EMPOWERING VOTERS. DEFENDING DEMOCRACY. Our Team Contents hide LWVMA Board of Directors 2021-2022 Elizabeth Foster-Nolan Susan Millinger Amy Smith Courtney Rau Rogers Tanya Roy Jo-Ann Berry Marie Gauthier Judith Reilly Vedna Lacombe-Heywood Ginger Navickas Jen Goldman Lois Hartman Hannah Kimberley Jeanne Morrison Staff Patricia Comfort Brynne Gorman Taylor Grenga Martha Maguire LWVMA Legislative Specialists LWVMA Board of Directors 2021-2022 To reach a member of the Board email lwvma@lwvma.org. Elizabeth Foster-Nolan President | Member-at-Large Elizabeth Foster-Nolan completed one year as a LWVMA Director and is now serving as co-president. She joined the Weymouth LWV in 2010 and became a Member-at-Large when Weymouth disbanded. She has moderated candidate forums, chaired the LWVMA Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Committee and Moderator Training and Mentoring Sub-Committee, and was a member of the Voter Engagement Committee. Read more… Susan Millinger 1st Vice President | Local League: Amherst Susan Millinger has lived in Shutesbury since 2008 and she joined the Amherst LWV in 2010. She was Publicity and Public Relations chair, 2012-2014; Editor of the electronic bulletin, 2016-2020; and on the Board, now Steering Committee, 2012-2014 and 2017 to the present. She was convener of the 2019-2020 Centennial Commemoration Committee, and is a member of the Sustainability and Climate Action Committee. Read more… Amy Smith 2nd Vice President | Local League: Topsfield-Boxford-Middleton Amy is completed her first year on the LWVMA Board as a Director and she is now serving as a Second Vice President. She co-chairs the LWVMA Membership Steering Committee and also serves on the Communications Committee. Amy joined the LWV of Topsfield/ Boxford/Middleton in 2015, serves on their Board of Directors, and manages local website and social media. Read more… Courtney Rau Rogers Secretary | Local League: Norwood Courtney Rau Rogers has been a member of the League of Women Voters since 2009 and is president of the LWV Norwood. Her local League has sponsored forums on the Community Preservation Act, Ranked Choice Voting, and local energy resources. They have also partnered with the Yes For Norwood Schools political action committee advocating for an operational override for the schools. Read more… Tanya Roy Treasurer | Local League: Wellesley Tanya Roy completed her first year as a Director on the LWVMA Board and is now serving as Treasurer during the second year of her term. Tanya is a board member and Legislative Specialist for LWVMA, as well as a board member and Legislative Envoy for LWV of Wellesley. She also works with the Wellesley Students’ Aid Society, Community Fund for Wellesley, and the Wellesley ESL program. Read more… Jo-Ann Berry Director |Local League: Acton Area Jo-Ann has been a LWV member since 1988 and a member of the Acton Area LWV since 1993. She co-chaired the After-School Child Care study (93-94), has held many and varied local board leadership and steering committee positions. On the state level, Jo-Ann served as a LWVMA Director and Scharfman Fund Trustee (07-09), was a member of the LWVMA Citizen Education Committee, and has been moderating candidate and issue forums for local and state offices since 2006. Read more… Marie Gauthier Director | Local League: Franklin County Marie Gauthier contacted LWVMA about starting a League of Women Voters of Franklin County in November 2016 and has served as its president since its founding as a Unit in January 2017. The Unit was recognized as an official local League on August 1, 2018 and has been a vibrant new League presence in Franklin County ever since. On the state level, Marie has served on the LWVMA Membership Steering Committee since November 2017. Read more… Judith Reilly Director |Local League: Salem Judith Reilly joined the League as a founding member of the LWV Salem (2018) and is currently finishing her term as the Salem League’s first Voter Services & Civic Engagement chair. She is a native New Yorker who loves her adopted home of Salem. A mid-life career-changer, she earned AS, BS, and MBA degrees from Johnson & Wales University and has worked for 12 years as a performance auditor for a federal agency. Read more… Vedna Lacombe-Heywood Director |Local League: Plymouth Area Vedna Lacombe-Heywood is a Registered Nurse of over 22yrs, who currently works at Brigham & Women’s Hospital in the Surgical Trauma Burn I.C.U. She has been a part of several hospital committees, as well as a recent Essence of the Nursing honoree. Read more… Ginger Navickas Director | Local League: Worcester Area Ginger Navickas was born and raised in Worcester, and has lived there her whole life. She has been involved in local organizations, particularly those organizations committed and focused on social change issues, since young adulthood. Her career at the YWCA of Central MA (YWCACM) spanned 40 years and allowed her to be both a social worker