League of Women Voters of Connecticut

Cheryl currently serves as President of the LWVCT, and formerly served as VP/Public Issues for five years.  She has held a variety LWV positions at the local level, including Publications Director, Action Vice President, Vice President of Public Issues and Greenwich League president.

For her work, she has received broad recognition including the Greenwich Time Community Leader of the Year Award, the American Planning Association CT Chapter Public Service Award, a Connecticut General Assembly Citation for Service and Commitment to Conservation of Open Space and Water Resources, and was the first winner of the LWVCT Percy Maxim Lee Advocacy Award, established to recognize the League member whose perseverance, research and persuasion has effectively moved the CT legislature to accomplish League goals.

Cheryl holds a M.A. in Communication from the University of South Florida.

Pua Ford has been in League since 1997 and has served on the Board of LWV Amity in various capacities since 1999.  She has been secretary on the state Board (2005-2009).  She was a planner and moderator for regional Conversations on Education (2000, 2006), served as moderator in New Haven Citizen Forums (2002, 2003), and participated in LWVCT studies of the state spending cap (2002) and of media issues (2007).  In 2009 she joined the LWVCT Public Issues Team as the media issues specialist, tracking bills on broadband internet and on community access television.  She coordinates government access television for Woodbridge and is a Registrar of Voters for Bethany.  She lives in Bethany with her husband, a guinea pig and a dog.

Doris currently is serving her second year as Co-President of the Westport LWV, and for the past four years, has been responsible for Public Relations.  After a long-time career in the corporate and non-profit sectors, she is now enjoying being able to devote her time, energy, and enthusiasm to volunteer work.  Her professional life began in Manhattan at Good Housekeeping after college, and culminated at Burlington Industries where she directed communications, marketing, public relations and styling as a VP of Creative Services.  Changing careers to no longer be a “NYC commuter mom,” she joined the United Way of Greater Bridgeport for its new community coalition, RYASAP, and contributed to its dynamic growth as Director of Communications, from which she retired in 2005.   

In addition to the League,  she also serves on the boards and is responsible for PR for Connecticut Alliance for Music and Chamber Music Central, both organizations dedicated to one of her passions—chamber music. 

Judy Dolphin serves as co-president of the LWV Southeastern CT, where she has been a member since 2007.  Her first League was in Orono, Maine, where she became involved in the Observer Corps.  She served in many roles in Ames Iowa LWV, including program vice president and president.  She participated in numerous local studies and served on the Iowa LWV state board as chair of the school finance study.  The Ames League honored her with the Carrie Chapman Catt Award for her service.  She served seven years on the Ames School Board.  Her careers include elementary school teacher, county social work coordinator and a 20-year executive director of the Iowa State University YWCA.  

Judy is a graduate of West Chester State University (PA) and did graduate work at Ohio State University.  Judy lives in Gales Ferry.

Christine Lodewick became a member of the League of Women Voters when she and her family moved to Ridgefield, Connecticut, in 1978.  The organization quickly became an important part of her life and she has held many offices on the local LWV Board, including serving as president for six terms.  She was a member of the LWVCT Board of Directors during the eighties and nineties, serving as VP of Program, Development, and Membership, and has continued to work off-board on various committees since then.

Christine’s professional career included work as a Speech Pathologist in the public schools, public health, and academia in California, Illinois, New York, and Connecticut.  As a “professional volunteer,” she has served on the boards of numerous community and state organizations including A Better Chance in Ridgefield — a local branch of a national minority education program — since 1987.  Recently Christine has joined the Board of the Connecticut Fund for the Environment.

After receiving a BS in Education and Speech Pathology from the University of Wisconsin and an MA from the University of Connecticut,. Christine is actively involved in both universities.  She serves on academic boards that emphasize education and women’s roles in philanthropy and leadership.  Christine lives in Ridgefield, Connecticut, with her husband, Philip, and has two daughters and three grandchildren.

Jane Eyes is a member of the LWV of Westport, which she joined in 2004.  She has served as their Voter Editor, Co-Chair of Program Advocacy, and co-chair of the Immigration Study and the NPV Compact Study.  Jane has also served as a delegate to the past two LWVUS Conventions.

