Meet the LWVCC Board |
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2020-2021 Board
Trisha Crowley, President
Trisha Crowley has been a member of the League since the 1980’s. She has previously served in many positions for this League , including previous terms as President. Trisha was Deputy City Attorney for the City of Champaign since 1991 and prior to that was a Champaign County Assistant State’s Attorney. She is currently on the Champaign Public Library Board.
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Barbara Jones, Vice President
Barbara Jones is the Vice President of the local chapter. She is currently a trustee for the Urbana Free Library Board, and a member of the Urbana Rotary Peacebuilding Committee. She spent 40 years of her career as a librarian, specializing in the freedom to read, civic engagement, and advocacy. Her last position was Executive Director of the Freedom to Read Foundation, and the Head of the Office for Intellectual Freedom at American Library Association. When not working on the above issues, she can be found with her knitting pals or reading for one of her book groups.
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Deb Busey, Treasurer
Deb Busey joined the LWVCC in 2016. Deb enjoyed a long career in county government - 20 years in the State's Attorney's Office followed by 20 years in Administration where she served as County Administrator from 1998 until her retirement in 2016. She is a past president of the Junior League of Champaign-Urbana, has served on the Champaign Public Library Board, the Champaign County Nursing Home Board, and the Stewardship Council of St. Matthew’s Catholic Church. In addition to working with the League of Women Voters Champaign County as Treasurer, she is also currently serving on the U-I Friends of English Board.
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Lynda Minor, Secretary
Lynda Minor, in her first term, serves as Secretary of the board. Lynda currently serves as pharmacist at McKinley Health Center on the University of Illinois Campus. In addition to her professional focus on community health, she has served as a volunteer in the Champaign-Urbana community in various capacities primarily focused on education and as an advocate for trauma informed practices to address the diverse social and emotional needs across our community.
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Carol Bosley, Director
Carol Bosley joined the League in 2019. Prior to retirement, she worked for 32 years at the University of Illinois in Student Affairs administration. She has had the unique experience of seeing her name on an election ballot – when running for the St. Joseph Library Board (she won). In January 2017 Carol was part of the grassroots effort that organized buses for 225 local women to join a half million fellow marchers at the Women’s March in Washington. She is a co-founder of SJOnward, a non-partisan group providing a forum for political discussion and action and promoting diversity and racial equality in the Saint Joseph community. Since 2018, she and her husband have been residents of Champaign.
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Theresa Michelson, Director
Theresa Michelson joined the League the year she retired from the Urbana School District where she was the librarian at Urbana High School. She served as Membership Manager for a number of years and as vice-president for two years, co-chaired the 2013-15 local study to update the position of the LWVIL on charter schools, and joined the 2014 and 2016 bi-partisan efforts to place a referendum on the Illinois ballot for independent redistricting. With Carol Bosley, she is currently co-chair of Member Services.
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James Manrique, Director
James Manrique has been a League member since 2019. He is focused on voter education & outreach, including development of the League's Candidate Guide. James has been involved in local activism for the past several years, working hard to promote Voter Turnout through his work with the Champaign County Voters Alliance. When James isn't busy motivating voters, he likes to listen to vinyl records and tend to his plants.
Karen Fresco, Director
Karen Fresco joined the chapter in 2017 upon retiring from the University of Illinois, where she was the resident medievalist in the Department of French & Italian, serving a stint as Head. She helped to establish and then directed the Program in Medieval Studies. A focus of her scholarship has been Christine de Pizan, France’s first woman of letters. She serves on the Observer Corps and co-leads the Voter Registration team.
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Elisha Roy, Director
Elisha I. Roy has been a member of the League of Women Voters since 2019. She was first introduced to the mission and outstanding work of the League by her late mother Mrs. Margo I. Swift (Alton Il.) and sister Sonya Johnson of Albany, Georgia. Elisha recently earned an Associate Degree from Parkland Community College and has been a faithful employee for Carle Cancer Center where she serves as an Oncology Service Specialist 2 / Registered Medical Assistant.
Elisha’s lifelong commitment to community service and activism has established a foundation for effectuating positive social change through community organizing and mobilization. Elisha’s community involvement includes serving as a Red Cross Disaster Volunteer, Champaign County Search & Rescue Volunteer, Champaign County Emergency Management Radio Operator, Project Read ESL, & G.E.D Tutor, Society of Hooved Animals Rescue and Emergency Shelter Volunteer, and assisting at local food pantries and soup kitchens. Elisha has been a participant of the National Black Women’s Study since 1995 and a former member of National Organization of Women. A wife, mother of one adult son and a grandmother Elisha enjoys spending time with family. When not visiting with her grandson you will find her either gardening, crocheting, making jewelry, camping, or trying a new recipe. |
Additional Key Roles
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Budget and Fundraising: Deb Busey
Member Services: Theresa Michelson and Carol Bosley Members Database Manager: Kat Bork Volunteers: Elisha Roy and Linda Bair Communications: vacant Observer Corps Manager: Deb Rugg Student Mentor and Liaison: Trisha Crowley Programs: Theresa Michelson and Trisha Crowley Voter Education/Candidate Guide/GOTV: James Manrique Youth Outreach and Civic Engagment: Lynda Minor and Rhonda Kirts |
Social Media: Kanittha Fay and Jilain Wang
Candidate Forums: Johna Von Behrens Voter Registration: Ann Prisland and Karen Fresco Web Team: James Manrique (webmaster), Linda Bair, Kelly Delahanty Book Club: Annette Lansford 100th Anniversary Project: Barbara Jones and Johna Von Behrens Nominating Committee: Annette Lansford Oral History Manager: Deb Rugg Archives: Barbara Jones and Johna Von Behrens 
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