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.”
A new Board was elected by the LWVPDX membership at the May 23, 2024 Annual Membership Meeting. The information about most the new Board members and other new leaders will be added to this page before June 1. The current Treasurer remains in office until the end of our fiscal year on June 30.
League Leaders
Officers
Carolyn Buppert, President president@lwvpdx.org
Carolyn has served as a board member since 2020 and was the 2022-23 Discussion Units Coordinator. She has enjoyed moderating LWVPDX Video Voters Forums and handling some of the organization’s social media. She recently retired as an attorney, having focused on health care provider issues.
In addition to leading Discussion Units, Carolyn has contributed to LWVPDX’s social media presence with regular posts on Twitter and assisted with voter service. She served as an organizer of the DEI (Diversity, Equity, Inclusion) Committee. She has a history of work in journalism and media relations as well as nursing.
Audrey Zunkel-deCoursey, 1st Vice President, Administration
Audrey Zunkel-deCoursey works in education policy, coming from a background in criminal justice reform, public health, and faith-based advocacy. Audrey is the child and grandchild of LWV members, and is the parent of a future LWV member.
Audrey has served on the LWVPDX Board as an at-large director since 2020. She has been involved in a number of special projects, including observing the Portland Charter Commission and helping with LWV advocacy on Charter reform, planning for leadership education on Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI), and helping with communications via website posts, podcasts, and videos. She is also 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.
Judy Froemke, 3rd Vice President, Member Education Chair
Judy serves as the Portland League’s 3rd Vice President, in charge of Member Education, Interest Groups, Program Planning, and Studies. Judy also serves on the LWVPDX Nominating Committee. She served on the Board as Discussion Units Coordinator from 2017 until May 2022.
Judy joined the Portland League of Women Voters in 2013. She helped to register voters off and on at Naturalization Ceremonies and organized and participated in Voter Registration Drives under the supervision of Janine Settelmeyer. She was Unit 4 Chair for two years and appreciated the counsel and support of former Units Coordinator Janet Youel. Before moving to Portland to live near her son and family, Judy was a Family Court Mediator for almost thirty years. She was on the state board of the Michigan Association of Family Court Mediators for ten years and organized/edited the training manual for Family Court Counselors/Mediators. During her time in Portland, she has spent many hours as a volunteer Master Gardener. Judy grew up in a home where the dining room table was generally covered with LWV material. She strongly believes in the importance of supporting members and in the grassroots LWV program planning process.
Anne Davidson, Secretary
Anne joined the Portland League of Women Voters shortly after she arrived in Portland 30+ years ago. Having moved away from everyone she knew, she says she joined LWV because she wanted to make sure that she continued to be “in the company of smart, well-informed and interesting women. How right I was!” Since then, she has served in a number of capacities including working on the newsletter, serving as Secretary, Board Treasurer and Endowment Fund Treasurer. Her involvement tapered off as her two children were born and her role in the family business increased. Her children are now out of the house and she hopes to retire in the next year or so. So, she’s back “and honored to serve as your Secretary and continue as the Endowment Fund Treasurer.”
Adrienne Aiona, Treasurer
Adrienne attended her first League meetings as an infant with her mother, Debbie Aiona, in Salt Lake City. Since then, the League has been part of her life through her Mom’s activism and as a volunteer herself. After college, she joined the League and served on the Board from 2002 to 2008 as the Voter editor and Treasurer. From 2019 – 2021, Adrienne served as the LWVPDX Budget Chair. She was elected as LWVPDX Treasurer in 2021.
Adrienne is an engineer at the City of Portland Bureau of Environmental Services and manages a team that writes the codes and rules for the bureau. Adrienne has a 10-year-old daughter; she enjoys the theater, knitting, the outdoors and political podcasts.
Directors
Debbie Aiona, Action Chair action@lwvpdx.org
Debbie grew up in the San Francisco Bay Area and first joined the League in 1979 in Salt Lake City, UT. Other places where she was a member include Greenville, S.C., Lexington, KY and Portland. As a longtime resident of Portland, she has held a number of positions in the local League including president. She now serves the organization as a board member and action committee chair. Issues on which she personally focuses include affordable housing, police oversight, campaign finance reform, urban renewal and Portland City Charter implementation. In addition to her work on the LWV Portland board, she is a board member of the Coalition of Advocates for Equal Access for Girls, a statewide organization that works to ensure that girls receive equal access to all of the appropriate gender-specific support and services they need to help them develop to their full potential.
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.
Nancy Donovan, Community Education communityed@lwvpdx.org
Nancy was re-elected to the Board in May 2022 to manage our community education events. She had previously served as the 3rd Vice President and Civic Education (now Community Education) Chair since May 2019 and before then as alternate on the Nominating Committee. Currently, she also is a Co-Chair, with Fran Dyke, of the LWVPDX Education Interest Group. The group explores successful educational models in K-8 public schools in Portland and examines other possible educational initiatives for study or advocacy.