Jane graduated from Drew University in 1970 and received a Masters Degree in Education from St. Joseph College in 1989.  She taught and was a curriculum specialist in West Hartford schools for ten years.  In addition to LWV activities, Jane is a fiber artist and volunteers tutoring undereducated women at the Mercy Learning Center in Bridgeport.

Kath Burgweger has been a member of the League of Women Voters of Greenwich since 1989.  She was a board member of her league from 1990-2008, serving as Assistant Treasurer, Treasurer and VP for Voter Service.  She has served as Budget Committee Chair for the LWVCT for many years.

In addition to her League service, she has served on numerous community nonprofit boards, most recently as the president of Greenwich Adult Day Care.  She has served on boards of Community Answers, Junior League, Greenwich Newcomers and the elementary, middle and high school PTAs.  She has also served on the allocations committee of the Greenwich United Way.  Kath was one of the recipients of 2001 YWCA Spirit of Greenwich Awards.  She has a BA in Fine Arts from UC Irvine.  A native Californian, Kath and her husband, Kip, moved from Los Angeles to Cos Cob in 1985.  They have 3 grown children.

Catharine Sturgess is a third generation Leaguer. Family legend is that her paternal grandmother chained herself to a Chicago courthouse during the suffrage movement. Catharine joined the League in New Canaan, CT in the early 1990s and has been immersed ever since. On the local level, Catharine served in several capacities – membership, voters service and President. She first joined the state Board in 1997 at which point she was active in PR, HR, voter service and development. Today, she is serving as Chair of the State Board Nominating Committee. In her professional life, Catharine was an equity research analyst for Donaldson, Lufkin and Jennrette and Mutual of New York and more recently, served as the Executive Director of the New Canaan Nature Center. 

Passionate about the environment and conservation, Catharine has promoted this discipline within the New Canaan Garden Club. She is especially proud of the prestigious Marion Thompson Fuller Brown Award from the Garden Club of America for her club's 2008 Flower Show exhibit, Exploring Solutions for Sustainable Gardening. Catharine received her BA in Psychology from Vassar College. Married, she has two grown children and in addition to volunteering, enjoys gardening, cooking, reading and travel.

Naomi is currently the LWVCT’s Director of Social Policy and is the President of the League of Women Voters of Greenwich.

Naomi has been a member of the LWV of Greenwich since 1981, but did not become active until after retirement in 2001.  She served as VP for Advocacy of the LWVG from 2002-2005 and was a member of the Public Health Care Committee and the Board of Estimate (BET) Study Committee.  Community involvement presently includes the Planning Council of the United Way of Greenwich.

After graduating from Barnard College, Naomi worked for the American Ambassador to Israel.  When she returned to the US, she worked briefly for the Council on Foreign Relations and the United Nations Association.  She then changed career direction and completed an MA in Speech-Language Pathology at Teachers College and worked in hospital and university settings before earning a Ph.D. from Columbia University.  She holds Professor Emerita Status from Montclair State University, where she was a professor for 25 years.  In addition to her teaching, scholarly and committee activities, she was Program Director and Advisor for the graduate program in Speech-Language Pathology.

Since returning to her home state of Connecticut in 2005, Alison has served as the Co-President of the League of Women Voters of Westport and as Co-Vice President for Program & Advocacy, and currently is Past President. She participated in the Immigration Study and the NPV Compact Study as well as a local town government study, and has collaborated with local environmental groups.  Previously, Alison served on local League boards in Chappaqua and Mamaroneck, NY.

Alison’s professional experience includes over 20 years as an attorney in New York City.  In the non-profit sector, she worked as an in-house counsel at LISC, a national community development finance intermediary, and at The Ford Foundation. She has a law degree from UC Berkeley and an A.B. from Mount Holyoke College.  In 2000, Alison obtained an MS in Social Work from Columbia University and then worked as a program director and as a clinical social worker.  Her community volunteer experience has included tutoring women in English language skills for Mercy Learning Center, the WIN mentoring program for women, church mission/outreach boards and a nursery school board, the New Castle town housing advisory committee and the supportive housing organization A-HOME.

