Meet The Members

The Committee is composed of a group of experts, stakeholders, and community leaders. Membership is comprised of individuals representing critical constituency groups and communities of interest, including voters with disabilities, language minority groups and ethnic minorities. Also represented are critical stakeholders such as election officials, political parties, and academic institutions/organizations.

Evan Bacalao
Senior Director of Civic Engagement
NALEO Educational Fund

Evan Bacalao is the Senior Director of Civic Engagement at the NALEO Educational Fund, the leading nonprofit organization that facilitates full Latino participation in the American political process, from citizenship to public service. The Civic Engagement program includes all of the organization’s community-focused efforts – including those to inform and mobilize the Latino electorate – and operates out of offices in Houston , Los Angeles , New York , and Orlando . During his tenure, the program has reached almost 500,000 voters, assisted thousands with voting-related questions and issues through its year-round (888) VE-Y-VOTA bilingual voter hotline, and reached many more through national media campaigns. Mr. Bacalao joined NALEO in 2005 as a Research Associate, where he worked on the VRA renewal of 2006 and other issues affecting political participation; and prepared numerous reports and analyses of electoral participation and demographic data. Prior to joining NALEO, Mr. Bacalao spent several years as a fundraiser for a statewide political committee. He is a graduate of the University of Southern California , with degrees in Political Science and Sociology.

Jane Barnett
Chair
Republican Party of Los Angeles County

Ms. Barnett oversees an area with 26 Assembly Districts and dozens of other local offices for the Republican Party of Los Angeles County. The party organizes voter registration, disseminates voter information, and recruits appealing candidates.

Eric Bauman
Chair
Los Angeles County Democratic Party

Eric C. Bauman is the Vice Chair of the California Democratic Party and is also serving his sixth term as Chair of the Los Angeles County Democratic Party, the largest local Democratic Party organization in the nation. Professionally, he is the Senior Advisor to California Assembly Speaker John A. Pérez and the Director of the Speaker’s Office of Member Services – Los Angeles (SOMS-LA). Prior to joining the Speaker’s office, Mr. Bauman held various senior-level positions throughout California government, including serving as Senior Advisor to California Senate Majority Leader Dean Florez, Senior Advisor to Lieutenant Governor John Garamendi, and as Deputy Insurance Commissioner - overseeing the Community Relations Branch of the California Department of Insurance. Prior to joining the Department of Insurance, he was Special Assistant to Governor Gray Davis and Director of the Governor ' s Los Angeles Regional Office. Mr. Bauman is a Registered Nurse with graduate education in Health Care Administration. He is a member of the advisory board of the Medical Reserve Corps of Los Angeles and until recently was on the board of Glendale Memorial Hospital and the Latino Coalition Against AIDS.

Kathay Feng
Executive Director
California Common Cause

Kathay Feng is the Executive Director of California Common Cause.  Under Ms. Feng, California Common Cause has taken a leadership role in election and redistricting reform, government sunshine and accountability laws, campaign finance reform, media access, and championing the voting rights of traditionally disenfranchised communities. Prior to joining Common Cause, Ms. Feng directed the Voting Rights and Hate Crimes at the Asian Pacific American Legal Center (APALC), where she worked in a variety of civil rights areas including voting rights and redistricting, hate crimes, police accountability, and anti-discrimination law. She has served on the California Secretary of State’s Advisory Committee on Help America Vote Act, the California Secretary of State’s Advisory Committee on Voter Participation and Outreach, LA County’s Community Voter Outreach Committee (founder), and the LA County Human Relations Commission. Having graduated from Cornell University , she went on to earn her JD from UCLA School of Law.

