President – KANDEA MOSLEY GANDHI

Kandea comes to the Board with a strong background in nonprofit and social enterprise management in the solar, workforce development and education sectors. She has over 10 years of nonprofit and program management experience and has a passion for sustainable community development and community organizing. She received her MBA from the Johnson Graduate School of Management at Cornell University, her BA in African American Studies from UCLA, and has received professional and academic awards for outstanding service and achievement. Kandea deeply believes in the League’s mission to create a more just, equitable society by actively promoting and building democratic participation. In March of 2022, she was recognized by the League of Women Voters of California during women’s history month and is a member of the League of Women Voters of California Nominating Committee. president@lwvbae.org

Secretary – ELISE MILLS

Elise has spent her entire life working in public higher education. Upon completing her B.S. in Business Administration at Indiana University of Pennsylvania she worked as an Accountant at University of Texas Rio Grande Valley and Pan American University. She then moved back to California which she always loved. For more than 25 years at UC Berkeley, she has partnered with faculty investigators while also training and leading other administrators in pre and post research administration. After she joined LWVBAE in early fall 2016 she became active in support of candidate forums and in support of amending Prop 13.  She is also very interested in inequality issues of all kinds- from voting and representation to climate change and protection of our natural resources and health. Secretary@lwvbae.org

Treasurer – CYNTHIA CHEN

Cynthia Chen had been a member of LWV Edina (Minnesota) for over 15 years before moving to Berkeley in 2013. She was an active member of LWVE, serving on the board in various capacities for many years. Cynthia joined LWVBAE shortly after arriving in Berkeley, and has been active on the Communications and Voter Services teams, publicizing LWVBAE events, and assisting in all candidate forums every election cycle. Cynthia  became Treasurer of LWVBAE after serving 2 years as chair of LWV  Alameda County Council.
treasurer@lwvbae.org

DIRECTORS:

Jinky Gardner

Action Coordinator Jinky Gardner joined LWVBAE in 2002 and quickly became very active. She co-led a local study on civics education in our public schools, and shepherded the study through consensus meetings to a good policy statement we can act on. She also served in various capacities on the Board including a two year stint as President.  After a few years of having to put the League on the back burner, she is back on the Board as Director of Action, and working to grow our membership and make it more diversified and younger. action@lwvbae.org

Linda Carothers

Communications Linda Carothers has worked with and for the League for over 15 years. She graduated from the School of Fine Arts at what is now Carnegie Mellon University. Worked in New York City in the Book industry designing books and jackets. Studied television and animation while living in London. Did further studies of animation and graphics at DeAnza College in Cupertino and the College of Arts and Crafts in Oakland. Studied Web Design with the Contra Costa County Regional Occupational Program.  webmanager@lwvbae.org

Eric Arens

Climate Change Eric Arens joined the LWVBAE in early 2019 to help on climate action.  Electrification of buildings has been the main focus because of the activity around the City of Berkeley natural gas hook-up ban.  Eric has explained and promoted the use of electricity at fairs and educational events.  He is a physicist and worked at the NASA Goddard Space Flight Center in Maryland and at the University of California at Berkeley.  When the Sierra Club was expanding into a national organization in the 1970s, he became the chairperson of the Chesapeake Bay Group, where pollution from farms and cities is the paramount problem. ericarens@comcast.net

Christine Wenrich

Criminal Justice Christine Wenrich has been a member of the local LWV for many years.  She has a BS & MA in Special Education and worked with the SFUSD schools.  After retiring, she took on the role of LWVBAE Secretary, followed by that of Archivist.  As Archivist, she organized the work of BAE from as far back as the 80’s. She joined the newly formed LWVC Criminal Justice Team which grew out of concerns expressed at the 2017 LWVC Convention.  As Leader of the Criminal Justice Team, her plans are to continue monitoring policing in the three  cities in light of new legislation, and the newly formed Berkeley Police  Accountability Board. archivist@lwvbae.org

Rashida Hanif

Member Recruitment/Special Events Rashida is the founder and CEO of RepresentEd and has an extensive experience in the corporate sector. At RepresentEd, Rashida leverages her business background to form a unique approach to instructing students by applying academic curriculum to real-world scenarios using design methodology. 
Her passion for inspiring young adults to reach for their dreams has led her to serve as a facilitator, instructor and mentor in both academia and impact focused organizations. Rashida received her BA from University of California, Berkeley. rashida@lwvbae.org

Alex Li

Voter Services Team & Youth Council Liaison  Alex is a senior at Albany High School. She joined LWVBAE as an intern in 2022 with the criminal justice team and over the fall semester, she worked as an intern in voter service. As a student, she has worked to engage other teenagers in advocacy and democratic participation, co-founding and co-leading the Albany High School Youth Council. The Youth Council has run voter registration, advocacy, and education campaigns throughout the academic year.   alexli@lwvbae.org

Want to send a message to the President and the whole Board? Email 2024board@lwvbae.org