The mother of three young adults scattered around the country, Alison is an avid outdoor enthusiast.

Karen is a resident of Monroe, CT, and a member of the LWV of the Bridgeport Area.  Between 1995-2001 she served as First Selectman of the Town of Monroe; before that she was on the Monroe Town Council (1981-1987) and Monroe Board of Finance (1987-1991).

Her volunteer activities include: former president LWV of Monroe; former LWVCT Vice President for Citizen Information; current member of State of Connecticut Transportation Strategy Board; Co-Chair, Coastal Corridor Transportation Investment Area; and former member, Board of Directors of RYSAP.  She currently serves as Coordinator, Transit for Connecticut, Connecticut Fund for the Environment, and member the Monroe Conservation Commission.

She earned her B.A. in Political Science at the University of Michigan, and her MS in Library Science at Wayne State University.  She is married to Robert F. Burnaska; they have four children.

Elona Vaisnys is a member of the Hamden-North Haven League.  She worked for 22 years as the editor for the departments of engineering at Yale University.  Elona served on President Carter’s Commission on Foreign Language and International Studies and has worked in the Governor’s Office of Policy and Management in Hartford.  She wrote a column for the New Haven Register on civic participation, produced a monthly show on health/medicine on WELI, was a consultant to the Hospital of Saint Raphael “Better Health” program on CPTV, and visited Lithuania for the LWVUS Global Democracy Program.  She is an LWVUS Ruth S. Shur Fellow/National Coach.

Elona holds a Ph.D. from Yale, has two adult children, and lives with her husband in North Haven.

Mary Oster has been a member of the LWV of Norwalk since first moving to the Northeast in 1991.  She received her BS in Elementary Education at Western Michigan University in Kalamazoo and her MAT at Sacred Heart University in Fairfield, CT.   She has been the voter service chair for the LWVN and prior to that served two terms as president of the Norwalk League.  She is currently a member of the steering committee.

Mary is the Early Childhood Coordinator for the City of Norwalk and is an active board member of the Norwalk Early Childhood Council.  She also serves on the board of the Norwalk River Rowing Association and is a rower and the mother of a rower.  Mary is the proud mom of Sam, who is headed to Syracuse University School of Engineering this fall.

Gretchen Swibold has been an intermittently active League member in Canton since the 1970’s, serving there as voter service chair, treasurer, fundraiser, bulletin co-chair, vice president and president.  She was on the state board from 1997 to 2000 when she concentrated on membership activities, including the Acting Locally column and a revision of the membership manual.  She has a political science degree from Bryn Mawr and a degree in library science from Southern Connecticut.  She was librarian at Yale Political Science Research Library and then in the Canton public schools.  Over the years she has served on the boards of the Yale Art Gallery Women’s Committee, the Creative Arts Workshop, Canton Creative Arts Council, and Canton Democratic Town Committee and been active in the Bryn Mawr College Alumnae Association.

Having spent the first 13 years of life after college in Canada, Lucy sought out the LWV when the family moved to Wenham, MA, in an effort to relearn American politics.  When the family moved to Weston in 1981, she continued with the Weston League.  Starting with hospitality, Lucy moved through League responsibilities to president and co-president.  Today she is serves on the LWV Weston Steering Committee as membership and voter service director.

Upon graduation from St. Lawrence University, Lucy tried her hand at bacteriology research at Up State Medical Center.  Married life took her first to Nova Scotia and Dalhousie University and to Ontario and University of Toronto in pursuit of a Canadian teaching certificate, which she took to British Columbia, teaching in Vancouver public schools.  Raising children brought the PTO, sports coach, cub scout/brownie period with the usual jobs and responsibilities.

Now retired, Lucy enjoys traveling with her husband Reg, watching grandchildren grow, and summering in the Adirondacks.

