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President
Beatriz Dieringer, Mayor Pro Tem, Rolling Hills Bea Dieringer has been a member of the Women’s Caucus Board since 2017 and is currently serving as its President. She was elected to the Rolling Hills City Council in March, 2013, was selected as Mayor in 2016 and began her second four-year term in 2017 after she ran for re-election unopposed. Each year for the past five years, she has been appointed to participate as a member of the Public Safety Committee for the League of California Cities. Bea is a member of the Board for the South Bay Cities Council of Governments and for the Los Angeles Division of the League of California Cities, where she also serves on the Division’s legislative committee and as the Division’s representative on Los Angeles County’s Countywide Criminal Justice Coordinating Committee. Bea represents her city within other organizations as well, such as the Joint Powers Insurance Authority and the Contract Cities Association, where she is a member of the Association’s legislative committee. In addition to her duties as a city council member, Bea works full-time as a career deputy district attorney for Los Angeles County. Since 1985, she has continued to contribute to her profession as a member of the executive committee of the Criminal Justice Section of the Los Angeles County Bar Association. |
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1st Vice President
Ellen Kamei, Vice Mayor, Mountain View Ellen Kamei was born and raised in Silicon Valley and is the daughter of a Chinese and Puerto Rican American mother from New York City and a third-generation Japanese American father born at Heart Mountain Internment Camp in Wyoming. Inspired by community service since youth, Ellen began volunteering in elementary school and hasn’t stopped since. Driven to service, her career has taken her from Japan to the East Coast and back home to Mountain View. Ellen’s professional experience spans city, county, state, and federal government. In November 2018, Ellen was elected to the Mountain View City Council, Member-At-Large. Ellen completed her Master’s Degree in Public Administration from the University of Pennsylvania, Fels Institute of Government. She attended the University of California, Santa Barbara where she was a student athlete on the Rowing Team and received a B.A. in English. |
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2nd Vice President
Rachelle Arizmendi, Mayor Pro Tem, Sierra Madre Rachelle Arizmendi, elected in 2014, was the first woman of color to be elected to the City of Sierra Madre City Council. She was selected by her colleagues to serve as Mayor in 2017 and was re-elected to the City Council in 2018. Rachelle is the Vice-President and Chief Operating Officer at PACE (Pacific Asian Consortium in Employment). Founded in 1976, PACE is a nonprofit, community development organization that annually serves over 50,000 people through job training and placement; business development; early childhood education; financial education and asset building; affordable housing; and environmental services. As VP and COO, Rachelle oversees a budget of $30 million and a staff of over 300 employees. She was appointed by California Governor Brown to serve on the California State Board of Food and Agriculture where she addresses key issues regarding California’s growers, community stakeholders, and citizens. Rachelle also serves in leadership positions on several Boards including, the League of California Cities- Women's Caucus, the Board President of the Asian Pacific Policy and Planning Council, the Foothill Workforce Development Policy Board, National Coalition for Asian Pacific American Community Development, and an Advisory Member of the South Coast Air Quality Management District's Local Government & Small Business Assistance Advisory group. Rachelle, her husband Fili, and dog Madison have resided in the City of Sierra Madre since 2016. |
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Secretary Treasurer
Priya Bhat-Patel, Council Member, Carlsbad Dr. Priya Bhat-Patel is a Council Member in the City of Carlsbad where she grew up and currently lives. A daughter of Indian immigrants, Priya is the first Indian American to be elected to City Council in the County of San Diego, and the youngest person ever to be elected to the Council in the City of Carlsbad. Councilmember Bhat-Patel serves on many committees, including the League of California Cities, North County Transit District, the North San Diego County Regional Homeless Committee, Regional COVID-19 Taskforce on Equitable Recovery, Economic Revitalization Ad-Hoc Committee, City/Schools Committee, and Legislative Committee. Dr. Bhat-Patel is uniquely poised to respond to the COVID-19 pandemic with her Masters and Doctorate in Public Health. Along with Council, Priya works for a non-profit as a Policy Analyst and Manager for the California Family Justice Center Network. Family Justice Centers help provide wraparound services to victims and survivors of domestic violence, sexual assault, human trafficking, and elder and child abuse. She will continue to fight for justice as she works her way to becoming the first Indian American State Senator in the State of California, representing North San Diego County and South Orange County. Priya lives with her husband, who is a small business owner. They love enjoying the outdoors with their very sweet dog, Kishmish! |
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Immediate Past President
Nancy Smith, Vice Mayor, Sunnyvale Nancy Smith was elected to the Sunnyvale City Council in November 2016. She serves as the City’s representative to the Santa Clara County Water District, on the Caltrain Modernization committee and on the Executive Committee of the Silicon Valley Clean Energy Authority Board. She also serves on the League of California Cities Housing, Community, and Economic Development Committee. She works in as a program manager at NVIDIA Corporation, the world leader in visual computing technologies, deep learning and artificial intelligence — and owns a small consulting business geared toward helping organization demonstrate their values through cooperative community efforts. As a council member, Nancy Smith works on bringing about innovative solutions to problems like growing income inequality, equity, affordable housing, and working toward sustainable economic and ecological practices. Nancy has a bachelor’s degree in Mathematics from Olivet Nazarene University. She and her husband have lived in Sunnyvale since 1994. |
