League Board 2020-2021

Officers

Lisa McLain, President

Lisa joined the League to help tend our democracy and has enjoyed registering new voters, working on publicity and outreach for our community and election related events. A resident of Mountain View for almost twenty years, she is also involved in revitalizing her local neighborhood CERT and she and her dog visit retirement/convalescent homes  as part of Furry Friends Pet Therapy.

Cathy Lazarus, Vice President – Action

Cathy Lazarus was born in New York City, raised in New Jersey and moved to California in high school. She holds a Bachelor of Arts in Environmental Planning from Stanford University and Master of City Planning from Harvard University. After receiving her Master’s Degree, Cathy began an 18-year career with Santa Clara County where she held many positions including Senior Planner, Local Agency Formation Commission Executive Officer, Deputy Parks Director, Strategic Issues Manager and Risk Management Director. In 1994, Cathy joined the City of Mountain View, retiring as Public Works Director in 2009. 
 
Cathy continues involvement in the community serving on the board of organizations  she believes are important to a diverse society. She has served at the President of the Los-Altos Mountain View Area League of Women Voters, Chair of the Leagues of Women Voters of Santa Clara County (County Council) Past President and Board member of the Community Services Agency and past President and Member of the Santa Clara County-Province of Florence Italy Sister Commission. In addition to current service as the Vice President-Action of our League, Cathy has recently joined the board of Opera San Jose.

headshot of Sue GrahamSue Graham, Secretary

Sue began volunteering in the community in the early 90’s after a 20-year career with Pacific Bell working in Information Technology.

She served on the Board of Trustees of the Mountain View/Los Altos High School for two terms and served on the board of Community Health Awareness Council, a counseling service for young people, for nine years.

Sue joined the LWV because it is an organization that explores issues thoroughly and shares the information with the community. She continues to engage with the League because of the wonderful women and men she has met.

headshot Natalie ElefantNatalie Elefant, Treasurer

An active community volunteer Natalie joined the League when she moved back to Los Altos in 2011.

One of Natalie’s primary interests is quality public schools and is often seen in classrooms. She also helps with local bereavement programs.

When Natalie isn’t gardening you’ll probably find her helping with some of her six young grandchildren.

Directors

Gary HeddenGary Hedden, Natural Resources Portfolio

Gary Hedden moved to the Bay Area from Oregon in 1972. A pharmaceutical research chemist, he worked at Syntex, and then Roche for 37 years, retiring in 2009. Gary is Chair of the Los Altos Environmental Commission, helping to implement the city’s climate action plan and investigate community choice energy. Gary is the Energy Lead for GreenTown Los Altos, a local environmental group. He also works on exhibitions at the Los Altos History Museum and last year took the lead on Pedal Power: From Wacky to Workhorse, and he enjoys his role as editor of the Museum’s newsletter. He leads bike rides too. The Historic Bike Tour of Los Altos is in its fourth year, and last Spring he led the Lawn-Be-Gone Bike Tour.

Abby Longcor, Social Policy Portfolio

Abby grew up in Mountain View and after college returned to the area to build and manage Beyond the Bell for the Mountain View Whisman School District. She later became a high school math teacher and now leads The Tech Challenge, an engineering design competition for 4th-12th grade students. In 2014 she received the Extraordinary Service Award from the League of Women Voters of California and in 2016 she was recognized as one of Silicon Valley Business Journal’s 40 Under 40. She is also an active member of the LWV Housing Committee and a fluent speaker of Spanish.

Karin Bricker, Voter Service

Karin recently retired from the City of Mountain View as Manager of Youth and Outreach Services at the Library. Eager for meaningful volunteer opportunities, she chose the League for its mission and passionate team of volunteers. Karin hopes to see many new voters added to the rolls this year. A graduate of U.C.Berkeley, she has lived in Santa Clara County since 1969.

Max Beckman-Harned, Information Technology

Max moved to Mountain View from North Carolina in the fall of 2011 and is a software engineer with Microsoft. Overwhelmed by the relative complexity of his first California election in the fall of 2012, he found SmartVoter.org (now Voter’s Edge) and joined the League. He joined the board as a Director-At-Large in 2013. He was appointed to the Mountain View Library Board of Trustees in 2014 and re-appointed in 2018. In his spare time, Max helps prepare others’ tax returns through the Earn It! Keep It! Save It! program, attends plays all over the South Bay, and plays and runs tabletop roleplaying games.


Thida Cornes, Data Manager

Thida Cornes moved to Mountain View in 1999. She served as Vice-Chair on the Mountain View Environmental Sustainability Task Force and was on the Mountain View Parks and Recreation Commission for eight years. Thida is on the board of Carbon Free Mountain View and co-founded Great Streets Mountain View. She has a service dog from Canine Companions for Independence.