The League of Women Voters of Portland is governed by a board of unpaid volunteers. We are grateful for all the time these leaders and our other volunteers contribute to encouraging civic participation, empowering voters and “Making Democracy Work.”
The 2024-25 Board was elected by the LWVPDX membership at the May 23, 2024, Annual Membership Meeting.
League Leaders
Officers
Carolyn Buppert, President — president@lwvpdx.org
Carolyn was first elected as Board President in May 2023 and skillfully led the Board throughout her first year. She had served as a board member since 2020 and was the 2022-23 Discussion Units Coordinator. In addition to leading Discussion Units, Carolyn contributed to LWVPDX’s social media presence with regular posts on Twitter. She also assisted with voter service and served as an organizer of the DEI (Diversity, Equity, Inclusion) Committee. She has enjoyed moderating LWVPDX Video Voters Forums. She recently retired as an attorney, having focused on health care provider issues. She has a history of work in journalism and media relations as well as nursing.
Audrey Zunkel-deCoursey, 1st Vice President, Communications and Administration
Audrey Zunkel-deCoursey works in communications for local government, coming from a background in criminal justice reform, public health, education policy, and faith-based advocacy. Audrey has served on the LWVPDX Board as an at-large director since 2020 and has served as Vice President for one year. Audrey is the child and grandchild of LWV members, and is the parent of a future LWV member. Audrey has been involved in a number of special projects, including observing the Portland Charter Commission and helping with LWV education on Charter reform, planning for leadership education on Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI), and helping with communications via website posts, podcasts, and videos. She also has served as a member of the LWVPDX Budget Committee.
Chris Cobey, 2nd Vice President, Voter Service Chair — voterservice@lwvpdx.org
After 70 years as a Californian, Chris immigrated to Oregon to be near his family in Portland. In California, he had a career as an employment lawyer — and then a stint as a Hearst Castle guide. His prior public engagement has been as a city council member and mayor, a civil service commissioner, a land use advisory group chair, and temporary judge. His League interests include voter service, redistricting, the judiciary, employment law, ranked choice voting, development, and Diversity-Equity-Inclusion (DEI). He also serves on the LWVPDX Nominating Committee. Portland’s and Oregon’s people, politics, and places continue to surprise and delight him.
Debbie Aiona, 3rd Vice President, Action Chair — action@lwvpdx.org
Debbie Aiona is a long-time League member. She first joined in Salt Lake City followed by membership in South Carolina and Kentucky. She came to the Portland League in the 1980s and has been an active member ever since. Some of the assignments she has taken on over the years include Units, Voter, Program, and President. She currently serves as Action Committee chair. She enjoys working with League and community members interested in public policy issues.
Anne Davidson, Secretary
Anne joined the Portland League shortly after her family moved here from Nebraska in 1978. She joined the League with hopes of meeting interesting and involved women and men. She has held several positions over the years including League Treasurer but most recently serving as the Board Secretary and as Treasurer of the Endowment Committee Anne and her husband operate a small manufacturing company and have two children also living in Portland with their families.
Elizabeth Domike, Treasurer
Retired from working in finance at OHSU, Elizabeth Domike currently teaches Gentle Yoga online. She served on the Budget Committee in 2023 and as Budget Chair for the Portland League for fiscal year 23-24.
Directors
Ryann Enger, Discussion Units Coordinator
Ryann Enger enjoys people and has a talent for bringing out the best in others. Previously, Ryann was an active board member for PRIDE at Illinois State University, their alma mater, and worked as a program manager for group homes for adults with disabilities in Chicago. Ryann, a life-long learner, is particularly interested in the intersection of environmental issues, social justice, and the money system, and aspires to be an agent of change in their communities locally and beyond. Ryann is now Co-Managing Director for Alliance For Just Money and committed to advocate for a better world for all.
Trish Garner, Speakers Bureau Chair
Trish served as the State Public Policy Chair for the American Association of University Women for eight years. For two years she served and is currently serving as the AAUW of OR State Diversity Chair. She is a member of the National AAUW Diversity and Inclusion Committee and has been a past President of the AAUW of OR-PDX and Astoria Branches. She has been a member of the LWVOR State Action Committee and is currently working on the LWVOR-PDX Action Committee. She was appointed by the Mayor to serve on the Portland Police Focused Intervention Team – Community Oversight Group. Before retiring, Trish worked as a criminal trial attorney. She also has a social work master’s degree.
Paulina Leperi, Newsletter Editor
Paulina joined the Board in early 2023 as an at-large director and became the newsletter editor for 2023-24. Since joining the League, Paulina has been involved with following the implementation of Universal Pre-K and writing for the Voters’ Guide. She is also active in the Education Interest Group. Originally from Cleveland, Ohio, Paulina has been in Portland for almost six years. She works full-time as a data scientist and is mom to a toddler and a baby. Paulina joined LWVPDX in 2021 to get more involved in local public policy after several years volunteering with Tech for Campaigns. She holds a degree in marketing from the University of South Carolina and made her way west via Chicago, where she earned her M.S. from Northwestern. Professionally, Paulina specializes in building statistical models to inform digital advertising and email communications. Paulina is a bookworm who enjoys ballroom dance and hiking.
