Nomination Information

Nominated by: Paul Bancroft – Executive Director, Sierra Community House

Please summarize the reasons you are submitting this nomination
I am confident that Elizabeth would be an effective, action-oriented board member.  She has vast experience in work for equity and social justice in her communities.  She is a vocal advocate for those most impacted by structures and systems that deny people the right to live free and dignified lives.

She is respectful, responsible and reliable.  As a former member of the Partnership board, I think she would be incredible addition to an already powerful group of people.

Her lived experience within an immigrant community and her extensive community-level legal work affords her a unique perspective as it relates to those experiencing DV/IPV.

Elizabeth represents an organization that was born from the desire to provide a more comprehensive holistic approach to servicing community.  Her legal program is integrated with the Crisis Intervention and Prevention program and works in concert with our Family Strengthening and Hunger Relief program.  She sees individuals as whole people with unique experiences.

Describe this nominee’s participation in the Partnership’s regional networks, policy committees, peer learning circles and other components of our Membership community
Elizabeth’s participation in CPEDV is limited.   She served as the Director of Mediation and Legal program for over a decade at the Family Resource Center in Truckee (FRCoT).  Then in July of 2019, the FRCoT joined forces with Tahoe SAFE Alliance, Project MANA (Hunger Relief) and the North Tahoe Family Resource Center to create Sierra Community House. As a result, the legal program integrated under Elizabeth.  She now supervises the Domestic Violence Legal Advocate and and DOJ Certified immigration specialist who focuses on UVisa/VAWA work.  Due to Elizabeth’s many years working in the Family Resource Center movement, she brings a unique perspective to DV work.  She is steeped in the Protective Factors and applies that to Trauma Informed survivor-centered work.

Tell us about the nominee’s professional skills in finance, fundraising, government affairs, human resources management, marketing and public relations
While I cannot speak to Elizabeth’s fundraising experience, I know that she is passionate about her work and is a story teller. What more do you need?  She currently manages several legal grants including a CalOES “XL” legal grant. She spent nearly a year as the Interim Executive Director of the FRCoT, fulfilling all of the roles required by an Executive Director. She is considered by the community as an expert on Immigration-related law as well as Landlord/Tenant issues, particularly as they relate to the Covid-related eviction moratorium.  The Town Council seeks her guidance and frequently she is quoted in local media.

How does this nominee represent California’s rich diversity? How might this person bring underrepresented voices into the center of our work?
Elizabeth comes from an immigrant/refugee community. Her community is one of the most disadvantaged when accessing culturally relevant services due to cultural/linguistic barriers (Eastern European/Russian).

Elizabeth has dedicated her career to creating free legal access to folks excluded from white supremacist, oppressive systems that are meant to facilitate and maintain the dominant power structure.  She strives to connect victims and survivors to paths to healing while advocating for systems change and equity both internally and externally.

Candidate Responses

On a scale from 1 to 10 (1=low, 10=high), how informed are you about the Partnership’s mission and strategies?
8

Please summarize the Partnership’s priorities as you understand them.
Colleagues that I respect have shared with me their enthusiasm for the Partnership and its priorities. After many years promoting legal aid, including Survivor, Family, Tenant, Worker, and Immigrant rights, I am excited that the Partnership addressing the criminal legal system, housing and immigration among its Policy Priorities.  As a senior member of an organization which includes prevention and intervention services, the Partnership’s mission of “shaping public policy, increasing community awareness, and strengthening our members’ capacity to work toward our common goal of advancing the safety and healing of victims, survivors and their families” also resonates with me and coincides with the fundamental priorities of my work. It is important to me that the Partnership is doing this essential work through an expanding lens of racial justice.  At a higher level, I understand the Partnership’s priorities to be connecting their members, building capacity and partnerships between members, and building equity in domestic violence services throughout the state. The role of a Coalition is to vocalize member voices, and the Partnership accomplishes this by recognizing the important role all staff members hold at organizations. This includes advocates and front-line staff delivering services. I admire and wish to contribute to these priorities.

Describe your leadership experience in business, philanthropy, legal, government and nonprofit sectors.
Sierra Community House is the result of a 2019 consolidation of four human services organizations in our region (the Family Resource Center of Truckee, the North Tahoe Family Resource Center, Project MANA, and Tahoe SAFE Alliance). Prior to consolidation, I worked at the Family Resource Center of Truckee, where I was the founder of the legal program. I have had the opportunity to both grow the legal program, as well as help lead the evolution of the organization, both at the Family Resource Center of Truckee and now Sierra Community House.   I spearheaded (with a very supportive coalition) the expansion of legal services and access to justice in our region from a very small service area to one of four components of the mission of Sierra Community House.  As Interim Executive Director of the former Family Resource Center of Truckee, I helped lead the integration of the four essential service providers in the region into one collaborative organization.  After the consolidation, I focused on integrating the crisis legal services and general mediation and legal assistance services, as well as the two sets of immigration law services.  Additionally, Non-Violent Communication (NVC) is at the center of my mediation and conflict resolution work, and I am on Nevada County Conflict Resolution Center faculty for its annual Court mediation training, and am frequently asked to present on NVC to partners and staff.

Board members help to foster a positive image of the Partnership. Describe relationships you have with business leaders, policy-makers, media outlets, philanthropists and the broader community. Tell us how you intend to cultivate those relationships on behalf of the Partnership.
Like many in the social services sector, I thrive in building relationships. I prioritize positive, mutual, and transparent connections.  In my 14 years as leader and provider in the Tahoe/Truckee region, I have cultivated relationships with colleagues, partners, donors, funders, media, champions, and community members (including clients) in the region.  Many of these relationships are going on 14 years. I have had opportunities to speak to broader community at demonstrations, to community members facing housing and immigration issues at public workshops, and to individuals in crisis on their path to justice and healing.  I participate extensively with the Community Collaborative of Tahoe Truckee, as a presenter on immigration and housing issues, as a member of its Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Committee, which includes leaders from local government and non-profit partners, and as a participant in the On the Verge leadership development year long program for local leaders.  Through all these experiences, I see the yearning for contribution to change, even more so now in this moment of collective reckoning, and am eager for an opportunity to help connect the relationships and my communities to a broader movement.

Like other nonprofits, Partnership Board members are expected to raise funds on behalf of the organization. What will you do to help us meet our annual fundraising goal?
I am able to share my skills and connections to help the Partnership meet it fundraising goals. I will be particularly pleased to participate in events outside my region, and connect with the broader statewide movement. One of my strengths is respectful persistence and fearlessness when discussing the needs of our community. I utilize this at a local level when advocating for funding and look forward to expanding this to a statewide level.  I find myself building relationships with ease, and as I grow my relationships, I will maintain a lens of fundraising to support the Partnership with the annual fundraising goal.

Return to Voter Guide