Carolyn Fowler
Election Protection Board Co-Chair
Los Angeles County Democratic Party

Ms. Fowler has provided consulting, training, meeting facilitation, focus groups, speaking and organizational development services to nonprofits, corporations and public sector entities. Carolyn credits her accomplishments to the exceptional learning received as a retired AT&T Executive. She is currently the Chief Operating Officer for The Smiley Group, Inc., a communications corporation established in support of human rights and related empowerment issues. Active in the community, Ms. Fowler is Past President of New Frontier Democratic Club, LACDP 51 st Assembly District elected delegate, LACDP Election Protection Board Co-Chair and a founding member of California Election Protection Network. Recently honored by the State Senate as a 2011 Woman of Distinction, Carolyn has served on several boards and received numerous awards and recognition for her contributions by organizations, elected officials, colleagues and her community. She holds a BA in Business Administration from the University of Michigan and has also completed the Wharton Global MBA International Certificate program at Pennsylvania State University.

Ron Hasson
President
Beverly Hills/Hollywood NAACP

Mr. Hasson is President of the Beverly Hills/Hollywood NAACP branch, which has a membership of over 300. He leads a team of volunteers who work many hours on branch committees implementing and designing events which address Youth Development, Education, Veterans, Women of Excellence, and Performing Arts Events. He currently chairs the California State Conference Branch Development which assists California ’s 52 NAACP branches in becoming more effective units. He also serves as Southwest Area Director for the organization. Mr. Hasson continues to consult and speaks in Cultural and Diversity events. He is committed to addressing issues concerning people of color in Southern California and the Hollywood Industry. Ron Hasson is also a retired Human Resource Manager. His employment history included managing Employment, Employee Relations and the company medical employees.

Jaclyn Tilley Hill
Chair Emeritus
Quality and Productivity Commission, County of Los Angeles

Commissioner Hill’s County career began in 1993 as Foreman of the Grand Jury. She was the first woman to Chair the Economy and Efficiency Commission and the Quality and Productivity Commission. She chaired the Countywide Communications Team and Productivity Investment Board. Ms. Hill championed the Commissioner’s Leadership Conference, Plain Language Initiative, and presented “Plain Speak” at the Clarity Conference, Lisbon in 2010. She is a former member of the Whittier Area Literacy Council Advisory Board and former Chair of the Whittier Social Services Commission. She serves on the Board of Governors of Long Beach City College Foundation. Ms. Hill has extensive experience in local elections serving as a voting inspector in Whittier and Long Beach . Commissioner Hill is a successful fundraiser and event organizer. She attended California Western University and University of Southern California.

Mimi Kennedy
Board Chair
Progressive Democrats of America

Ms. Kennedy is Founding National Advisory Board Chair of Progressive Democrats of America. In addition to her role as an activist where has worked on human rights, environmental and labour issues, she is also an actress and author.

June Lagmay
City Clerk
City of Los Angeles

June Lagmay possesses nearly 30 years experience with the City of Los Angeles . For 15 of those years she worked on the staffs of three consecutive L.A. Mayors. She also has legislative expertise having worked in an Assembly office, four years in a Council office and six years in the City Clerk’s Office where she developed her skills in that department’s functions as well as a comprehensive expertise in City policies and procedures. Ms. Lagmay holds a Bachelor’s Degree and two years of graduate studies in Sociology from UCLA. She has completed training in supervision and administrative development. She is currently involved in a City LGBT organization for L.A. City employees. She has a decades long affiliation with City affirmative action efforts, is a long-time member and past president of the L.A. City Employees Asian American Association, and a member of the L.A. Filipino City Employees Association.

Juana Laur
Southern Division Chair
City Clerks Association of California

Ms. Laur is the Deputy City Clerk for the City of Laguna Niguel in Orange County California. She is also Chair of the Southern Division of the City Clerks Association of California, an organization with the objective of promoting the city clerk profession throughout the state of California.

