President – KANDEA MOSLEY GANDHI

Kandea comes to the Board with a strong background in nonprofit and social enterprise management in the solar, workforce development and education sectors. She has over 15 years of nonprofit and program management experience and has a passion for sustainable community development and community organizing. She received her MBA from the Johnson Graduate School of Management at Cornell University, her BA in African American Studies from UCLA, and has received professional and academic awards for outstanding service and achievement. Kandea deeply believes in the League’s mission to create a more just, equitable society by actively promoting and building democratic participation. In March of 2022, she was recognized by the League of Women Voters of California during women’s history month and by the Black Graduate Student Association at the Johnson Graduate School of Management at Cornell University in 2024. She is also the Treasurer of the League of Women Voters of California. president@lwvbae.org

Secretary – ELISE MILLS

Elise has spent her entire life working in public higher education. Upon completing her B.S. in Business Administration at Indiana University of Pennsylvania she worked as an Accountant at University of Texas Rio Grande Valley and Pan American University. She then moved back to California which she always loved. For more than 25 years at UC Berkeley, she has partnered with faculty investigators while also training and leading other administrators in pre and post research administration. After she joined LWVBAE in early fall 2016 she became active in support of candidate forums and in support of amending Prop 13.  She is also very interested in inequality issues of all kinds- from voting and representation to climate change and protection of our natural resources and health. Secretary@lwvbae.org

Treasurer – CYNTHIA CHEN

Cynthia Chen had been a member of LWV Edina (Minnesota) for over 15 years before moving to Berkeley in 2013. She was an active member of LWVE, serving on the board in various capacities for many years. Cynthia joined LWVBAE shortly after arriving in Berkeley, and was active on the Communications and Voter Services Teams, publicizing LWVBAE events, and assisting in all voter service activities Cynthia  became Treasurer of LWVBAE after serving 2 years as chair of LWV  Alameda County Council, and continues to attend these meetings as LWVBAE’s representative. She has organized the candidate forums for LWVBAE as well as some regional contests for the ACC for the past few election cycles.
treasurer@lwvbae.org

DIRECTORS:

Eric Arens

Climate Change Eric Arens joined the LWVBAE in early 2019 to help on climate action.  Electrification of buildings has been the main focus because of the activity around the City of Berkeley natural gas hook-up ban.  Eric has explained and promoted the use of electricity at fairs and educational events.  He is a physicist and worked at the NASA Goddard Space Flight Center in Maryland and at the University of California at Berkeley.  When the Sierra Club was expanding into a national organization in the 1970s, he became the chairperson of the Chesapeake Bay Group, where pollution from farms and cities is the paramount problem. ericarens@comcast.net

Linda Carothers

Communications Linda Carothers has worked with and for the League for over 20 years. She graduated from the School of Fine Arts at what is now Carnegie Mellon University. Worked in New York City in the Book industry designing books and jackets. Studied television and animation while living in London. Did further studies of animation and graphics at DeAnza College in Cupertino and the College of Arts and Crafts in Oakland. Studied Web Design with the Contra Costa County Regional Occupational Program.  webmanager@lwvbae.org

Sara Fatima Faiyaz

Sara Faiyaz is a senior at UC Berkeley majoring in PoliticalScience and Social Welfare with a minor in Human Rights. She has volunteered for nearly four years with the League of Women Voters of Fremont, Union City, and Newark, where she led biennial high school pre-registration voter drives, helping hundreds of students become registered upon turning 18. In addition to her high school outreach, Sara played a key role in organizing voter registration drives at her community college and helping plan the annual Get Out the Vote rallies. These events brought together local elected officials, community members, and students to promote civic participation.
Now a member of the League of Women Voters of Berkeley, Albany, and Emeryville, Sara has been attending Criminal Justice Team meetings for the past few months as she works to find her footing in the new community. She hopes to expand the League’s outreach by planning voter registration drives at the Juvenile Justice Center and continuing to engage high school students. Drawing from her years of experience and passion for youth civic engagement, she is excited to pass on what she’s learned, foster new relationships, and ensure that every young person knows their voice and their vote matters.

Dr. Sharon Goldfarb

Dr. Sharon Goldfarb brings over 35 years of experience as a nurse practitioner, educator, and healthcare advocate with a deep commitment to serving vulnerable populations. She began her career as clinical director of Harlem’s first HIV clinic and went on to provide care through mobile medical units to the unhoused, mentally ill, and undocumented. In California, she served under-resourced communities through Rotacare, Project Room Key, and VaxForce. As Associate Dean of Nursing at Los Medanos College, she led transformative efforts in nursing student retention and community engagement. A former president of the California Organization of Associate Degree Nursing, she helped pass AB2288 into law and now advises multiple state and national health equity initiatives. Dr. Goldfarb teaches and mentors at the University of San Francisco, where she also serves as a union representative for adjunct faculty. She is a national speaker on
healthcare issues and has developed tools to support nursing education. She is the past director of Healthlmpact’s Patricia Benner Institute and was honored with the Osmosis “Raise the Line” faculty award

Christine Wenrich

Criminal Justice Christine Wenrich has been a member of the local LWV for many years.  She has a BS & MA in Special Education and worked with the SFUSD schools.  After retiring, she began attending LWVBAE meetings to look into educational issues. Soon enough, she took the role of Secretary for three years, followed by Archivist. As archivist, she worked with a group of members to sort report, studies, and interviews to send to Bancroft Library for public access. When a Criminal Justice position was adopted at a LWVC Convention, she became the Chair of LWVBAE’s Criminal Justice Team. The team has been observing Berkeley’s Police Accountability Board and City Council plus Albany’s Policing Commission. archivist@lwvbae.org

Rashida Hanif

Member Recruitment/Special Events Rashida is the founder and CEO of RepresentEd and has an extensive experience in the corporate sector. At RepresentEd, Rashida leverages her business background to form a unique approach to instructing students by applying academic curriculum to real-world scenarios using design methodology. 
Her passion for inspiring young adults to reach for their dreams has led her to serve as a facilitator, instructor and mentor in both academia and impact focused organizations. Rashida received her BA from University of California, Berkeley. rashida@lwvbae.org

NOMINEES APPOINTED DIRECTORS:

Eva Levenson

Eva Levenson will be a senior at Berkeley high school in the fall of 2025. She joined the Leaque as an action intern in 2024 and continued her involvement by becoming a DEl intern for the spring semester. She hosted the first student led school board candidate forum and led registration efforts following the implementation of Vote 16. Eva is passionate about solving the inequities in her school system and has advocated for change by speaking up at school board meetings, writing articles for the school newspaper and creating presentations to herpeers. Eva also enjoys playing the sport Ultimate Frisbee and her teamHappy Cows won third place in a national tournament.

Sophie Pomfret

Sophie is an incoming senior at Berkeley High School. In the fall of 2024, she served as the Diversity, Equity and Inclusion intern working closely with members of the League, gaining valuable insight along the way. She wrote articles on Albany’s Racial Inclusivity and Social Equity
commission meetings and an article for Hispanic Heritage month, covering a SFMoma exhibit featuring Frida Kahlo and Diego Rivera’spaintings. Through writing articles and tabling at in-person events, this internship deepened Sophie’s appreciation for the diversity in this world.

Want to send a message to the President and the whole Board? Email 2024board@lwvbae.org