During legislative sessions, Nancy serves on the League of Women Voters of Oregon Action Committee and is active in state legislative housing policy. Her life-long career focus is to improve the lives of persons with low- and moderate- incomes and to help those experiencing homelessness to access affordable housing and services. For 25 years, first in her hometown of Omaha and then most recently in Portland, she was manager of programs for the community planning and development division of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). She retired from HUD in 2016 and joined the LWV of Portland that same year. Prior to joining HUD she worked as a program officer for the Local Initiatives Support Corporation in New York City to provide funding to local development corporations to build and revitalize housing in distressed neighborhoods. Throughout her career she has worked effectively with key agencies in federal, state, and local governments as well as private and nonprofit agencies.
Ryann Enger, Discussion Units Coordinator
Ryann served as leader of Discussion Unit 7 before joining the Board as Discussion Units Coordinator. Ryann 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, At-Large Director
Trish has been a member of organizations that promote social justice for most of her adult life. She is a member of the LWVOR Board, the LWVOR Action Committee and the LWVPDX Justice Interest Group. She also serves as a member of the National American Association of University Women (AAUW) Diversity & Inclusion Committee and is the AAUW of Oregon State Diversity Officer. She previously worked for eight years as AAUW Oregon’s State Public Policy Chair and served on the National AAUW Public Policy Committee. Her earlier career was as a criminal trial attorney. She has a social work degree and has worked in the conflict resolution / mediation field. She is also a member of a number of other nonprofit boards, primarily in the dramatic arts and social justice fields. Trish is an excellent speaker and heads the LWVPDX Speakers Bureau.
Paulina joined the Board in early 2023 as an at-large director and looks forward to editing the newsletter! 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 five years. She works full-time as a data scientist and mom to a toddler.
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 she loves hiking Portland’s trails with her daughter Nadia.
Linda Mantel, Development Chair development@lwvpdx.org
Linda Mantel has been in Portland for 30 years, arriving after her first career at City College of New York. She is a retired biologist (crustacean physiology) and academic administrator, with many years of experience in teaching, research, and student and faculty development. Linda became active in the League in time to work on the Study Committee for the LWVOR study on Public Higher Education, and she joined the LWVPDX Board in May 2019 “to try and do some more good works.” As Member-at-Large in 2019-20, she was able to plan and execute the LWVPDX 100th Anniversary Luncheon, with the help of a most able committee. Linda took on the responsibilities of Development Chair in 2020, and is completing her second two-year term. In addition, Linda has been motivated by DEI involvement all of her professional career, with special emphasis on promoting the success of women and underrepresented students in STEM, and is supportive of the League’s efforts in this area.
Margaret first became an active volunteer with the League of Women Voters of Portland in 1993-94. Over the years, she has served on both the LWVPDX and LWV of Oregon Boards. She was LWVOR President 2003-2007 and LWVPDX President 2013-16. Professionally, Margaret worked as a middle-school science teacher and as a producer of educational audio-visual programs. Her husband, Gordon, is an emeritus professor of medicine at the Portland VA Hospital and OHSU. They have three daughters and eight grandchildren. Margaret’s interests include walking, gardening, antiques and travel.
Elected Off-Board Leaders
Elizabeth Domike, Budget Committee Chair
Retired from working in finance at OHSU, Elizabeth Domike currently teaches Gentle Yoga online. Elizabeth served on the 2023 LWVPDX Budget Committee. She also serves as the leader of Discussion Unit 6.
Philip Thor, Endowment Fund 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 Fund 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.
Linda Mather, Nominating Committee Member
In New Jersey, Linda served as local League President, chair of the LWV of New Jersey Nominating Committee, and a LWV MLD (Membership, Leadership, Development) coach. She has moderated many candidate forums and provided training in moderating and in leading meetings. Since coming to Portland eight years ago, she has continued moderating and coaching as well as convening Discussion Unit 5.
Olivia Smith, Nominating Committee Member
Olivia is a lifelong resident of the Portland area. She graduated from OSU and spent a year of college studying in northern Italy. She attended law school at night while working in a local law office and is now an inactive member of the Oregon State Bar. Olivia enjoys gardening, reading and puzzles. She traveled with her late husband in the USA, much of Canada and Australia, most of western Europe, and some of central Europe. Olivia has been a League member for a long time but only became active about two years ago. She currently leads Discussion Unit 3. She is also her cat’s primary staff person.
Other Off-Board Leaders
Voter Registration
Contact through voterservice@lwvpdx.org
Social Media: Facebook
Katie LeRoux
League Office Manager
Office Manager, Nikki Jardin info@lwvpdx.org 503-228-1675
Nikki works in our office from 9 am to 2 pm, Monday through Thursday most weeks. She lives in SE Portland with her family and has been a Portland-area resident for 20 years. In addition to working for the League, Nikki owns and is the editor, publisher and writer for Mirador Magazine—a publication for people experiencing cognitive impairment. She also plays various instruments in two bands.
As Office Manager, Nikki is the Portland League’s only paid employee. Her work is directed by our volunteer president and Vice President for administration. She consults with other board members and leaders as needed. Nikki also contributes valuable ideas to advance our goals. We appreciate her dedication, suggestions, and hard work on our behalf.