Linda Mather, At-Large Director
Linda has a long history of service with the League of Women Voters, first in New Jersey, where she filled several board roles, including president, and now in Portland. After moving to Portland, she has served as a coach for other Oregon Leagues, as a leader of Discussion Unit 5, and on the Nominating Committee. She has moderated many candidate forums and provided training in moderating and in leading meetings.
Felice Mueller, At-Large Director
Felice Mueller moved to Portland from Cleveland, Ohio, in March 2020. She was a looped 5th/6th grade teacher for “unconventional” learners and in addition to cherishing the kids and all they taught her, her passion was developing experiential, thematic curricula and directing the annual class play. Switching careers, she became a small business owner of 3 resale shops one for kids, one for teens and one for women. She is now retired, a devoted grandmother to 2 girls who live next door, and an amateur gardener/permaculturalist.
Amber Nobe, Communications Support
Amber is passionate about voter education and participation and is always looking to improve how we share information with League membership and supporters. She was first elected to the LWVPDX Board in 2019 and previously served as editor of The Voter newsletter; she continues to support a range of communications efforts and serves on the Budget Committee as well as other ad hoc committees. A lifelong Pacific Northwest citizen, Amber has called Oregon home since 2003. She earned a degree in mass communication from Linfield University and began her career as a news reporter and editor at small, community newspapers. For the last 15 years, she’s specialized in marketing and communications for architecture and engineering firms that focus on public infrastructure and development. She lives in the Montavilla neighborhood with her husband and young son.
Shelly Rosenberg, Development Chair
Shelly moved from Los Angeles to Portland in 2020. In LA, she and her husband were raising two daughters, while Shelly worked as an educator, Executive Director of a synagogue, and board member of several nonprofit organizations. When she moved to Portland, she joined the LWV to learn more about Portland and its government. Since joining the LWV, she has worked with the Housing Interest Group, the Action Committee, 501c committee, and the Ranked-Choice Voting committee.
Elected Off-Board Leaders
Adrienne Aiona, Budget Committee Chair
Adrienne Aiona has served on the board as the treasurer since 2021 and was the budget chair prior to that. Previously, she served on the board from 2002 to 2008 as the Voter editor and treasurer. She is a civil engineer working for the City of Portland Bureau of Environmental Services where she leads the team that manages the bureau’s code and administrative rules. She lives in downtown Portland with her 9-year-old daughter.
Philip Thor, Endowment Committee Chair
After retiring in March 2011 from a 30-year career at the Bonneville Power Administration (BPA), Philip has enjoyed a life of traveling, volunteer activities and hobbies. He joined the LWVPDX Endowment Committee in 2017. He also volunteers at the Northeast Emergency Food Program, walks dogs and works in the Medical Center at the Oregon Humane Society. He enjoys woodworking and walking with friends each week when he’s in town, and visiting the timber-framed style home he and his wife, Betsy Pratt, built in Sisters, OR. Philip and Betsy have taken numerous trips, including to Corsica, France, Japan, Great Britain (for several long-distance treks), Italy, Germany, Croatia, Greece, St. Lucia (bare boat sailing with friends), and Iceland.
Anne Davidson, Endowment Committee Treasurer
Please see Anne’s profile above under Board Officers, Secretary.
Debbie Kaye, Nominating Committee Chair — nominating@lwvpdx.org
Debbie joined the League over 30 years ago when she returned to Portland and her best friend’s mother (League leader, Leeanne MacColl) said she must! She has served our organization in many roles, most recently as a 2-term LWVPDX President. Before that, she was chair of Membership, Development, and also served on and led the Nominating Committee for the League and for other organizations. She believes that it is important to identify and mentor new leaders and looks forward to doing this for our League.
Judy Froemke, Nominating Committee Member
Judy joined the League in 2014 and has registered voters at Naturalization Ceremonies, on college campuses, at Farmers Markets, senior residences and at case managed residential facilities. She was Discussion Unit 4 leader and in 2017, joined the LWVPDX board as DU Coordinator and later as Member Education Chair/Program Planning. Judy is involved in the Interest Groups and on the LWVPDX Nominating Committee. She’s proud of the Portland League’s voter activism, service and advocacy by well organized on-board and off-board members and grassroots activists who are generous of their time and energy to make our world better while defending democracy.
Mary McWilliams, Nominating Committee Member
Mary has been a long time League member, beginning with the Oxford, Ohio, League in the 1970s. Sometime after she and her husband returned to Oregon in late 2004, she joined the Portland League and over the years has served with enjoyable and like-minded women and men on and off the board as Unit Coordinator, chairs of committees (Multnomah Co. Directory of Elected Officials, Development, Publicity, Membership, Nominating) and President. She looks forward to continuing meeting other League members through the nominating process.
Other Off-Board Leaders
Pamela Clark, Membership Chair
After 30+ years in the San Francisco Bay Area, Pamela and her husband Robert moved to Portland in 2017. In California, she was active in the Oakland and Bay Area Leagues in the 1980s and 90s, where she served in several different capacities. Pamela joined the Portland League in 2020 to learn more about how the government worked in Oregon at all levels – city, county, and state. In the Portland League, she served as Discussion Unit 7 chair in 2021 and was on the committee that drafted the Police Accountability position after the study concluded.