Expanding our League’s outreach to strengthen local democracy through education and increased citizen participation was the emphasis during this year’s meeting.
As usual, the meeting was well-organized, attractively decorated, and the potluck food contributions were delicious! Forty people were in attendance, 38 of whom were voting members, and exactly what we needed for a quorum.
Board Member Elections
You’ll probably recognize many of the elected leaders to the Board. An important change is the ‘farewell’ to Komal Hak and welcome to Christine Golden as Co-Director of Communications. Notice the vacancy for the Advocacy Position; let us know of any candidates you think would be perfect!
| Name | Position |
|---|---|
| Michelle Famula | President |
| Stephanie DeGraff-Hunt | Vice-President |
| Lorna Carriveau | Secretary |
| Carla Cox | Treasurer |
| Jessica Smith, Christine Golden | Communications |
| Kathleen Stack | Membership |
| Faye Smith-Gee | Events |
| Judy Higgerson | Voter Services |
| Advocacy / Position Studies | [vacancy] |
Awards
Grace Hefner Award – Carla Cox
The Woodland League established the Grace Hefner award as an opportunity to recognize a member each year who best exhibits commitment, dedication, and involvement in the League. The individual must also have been a League member for at least five years. This year’s recipient is League Treasurer Carla Cox.
Many words describe Carla – bright, diligent, generous, thoughtful – but my personal favorite is “indefatigable.”
In the over five years that Carla has been a League member and served on the Woodland and now Yolo County board of directors, she has touched every function and activity.
While serving as Treasurer, which involved updating the Woodland League’s finances and standings with the Secretary of State and IRS, as well as incorporating the Davis Area League’s finances within the new Yolo County League, she has also coordinated candidate forums, the Woodland League’s website, and membership tracking.
She has worked on many events, including Yolo County’s annual Youth Engagement Summit, civic engagement presentations, and member mixers. More recently, Carla has provided invaluable suggestions for our new website and League storage as well as researched the prospect of our League moving to full 501(c)3 status.
Komal Hak, Co-Director of Communications
Judy Higgerson (right) and Michelle Famula (left), current LWVYC Board members and former LWVDA Board members, recognized retiring LWVYC Board member, Komal Hak (center).
Komal, who has served from 2019-2025 as Director and co-Director of Communications, began her work with the League under the mentorship of Donna Lott, a longtime Davis resident and former Davis League President.
In 2019, Komal created the restructured Davis League website and led outreach efforts for forums and ballot education efforts.
From 2023-25, she provided critical leadership to the board by guiding the technical communications needed to create and promote the new Yolo County League through a local league merger.
Thank you, Komal!
Board Acknowledgements
We wish to acknowledge two members of the League board of directors who are stepping back from the board, but will still be contributing to our efforts. These gifts are a small acknowledgement of their hard work this past year.
Janet Ruggiero
Working closely with members of the Health Committee, Janet Ruggiero (center) has overseen the League’s study on how mental health is supported in Yolo County. This study began in 2022, arising out of members’ concerns following the COVID-19 crisis.
Janet has been a League member for over 50 years, serving in many roles, including president, and conducting the Woodland League’s earlier Housing study. As Janet steps back from her current position as Studies and Positions Director, we look forward to her continuing to help with future studies.
Judy Wholfrom
Over the past several years, Judy Wohlfrom (left) has served as vice president of the Woodland League, which included membership outreach, and as Events Director. As the Events Director, Judy has had her hand in virtually all of the Woodland League’s activities, typically coordinating logistics for tabling, members’ meetings, and special events like the State of the Community and Democracy Works award ceremony.
Judy’s cart, filled with flyers, posters, handouts, swag, and banners, has seen lots of mileage. We appreciate Judy’s willingness to continue to support our work as a member of the Nominations Committee.
Finally, having served for one year as Secretary for our League and many years as a member of the Amherst, Massachusetts, League of Women Voters, I am pleased to both thank Janice Ratner (right) for her recent work and to give her this small gift, commemorating the League of Women Voter’s 100 years of defending democracy.
Programs 2025/26
After polling and requesting input from the local league members, the Board summarized the programs we’ll be working on this year. Each of these programs can be accomplished in so many ways, and some of the meeting time was used to brainstorm activities for each. Keep coming back or sign up for our newsletter to see what’s happening next.
Promoting Democracy
- Expand outreach and collaboration to all Yolo County cities, rural communities and community groups serving under-represented/served groups and increase membership countywide.
- Increase voter registration and civic engagement in high schools and colleges countywide.
- Act locally to protect voter rights and election integrity.
Educating on Local Issues
- Review existing LWVYC positions (e.g. climate, housing, water) for relevance and referral to appropriate committee to determine if the position should be renewed by the membership for further study. If position is too outdated, seek approval or deletion of (“retire”) position or propose a study to update the position(s) at the 2026 annual member meeting.
- Advocate for MH study position proposal as approved by membership.
Position on Mental Heath
After two years of research and study, followed by extensive input from our membership, the Mental Health Study Committee, led in large part by Janet Ruggiero, prepared the following Position for our League to take when advocating locally.
Position Statement: The LWV of Yolo County supports Mental Health/ Behavioral Health programs with a focus on visible and accurate consumer information, timely access to care, and data to support the effectiveness of programs provided.
Objectives can be summarized into the following groups.
- Communications
- Access
- Crises Services
- Effectiveness
Press Releases
Yolo League of Women Voters prioritizing 211 funding 
Daily Democrat Article – Subscriber Only
Original Announcement
Don’t miss our final members meeting of this year, where we set the stage for the coming 2025-2026 fiscal year!
Saturday, June 21, 2025
11:00AM – 1:30PM
Davis Veterans Memorial Center
203 East 14th Street
Davis, CA 95616
The Annual meeting is a potluck brunch and member mixer.
Program will include:
- Board Elections
- Program Planning for 2025-26
- County Mental Health Position Adoption
- Approval of amended Bylaws per LWVUS membership change requirements
- Budget Approval for 2025-26 year
The annual meeting is also your chance to learn more about service and advocacy opportunities available to all members in the 2025-26 year.
Come meet the new leadership and hear about our plans for programming and outreach for our countywide league.