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Director At-Large
Cheryl Viegas-Walker, Council Member, El Centro Cheryl Viegas Walker has served on the El Centro City Council since 1997 and has served as Mayor of El Centro five times. Council Member Viegas Walker serves on the statewide League of California Cities Board of Directors and is a past president of the LOCC's Women's Caucus. She represents El Centro on the Imperial County Transportation Commission, Local Transportation Authority, and the Service Authority for Freeway Emergencies [“SAFE”]. Council Member Viegas Walker is also the ICTC representative to the California Association of Councils of Governments, where she serves as 1st Vice President. Council Member Viegas Walker is past president of the Southern California Association of Governments (“SCAG”), the largest metropolitan planning organization in the nation, and is currently a member of the SCAG Executive, Transportation, and Audit Committees, as well as the Imperial County representative on the SCAG Regional Council. Council Member Walker is President of the El Centro Regional Medical Center Board of Trustees, and serves on the Finance and Board Quality Committees at the Hospital. Council Member Viegas Walker is also a member of the Juvenile Justice Commission, a state mandated citizens' commission which operates under the auspices of the Imperial County Probation Department. She also serves on the San Diego State University [Imperial Valley Campus] Dean's Advisory Board and is active with the Imperial Valley Food Bank. She is a graduate of the University of Washington. |
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Director At-Large
Elizabeth Alcantar, Mayor, Cudahy Elizabeth Alcantar is an advocate and organizer by heart and trade for her community in Southeast Los Angeles. She currently serves Cudahy, CA as Mayor. Raised in Cudahy, Elizabeth Alcantar attended Teresa Hughes Elementary School and Elizabeth Learning Center before pursuing a B.A. in Political Science and Sociology at California State University, Long Beach. Throughout her time in college, Elizabeth worked with students and alumni of ELC to host educational workshops on applying to college, obtaining financial aid, and even fundraised for scholarships for Cudahy students. She continued her advocacy alongside carwash workers with the CLEAN Carwash Campaign and later went on to serve as a Field Deputy for former Secretary of Labor, Supervisor Hilda L. Solis and now works for the Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights (CHIRLA) where she works to educate and organize community on the issue of immigration and ensures immigrant community members from Northeast L.A. to Southeast L.A. know their rights and feel confident in their fight for achieving a just society for all, regardless of status. After seeing a gap in representation for young women in Cudahy, Elizabeth filed to run for city council. In November of 2018, Elizabeth was elected to the Cudahy City Council and then named Vice Mayor, making her the city’s first Latina vice mayor. She’s honored to serve the community that raised her and is focused on increasing civic engagement, access to quality green space and multimodal transportation, and supporting Cudahy’s women and girls. She represents the City of Cudahy on the Gateway Council of Governments, the Hub Cities Job Joint Powers Authority, and the AB617 Community Steering Committee. |
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Director At-Large
Jan Arbuckle, Council Member, Grass Valley Jan Arbuckle was born and raised in Southern California and relocated to Sacramento in the 1970s. Her almost two-decade career in public safety included serving with the Sacramento County Sheriff’s Department as a deputy sheriff. She remains a reserve deputy and participates in the department’s PEER Support Program. Council Member Arbuckle became locally involved in public service through two consecutive terms on the Nevada County Civil Grand Jury. This experience, learning how local government operates and how it addresses pressing issues such as public safety, homelessness and substance abuse inspired her further. In February 2007, Council Member Arbuckle was appointed to the Grass Valley City Council. Elected in November 2008 to a four-year term on the Grass Valley City Council, her colleagues on the council selected her as vice mayor. The Grass Valley City Council selected her as mayor in 2010, a position she held for two years until 2012, the same year she was re-elected to the council. Council Member Arbuckle was re-elected again in 2016. Council Member Arbuckle is active in the League of California Cities where she has served on the board of directors since 2013. She is chair of the League’s Public Safety Committee, president of the League’s Women’s Caucus, co-chair of the League-California State Association of Counties Joint Homelessness Task Force and has served as Sacramento Valley Division president twice. In addition, Council Member Arbuckle was the first women to chair the League’s Public Safety Policy Committee and served as chair of the League’s former Administrative Services Policy Committee. Engaged throughout Grass Valley and Nevada City, Council Member Arbuckle serves on the Nevada County Homelessness Process Improvement Committee, the Grass Valley Successor Agency Oversight Board, the Nevada County Transit Services Commission and the Nevada County Transportation Commission. She helped pass a half-cent sales tax earmarked for public safety and roads, implemented a succession plan for the Grass Valley Police Department, helped create the Grass Valley Police Department Peer Support Program and facilitated a major interchange public works project. |
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Director At-Large
Jesse Loren, Council Member, Winters Jesse Loren was elected to Winters City Council in 2016. She serves on the Yolo County WRA and Subbasin Groundwater Agency, Winters Hispanic Advisory Committee, and as liaison with the Winters School District. She serves the League of California cities as a Region 3 Representative, Environmental Policy Committee Member, Latino Caucus Member, and proud Women's League Board Member. Jesse has a B.A. in English Literature from U.C. Irvine and an MFA from University of New Orleans. She has co-edited 2 books on themes of cultural writing, including Bombshells: Stories and Poems by Women on the Homefront and Mourning Sickness: Stories and Poems about Miscarriage, Stillbirth and Infant Loss. Jesse is a retired high school teacher with 3 grown children and 2 grandchildren. |