Born in Prague, Czech Republic, Jara came to the Unites States via France and Canada.  She attended Czech and French schools, receiving a Baccalaureate in Modern Languages and Philosophy from the College de Nice, France; she received a Certificate from the Harvard Radcliffe Graduate Program in Business Administration in Cambridge MA.  Other studies included participation in Masters Programs in Juvenile Justice and Government Administration at the University of New Haven.

Jara became US citizen and League member in 1964 and has worked as community volunteer since then.  She has served in various capacities on state and local League boards: most recently as Voters Services Vice President and prior to that as Membership Director, and President 1980-82.  She was elected to the LWVCT board in 1982 and served in numerous capacities including Vice President/Public Issues and Director for Voter Service.  She served as President of the League of Women Voters of Connecticut from 2005 to June 2010.  Her other community activities include current membership on the board of directors of Greenwich Adult Day Care.  She has also served two terms on the Greenwich RTM and five terms on the Greenwich Board of Estimate and Taxation.

Carole Mulready is chairperson of the League of Women Voters of Greater Hartford.  She is coordinator of Voter Service activities (2008-2011).  She was coordinator of the Quality and Diversity Programs at the Capitol Region Education Council before her retirement.  Currently she teaches writing to adults preparing for college or trying to improve their English for job advancement at a center in Hartford.  She has served on the West Hartford Board of Education and the West Hartford Town Council.

A League member since 1974, Enid was elected for 25 years to various elected town Boards in Darien: Board of Education, Board of Finance, and Board of Selectmen. In 1999 she was invited to join the State Board as Membership Director and served in that capacity from 1990 through 1995. In 1995 she became V.P. of Communications. She was elected President of LWVCT in 2000 and served until 2005. She is currently a Board member of the Darien League and served as their President in 2005-06.

Long a hoarder, she has put those talents to work to save as much relevant League material as possible. Technology has made the job of archivist much easier.

Tina Lindstedt – LWV Greenwich –Currently Budget Committee Chair and member of League Review Committee.   Community volunteer – Children’s Day School, Junior League of Greenwich and United Way of Greenwich, CT.  Professionally Director at US Trust, Bank of America as a Residential Real Estate Specialist.  Tina resides in Old Greenwich, Connecticut. 

Helen has held a number of LWVCT positions, including By-laws Co-Chair, 2009 to date; LWVCT nominee to State Ethics Commission, 2004-05; Off-Board Specialist in Representative Democracy and Open Government, 1986-2004; and Parliamentarian at multiple LWVCT conventions.  For the LWV of the New Britain Area, she has served as- President or Co-Pres., 1995-97; 2003 to date; member of the Board of Directors since 1993; and the LWVNBA Nominee to the Board of Directors, Human Resources Agency (local CAP Agency); and secretary.

In addition, Helen has been on the Central Conn. Regional Planning Agency, representing City of New Britain for approx 28 years; the Connecticut Permanent Commission On Status Of Women, 1975-81, Vice Chair, 1980-81; considered a “founding Mother;” the State chair of a bi-partisan, statewide political committee campaigning successfully for passage of state constitutional amendment prohibiting discrimination on account of sex; the New Britain Board Of Finance & Taxation, 1973-77; and the local branch of the AAUW: Pres., 1970-72; State Bd, 1970-74.

She is a  Phi Beta Kappa Graduate of Vassar College; and the Univ. Of Conn. School Of Law, and is an attorney in the private practice of law, 1978 to date.

Jean Rabinow is a member of the Steering Committee of the League of Women Voters of the Bridgeport Area, and has previously served as their membership chair, Secretary, Vice-President, and President.  She is the Administrator for the LWVCT and LWVCT Education Fund, has served as an election moderator in Trumbull for more than 12 years, and is an attorney in private practice with the firm of McMillan & Rabinow in Trumbull.  As a volunteer, she serves on the board of the Friends of the Trumbull Library, and is a member and former Managing Director of the Trumbull Historical Society.  She has been certified by Special Olympics Connecticut as a bowling coach, and coaches the Trumbull Special Olympics bowling and swimming teams.  She was born in Washington, DC, raised in Maryland, graduated from Knox College in Illinois and from Yale Law School, and has lived in Trumbull for the last 32 years.