and a community activist, working to empower women and girls and committed to racial justice. Read more… Jen Goldman Director | Local League: Andover/North Andover Jen Goldman started her path in charity and non-profit work early on and was awarded the Good Citizenship Award in elementary school, the Humanitarian award in middle school, and President of Varsity Club and Honors Society in high school. She graduated with honors, went onto college to graduate early while working to help those less fortunate gain financial freedom. Read more… Lois Hartman Director | Local League: Greater Haverhill Lois grew up in Kansas and received her BS degree from Kansas University. After getting her degree, she spent the next 48 years working in elementary education. Lois also created an oral language program for preschool children, kindergarteners, and first graders. She got her Masters of Education in Reading from the University of New Hampshire. Read more… Hannah Kimberley Director | Local League: Cape Ann Hannah Kimberley is an educator and author who is passionate about history, civics, and recovering uppity, unruly, and unladylike women from the footnotes of history. She has twenty-four years of experience as an educator and currently teaches American History and Civics to high school students, who know her mantra very well: “Democracy is not a spectator sport!” Read more… Jeanne Morrison Director | Local League: Cape Cod Jeanne has over 30 yrs of managerial experience in non-profit and state government agencies in the health care, human services and transportation industries. She has held senior manager positions overseeing state service provider contracts, federal civil rights compliance programs and corporate diversity initiatives. Read more… Staff Patricia Comfort Executive Director| pcomfort@lwvma.org Pattye joined LWVMA in November of 2019. She comes to LWVMA after seven years as Executive Director of the Women’s Bar Association and the Women’s Bar Foundation of Massachusetts. Pattye began her legal career as in-house counsel to the National Association of State Public Interest Research Groups (PIRGs) where, among other things, she was responsible for maintaining First Amendment access for the PIRGs political canvassers throughout the U.S. She also worked at the Massachusetts Legal Assistance Corporation as the Director of the Equal Justice Coalition, building support among the private bar for access to justice through increased funding for civil legal aid programs in Massachusetts. She is an experienced community organizer having worked with tenants in Boston’s public housing developments as well as with low-income tenants in Lowell. Pattye is a graduate of Boston College and Northeastern University School of Law. Brynne Gorman Membership and Community Engagement Manager | bgorman@lwvma.org Brynne Gorman joined LWVMA in April of 2014. Prior to joining LWVMA Brynne served in Data Governance at Covidien. Previously, Brynne managed the office of Business Network International and interned on a congressional campaign in the 2012 election. Brynne holds a B.A. in Political Science from the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth. Taylor Grenga Administrative and Program Associate | tgrenga@lwvma.org Taylor Grenga joined LWVMA in June of 2018. Prior to joining LWVMA, she attended Northeastern University and held internship positions at Planned Parenthood, Health Care For All, the Harvard Prison Legal Assistance Project, and WilmerHale. Taylor holds a B.S. in Political Science. Martha Maguire Business Manager | mmaguire@lwvma.org LWVMA Legislative Specialists Legislative Action Chair | Kathy Leonardson Legislative Action Vice Chair | Nancy Brumback Affordable Housing | Clare Gordon, Lori Stewart Agriculture, Casino Gambling | Louise Haldeman Basic Human Needs | Clare Gordon Children and Family Issues | Palma McLaughlin Criminal Justice and Courts | Nancy Bettinger, Lucy Costa Education (Finance) | Mary Frantz Education (Higher Education) | Susan Loffredo Education (Policy) | Karen Mazza Elder Affairs | Pat Costello Elections and Voting | Linda Freedman, Nancy Brumback Environment: Climate Change and Energy | Launa Zimmaro Environment: Natural Resources |Loring Schwarz, Carolyn Lee Fiscal Policy | June Michaels Good Governance | Carolyn Lee Gun Control | Jennifer Muroff, Sue McCalley Health Care | Janice Goodell, Valentina Pasquantonia Immigration | Jennifer Muroff Racial Justice | Vedna Lacombe-Heywood, Jennifer Muroff Transportation| Tanya Roy, Lois Levin Water Resources | Carolyn Lee Women’s Issues | Susan Loffredo, Jan Soma To reach any of the legislative specialists, email specialists@lwvma.org CONTACT US 90 Canal St. 4th Floor, Suite 414 Boston, MA 02114 857-452-1715 lwvma@lwvma.org FOLLOW & SHARE Facebook Instagram Twitter YouTube TRANSLATE English QUICK LINKS Annual Reports Diversity Equity and Inclusion Resources Lotte E. 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