Profile:
Adrienne E. Katz, a lifelong Floridian, has been involved in civic affairs, education, women's health and social services in both South and Central Florida. She was a Board member for the Downtown Bay Forum, the National Association of Women Business Owners and the Jewish Business and Professional Forum.

For the past two decades, she has served as a consultant for professional services firms (law and accounting); non-profit organizations; as the Executive Director of the Association of Public Corporations and in the administrations of the University of Miami, Miami Community College and Florida International University.

She has been a lay member of committees for The Florida Bar since 1990; the Committee on Advertising and the Committee on Unlicensed Practice of Law.

As a League member, Adrienne has participated in the Civics Teach-in Project, the Voter Phone Bank on Channel 2, the Video Competition for Get-Out-the-Vote public service announcements and articles for The Voter newsletter.

Andrea Kobrin

lulubelle@cfl.rr.com

Expertise:
Social Services, Local Government

Member Since:
2005
2008 Appointed to the Board of Directors
Co-Chairperson Local Government Committee

Profile:
Andrea Kobrin graduated from college into a 35-year career serving the needs of children and families. Starting in Florida Hospital's 2-person Social Services office, she became a state social worker in 1969 and 2 years later, became part of Florida's first child protection program. Later she was a supervisor for child abuse investigations and shelter homes for children. Joining the district administration as staff director in 1982, Andrea served as supervisor of Client Relations and liaison with the District Advisory Council and Human Rights Advisory Council. Andrea retired in 2002 but continued her avocation on the board of the Kinneret Council on Aging and Community Leadership Council at the Howard Phillips Center for Children and Families.

Michele Levy

Expertise:
Social Services, Training, Local Government

Member since:
2007
2008 Co-Chair, Local Government Committee

Profile:
Michele Levy has been a resident of Central Florida since 1973. She spent 30 years as a social worker for the State of Florida, Dept. of Children and Families, spending the last 15 years working with individuals with developmental disabilities. When she retired in 2005, she opened a training and consulting company, MRL Training Consultants, where she provides training for case managers and direct care staff working with the developmentally disabled. She is very involved with the University Club of Winter Park, where she sits on the Board and the English Speaking Union where she works on the Program  Committee.

Sister Teresa McElwee

tmceL43280@aol.com

Sister Teresa McElwee has served for over 60 years as a Sister of Notre Dame de Namur, an international order whose mission is the empowerment of people through education. Her career started with over 25 years as a teacher in elementary school through college levels. In the years since, she has founded and established programs for low-income and farmworker communities in Apopka and Orlando, including after-school academic enrichment, good government advocacy, a credit union, housing projects, neighborhood and self-help centers and women's groups. From 1977-2007, she worked as Executive Director of the Justice and Peace Office, Inc. From 2001-08, she was a facilitator at the Apopka Family Learning Center. In addition to B.S. and M.S. degrees from Trinity Washington College and Columbia University, respectively, Sister McElwee was awarded an Honorary Doctorate by Rollins College in 2006. Among her numerous, well-earned honors are Central Florida and Orange County/District 2 Citizen of the Year awards, and recognition from Amnesty International, the National Conference of Community and Justice, the Rotary Club, Sertoma, Orange County Bar Association, Women's Resource Center and the University of Notre Dame.

Sara Segal

slmsegal@gmail.com

Expertise:
Visual arts, Community advocate

Member Since:
2005
2006 Appointed to the Board of Directors
2006 Chairperson of Adopt-a-Precinct
2007 Local Government committee

Profile:
Sara Segal is a native of Orlando. She attended Brown University in Providence, Rhode Island and received a BA in American Studies. She has worked in creative production in film, TV and media. Current community endeavors focus on the arts and social services. Sara serves on the Winter Park Public Art Advisory Board, Maitland Art Center Board of Trustees, Howard Phillips Center for Children and Families Community Leadership Council and is a member of University of Central Florida Town & Gown Council.

Leah Shepherd

Leah@PublicAffairsFL.com

Expertise:
Water Conservation & Education, Membership Recruitment, Publicity

Member Since:
2008 

Profile:
Leah Shepherd is Managing Partner of Public Affairs, an event marketing and communications firm based in Orlando, Florida. Prior to founding this company, she held marketing and sales management positions with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, the Orlando Magic and Marriott Corporation.  Leah serves as the Water Chairman for the Florida League of Women Voter’s in an Off-Board Chairman capacity.   Her community involvement includes volunteering for the Dr. P. Phillips Performing Arts Center and the Heart Gallery of Metro Orlando. She was born in Sacramento, California but moved to Orlando as an infant and has been a lifelong resident. She received her Bachelor of Arts degree from Florida State University.

Lynda Van Scoyoc

lvanscoyoc@cfl.rr.com

Expertise:
Newsletter design & production, Planning, Housing

Member since:
1985
2003-present Voter Editor
Board of Directors - Housing portfolio
1999-2001 President

Profile:
A native of Texas, Lynda Van Scoyoc relocated and attended schools in Orlando. She studied commercial art and worked at Orlando Sentinel advertising department for 4 years. She was employed as a fashion illustrator for over 20 years, then as retail ad agency manager for 4 years before retiring. She served on Project 2000 Task Force of Greater Orlando Chamber of Commerce, the Orlando Human Relations Review Board and the Orlando Municipal Planning Board.

Laurie Wack

allwack@earthlink.net

Expertise:
Adopt-a-Precinct

Member Since:
2007

Profile:
Laurie Wack has been a League member for three years, during which she has coordinated the Adopt A Precinct project twice - and is undertaking a third cycle for the 2010 elections. Originally from New York City, where she "...walked to all of her schools, including college...," she made the transition to Florida after receiving a degree in art history. In addition to volunteering for the League, she is a clay artist, exhibiting at small venues around the city. Laurie is married to Rick, and a happy mother to two grown girls and three dachshunds.