Eugene Lee
Voting Rights Project Director
Asian Pacific American Legal Center

Eugene Lee is the Voting Rights Project Director at the Asian Pacific American Legal Center (APALC) in Los Angeles , a member of Asian American Center for Advancing Justice. Founded in 1983, APALC is the leading organization in Southern California dedicated to providing the growing Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) community with multilingual and culturally sensitive legal services, education and civil rights support. Mr. Lee directs APALC’s work on voter protection, Voting Rights Act compliance and ballot access policy and is currently working to strengthen the voice of AAPI communities during the 2011 redistricting process. He chairs several community advisory bodies of county election offices in Southern California and served on the California Secretary of State’s Help America Vote Act State Plan Advisory Committee. In 2010, he was selected as one of the National Asian Pacific American Bar Association’s Best Lawyers Under 40. Mr. Lee is a graduate of Duke University and Columbia Law School.

Justin Levitt
Associate Professor
Loyola Law School

Justin Levitt, Associate Professor at Loyola Law School , Los Angeles , is a national expert in election law. He has testified before committees of the U.S. Senate and state legislative bodies, and his published and peer-reviewed research has been cited in the media and the courts, including the U.S. Supreme Court. Prof. Levitt has also served several presidential campaigns, including as the National Voter Protection Counsel in 2008, helping to ensure that millions of citizens could vote and have those votes counted. Before joining Loyola, Prof. Levitt was counsel at the Brennan Center for Justice at NYU School of Law and at the country ' s largest independent voter registration and engagement operation, and served as a law clerk to the Honorable Stephen Reinhardt of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. He holds a law degree, a masters degree in public administration, and an undergraduate degree from Harvard University.

Nancy Mahr
President
League of Women Voters of Los Angeles County

 Nancy Mahr earned her BA in Political Science from Occidental College . She received a Teaching Credential in Social Studies and English from CSULA and a Certificate in Corporate Communications from CSULB. Prior to starting a family, Ms. Mahr taught high school, including two years in Kampala , Uganda , East Africa , through a Columbia University program. From 1984 to 1995, she worked in community and governmental relations for the Palos Verdes Peninsula Unified School District and the Palos Verdes Library District. In 1996, she became the Public Information Officer for the County of Los Angeles Public Library . Ms. Mahr retired from the County Library in 2007. Currently, Ms. Mahr is president of both the Palos Verdes and Los Angeles County League of Women Voters. She also serves on the Legislative Committee for AAUW California. She is in her second term as an elected member of the Board of Trustees of the Palos Verdes Library District.

Hillary Sklar
Attorney
Disability Rights California

Hillary Sklar is an Attorney in the Los Angeles Regional Office of Disability Rights California. Her areas of expertise include voting rights and government benefits.  She is the community chair of the Los Angeles County Registrar-Recorder’s Voting Accessibility Advisory Committee (VAAC) and is also a member of the Orange County and San Diego VAACs.  Ms. Sklar is a member of the Los Angeles County Registrar-Recorder’s Community Voter Outreach Committee (CVOC) and serves as the community chair of the CVOC Specialty Outreach subcommittee and is also a member of the CVOC Poll Site Operations and Voter Registration subcommittees.  Ms. Sklar serves as faculty for the Benchmark Institute, a training and development organization for the public interest legal community, and is an Adjunct Professor at Whittier Law School where she teaches Poverty Law.

Bryce Yokomizo
Adjunct Faculty, School of Public Administration
California State University, Northridge

Bryce Yokomizo formerly served as Director of the Los Angeles County Department of Public Social Services, managing public welfare services with a budget of $3 billion, and staff of over 14,000. Bryce Yokomizo also served as Deputy Chief Executive Officer for Los Angeles County , and has served on Governing Boards of numerous management and non-profit human services organizations.

Alternates:

 Judy Alter
Director
Protect California Ballots

Theresa Devoy
City Clerk
City of Norwalk

Maria de la Luz Garcia
Senior Project Coordinator
Office of the City Clerk-Election Division, City of Los Angeles

Rosalind Gold
Senior Director of Policy, Research, and Advocacy
NALEO Educational Fund

Richard Hunter
Member, Legal Committee
Republican Party of Los Angeles County

Clark Lee
Political Director
Los Angeles County Democratic Party

Margo Reeg
1st Vice-President for Voter Service
League of Women Voters of Los Angeles County