Our Board of Directors

Diane McNutt is a native of San Jose with a B.A. in Journalism and M.S. in Mass Communications from San José State University. She owned her own PR/marketing communications business and worked on several community celebration milestone events in San Jose including the openings of the Convention Center, Dr . Martin Luther King, Jr. Library and Guadalupe River Park. She founded and served as Faculty Director of the SJSU Certificate in Marketing Communications program. Diane also has experience as an elected official, serving on the Los Gatos Town Council for 12 years including two stints as Mayor. She joined the League in 2018 and became Communications Director in 2020. She has served as President of the League since 2021.

Tom joined the League in early 2023 after getting to know LWV members around the state through his
involvement in the ranked choice voting (RCV) reform movement. He works on Pros & Cons and really enjoys the voter education aspect of the League's work. He's a father of an 11-year-old and a toddler but makes time to volunteer to make elections better because he believes systemic change at all levels of government is the durable way to improve our politics. He co-founded the California RCV Coalition in 2021 and is active in the effort to expand RCV and Proportional RCV around the state.

Carol joined the League in about 1994 after retiring from IBM while living in Los Altos. She served on the board of LWV Los Altos/Mountain View for several years including two years as president. She worked on the first or very early editions of several League web sites: local, state, SmartVoter, and League Easy Web. Moving to San Jose in 2004, she joined our League. She was honored to serve as president from 2019-2022 and enjoys working with such a talented and dedicated board and active members. Currently she is co-chair of the Membership Committee and chair of the Leagues of Women Voters of Santa Clara County.

Danette is a lifelong resident of East San Jose and a committed community volunteer with Latinas
Contra Cancer and the Farmworkers Caravan Program that each month delivers supplies and food
to farmworkers in Santa Clara and San Benito counties and the Monterey/Salinas area. Professionally, she has more than 20 years of experience as an event planner for large and medium size organizations and is in the process of launching her own enterprise focused on home furnishings and one-of-a-kind home accessories. She joined the League in 2023 and has been an active member of the Membership Committee.

Elizabeth is an active community leader in the San Jose downtown area. She was the immediate past
President of the San Jose Downtown Residents Association, and a second-term Board member of the
business-oriented San Jose Downtown Association. Elizabeth discovered the League during her community projects, and she has found the League to be a trusted organization when it comes to political issues at levels from local to national. A lawyer by training, Elizabeth hopes to contribute to the League through the legal skills she developed at work and continues to voice her concerns for community developments.

Roma is chair of the Housing/Homeless Committee and is the past president and current co-president of the LWV Bay Area which includes all Leagues within the nine Bay Area counties. Her portfolio is social policy. In 2020 she joined the LWVC Housing and Homelessness Committee as a legislative analyst. In the community, Roma is a former vice chair of the City of San José Housing and Community Development Commission and was re-appointed for a second term. She previously served two terms on the San Jose Arts Commission. Roma has an extensive background as a policy analyst and chief of staff for several City of San José officials and for Congresswoman Zoe Lofgren. She also has held marketing positions with the San Jose Downtown Association and San Jose Conventions and Visitors Bureau.

Michelle grew up and attended school in the Bay Area, earning her B.A. in Political Science with a minor in English from U.C. Berkeley. Shortly after graduating college, she moved to San Jose where she now resides. After working on a voter registration project, various elections, and the BART to San Jose Project, she eventually dedicated her career to public service at the Santa Clara County Probation Department, serving s a Deputy Probation Officer and later a Supervising Probation Officer in various assignments in both the adult and juvenile divisions. Juvenile justice was the primary focus of her career and where her heart is. After retiring in 2022, Michelle was excited to return to her first passion of voter registration and education. Aware of the League of Women Voters, its reputation and commitment to an informed electorate, Michelle sought to join the League. She is currently co-chair of the Voter Services Committee and thus far has served in the areas of voter education, voter registration and candidate forums. Michelle believes the League's dedication to an informed, engaged electorate and public policy advocacy are more important than they have ever been, and she is proud to be a part of this work.

Leslie joined LWVSJ/SC more than 10 years ago as a result of an invitation by a long-time League member. She soon joined the Climate Change/Natural Resources Committee, later serving as its secretary and then served as the Board Secretary for several years. Her primary interest on the Climate Change Committee has been studying and reporting on the implications of sea rise to our local area. She retired from the City of San José and with her husband of 50+ years is enjoying their five (soon to be six) grandchildren, outdoor and community activities, and keeping up with local and national current events.

Elizabeth is a native of San Jose and received her B.A in Sociology with a concentration in Community Change and a double minor in Chicano/a Studies and Child & Adolescent Development from San José State University. She is a community organizer in East San Jose and in her free time enjoys participating in development programs and community events. Elizabeth joined the League of Women Voters in summer 2024 and was involved in the Pros & Cons team during the 2024 General Election.

Sandy has been a League member since 2002, holding positions of Co-president, Voter Service chair and Vice President. Sandy has been the co-chair of the state convention and secretary/treasurer of the League County Council. Her current main interests are organizing candidate forums and promoting voter registration.

After training as a particle physicist at Stanford Linear Accelerator Center (SLAC), Tom worked for 20 years in the tech industry.  When he retired in 2017, he decided to focus his volunteer activity on civic engagement and oversight.  Tom served on the Civil Grand Jury in 2021 and has served on the San Jose Board of Fair Campaign and Political Practices since 2022.  The LWV seemed like a logical next step in 2023 and he is currently seeking how best to apply his experience here.  Tom has been active on the Action Committee and helped with the Federal Judiciary Study and with legislative interviews. He is also trying to help the LWVC ith analysis of legislation.

Julie is chair of the Action Committee. Now retired, she worked in aerospace for the federal government, spending 25 years at the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). As an engineer at NASA, he had a varied career that Included technical program/project management while working locally at Ames Research Center, then on the policy and planning side while at Headquarters in Washington, DC. She was he lead of strategic planning and performance management, was a member of the NASA Administrator’s Strategy Team recommending future directions, and had a stint as the Deputy Budget Director, developing the budget request to the US Congress. Prior to moving to NASA-HQ, Julie spent a year working as U.S. congressional staff in an Ohio office writing law on military aerospace and defense, specifically to govern decision-making at the Air Force on science and technology investments. Julie also was the American Reinvestment and Recovery Act Implementation Executive responsible for the successful implementation of this Presidential priority at NASA. She formulated the objectives and priorities for NASA’s implementation, and assured compliance with the Recovery Act, at all 10 NASA centers. Upon retirement, she returned to California to lay a foundation for a possible future career in wine making.