Adena is the youngest and first women of color to be president of our League since 1911. She was first elected president in 2017 and hopes to serve another year. Her focus is on updating our League’s image and bringing relevance to our organization. She has been involved with the League since 2009, and in 2014, she was honored with the Spirit of the League Award. Adena worked for the League as a Membership Growth Consultant for almost two years, she revived the League’s social media accounts on Facebook and Twitter, volunteered on the Prop 13 Reform Team, and worked on opportunities to engage youth through voter registration campaigns. Adena serves as a Berkeley Commissioner on the Sugar- Sweetened Beverage Product Panel of Experts. president@lwvbae.org

Elise has always looked up to the League, its activities, and its goals. She was happy to join LWVBAE and help with a few of the Fall 2016 pre-election forums. She has become active with the Prop 13 Reform and Membership teams since then, and she look forward to continuing to support efforts to bring a measure to amend Prop 13 before the California voters and start getting some of the lost revenue back to our local communities. Particular areas of concern and interest to her are issues related to inequality – from voting and representation issues to climate change and the protection of our natural resources and health. She has always worked in public institutions of higher education, starting as a student in Pennsylvania, and later as staff in Texas and California, Elise has worked at UC Berkeley as a research administrator for many years. She looks forward to this opportunity to support League activities and learn more about the League! Secretary@lwvbae.org

Emily looks forward to continuing to work with the League, while also expanding her skills. Emily has worked at Semifreddi’s since 2004, and she is now the Office & Payroll Manager—overseeing sales data analysis, accounts receivables, payables, billing, and bakery production scheduling. Emily attended Berkeley High School and earned her GED at 17. Previously, she was an active volunteer for the Berkeley/Albany Girl Scouts Service Unit, including serving as the cookie sales manager and co-treasurer. She is the mother of fifteen-year-old Micaela, a long-time League volunteer. treasurer@lwvbae.org

As a scientist, Preston naturally gravitated to the League. Like the scientific community, the League is comprised of strong-minded individuals who have agreed to subject their ideas to review for the greater good. Preston appreciates the League for keeping alive the memory of our society denying some of its members the vote, and jealously guarding and pursuing the expansion of suffrage. He sees it as an honor and a pleasure to have served as our League’s Action Director for the past year, learning on the job, facilitating the success of other League members, and putting League positions to work making a difference in our communities. If you have a policy idea for the League to potentially pursue, Preston welcomes learning about it and either helping you shepherd the idea or pursuing it himself as you prefer. action@lwvbae.org

Moana Newman has worked in nonprofit fund development for more than 15 years, focusing on programs that develop healthy, engaged children and youth. She is currently the Director of Development for Crowden Music Center, a Berkeley-based arts organization that offers an acclaimed classical music immersion school for students in 4th-8th grades, as well as music instruction and community for all ages.
Before joining the Crowden team, Moana was the head of Development for Family Support Services of the Bay Area. For ten years, she worked to raise unrestricted funds for programs providing mental health, housing support, and other social services; mentoring for vulnerable youth; respite care for children with special needs and who were medically fragile; programs for seniors raising kinship youth (i.e.: grandparents raising grandchildren), and other services designed to strengthen families and break cycles of poverty and instability.
Moana believes strongly in the power of communication and one-to-one connections to create positive impacts. She is motivated to contribute to the enrichment of a healthy democratic process, and looks forward to engaging more fully in ensuring that all voices are heard, respected, and counted.  voterservices@lwvbae.org

Ken plans to apply his varied public and business experience, long residence, and work in the City of Emeryville and his current familiarity with regional issues to the Board’s work. During 6 terms as a City Council Member in Emeryville, he served 6 one-year terms as Mayor and helped lead the redevelopment of 65% of Emeryville. Ken is a past president of the Emeryville NAACP and a founder of the Emeryville Chamber of Commerce and the Emeryville Property Owners Association, for which he serves as a consultant. Ken also volunteers for the Public Banking Institute. Since 2014 he has been recording regional public meetings and events, including the Metropolitan Transportation Commission (MTC), Association of Bay Area Governments (ABAG), and the Alameda County Transportation Commission (ACTC)–as well as events for local leagues. The videos are available free online at http://Regional-Video.com. Ken is also an avid cyclist, former owner of two successful nightclubs in Emeryville, and a former private pilot.  ken.bukowski@gmail.com

Ruby MacDonald has enjoyed working with the Climate, Voter Services and Civics Education/Prop. 13 Reform Teams of LWVBAE at different times for the last 4 years. She is a retired research biochemist/biophysicist and retired high school biology teacher who would like to continue learning about and contributing to K-12 education, especially pertaining to science and civics and serving the Berkeley, Albany, Emeryville community through the League.  ruby@lwvbae.org