About the League of Women Voters Nashville (LWVN)

A Nonpartisan Organization Encouraging Informed and Active Participation of Citizens in Government

As a non-partisan organization, the LWVN maintains two components:

  1. 501(c)(3) Organization (tax-deductible donations)
    All of our unbiased, non-partisan information on voting and citizen education is funded through tax-deductible donations through the League of Women Voters of Tennessee Education Fund, a 501(c) (3) organization.
  2. 501(c)(4) Organization (non-deductible donations)
    After our members thoroughly study an issue of public policy, we develop an advocacy position. When legislative bills in the state legislature are introduced that directly address stated LWVTN positions, LWVTN volunteers and the LWVTN paid lobbyist make our organization’s positions known to state legislators. Lobbying for specific legislation (on either the local or state level) is not a tax-deductible activity and is paid for out of the non tax-deductible 501(c)(4) component of the organization.

The LWVN never supports or endorses political parties or candidates. While we encourage and enable all of our members to be civically and politically active, the organization maintains a strict non-partisan stance.

Strategic Focus

In addition to the positions adopted by The League of Women Voters at the state-level (LWVTN), the members of the Nashville League (LWVN) have adopted the following positions to guide their Strategic Focus for 2020-2021.

  1. LWVN provides resources for current and emerging voters:
    • Voter registration, including outreach to under-represented voters
    • Voter information regarding upcoming elections and candidates
    • “Hot Topics” programs that inform the community about complex issues
    • Candidate forums
    • Support for restoration of voting rights for former felons
  2. LWVN advocates for free, fair, and transparent election processes:
    • Secure, accurate voting procedures with voter-verified paper trails
    • Full implementation of the Voting Rights Advancement Act
    • Poll watching and reports for the public
  3. LWVN advocates for public policies to address needs of Nashville residents:
    • High quality public education
    • Efficient and accessible transportation options — biking, walking and mass transit
    • Environmentally responsible reduction and management of waste
    • Sustainable approaches to land use, growth, and development
    • Improved access to high quality health care for Nashville residents
    • Sensible gun control measures requiring background checks and restriction of guns in public places
    • Programs to reduce poverty and promote self-sufficiency
    • Efforts to sustain Nashville’s efforts as a welcoming city for immigrants and refugees

View LWVN Portfolio Goals Here

Current Board Members (July 2023 – June 2024)

Leadership Team

Lara Webb
Lara WebbLWVN President
Lara Webb is excited to serve the LWVN in this capacity and looking forward to building relationships that foster civic engagement.

She moved to Nashville in 2000 to attend Belmont University for her Master’s in Teaching. She taught for eight years in the classroom. Lara worked as adjunct faculty for both Vanderbilt University and Belmont University supervising student teachers. She enjoyed this work because it allowed her to travel all over Nashville to meet and work with teachers and principals. She has taught masters level math and science methods courses for elementary educators. Lara also presented social-emotional education workshops and co-authored the book “Doing Science in Morning Meeting” for the Center for Responsive Schools. She teaches classes for gifted students through SAVY at Vanderbilt.

Lara is married and has three sons, two of which are school-aged attending Metro schools. She is passionate about public education and has volunteered in various capacities at her children’s schools. Lara sits on the Academically Talented Parent Advisory Board for MNPS. Her boys keep her busy with their hijinks, but in her free time, she enjoys being outdoors, reading, or going to Target.

Melissa Hanson
Melissa HansonLWVN Co-First Vice President
Coming Soon!
Karen Wieckert
Karen WieckertLWVN Co-First Vice President
Coming Soon!

Elise Lamar
Elise LamarLWVN Secretary
Elise Lamar is a California transplant with a BA in English from UC Riverside and a PhD in Biomedical Science at UC San Diego, which she earned in middle age. She has spent most of her life doing molecular biology research in San Diego, Houston, and upstate New York, and before arriving in Nashville worked as a grant writer for City of Hope Cancer Center in LA. She is now a freelance medical writer in Nashville, writing for scientists and biomedical institutions worldwide.

In Nashville, she has volunteered with the Frist and healthcare-related nonprofits and has a long-term commitment to the Antioch office of the Nashville Adult Literacy Council, where she is a regular in their Start Now literacy program. Elise feels deeply honored to serve on the LWVN Board. In off-hours she expends energy on dogs, growing cacti and succulents, and worrying (constructively) about the future of our planet.

Susan Mattson
Susan MattsonLWVN Treasurer
Susan Mattson recently retired from her career as a public policy analyst with the Tennessee Comptroller’s Office and other state agencies. She has a B.A. in Economics and Urban Studies from Rhodes College and a Master’s in Public Administration from the University of Kentucky.

Susan joined the LWVN in 2016 and has coordinated the LWVN VOTE411 online Voter Guide over the last two years. She also participated in the LWVTN Action Committee in 2018.

She serves on the Metro Nashville 9-1-1 Board and participates in several volunteer activities through her church. She is an avid tennis player and enjoys traveling, cooking, and reading. She lives in Nashville with her husband Rick and has two grown children.

Portfolio Chairs

Sabina Mohyuddin
Sabina MohyuddinLWVN Community Connections Co-Chair
Sabina Mohyuddin is a Bangladeshi American Muslim born and raised in Nashville, Tennessee. She graduated from Vanderbilt University in 1993 with a degree in Mechanical Engineering.

She is an active member of the Muslim community participating in interfaith and youth programs. In 2010, Sabina helped launch the Sons and Daughters of Abraham Project which brings together Muslim, Christian, and Jewish youth across Middle Tennessee through interfaith dialogue and outreach programs.

Sabina has published a number of articles in The Tennessean and was an outspoken critic of the 2011 anti-sharia bill in the Tennessee state legislature. She is a founding board member and current Middle Tennessee Program Manager of the American Muslim Advisory Council (AMAC), which fosters mutual trust and respect among all people through civic engagement, community building and media relations in order to protect all Tennesseans from prejudice and targeted violence. She serves as the chair of AMAC’s yearly Empowering Women conference. Additionally, Sabina serves on the Community Nashville board which combats bias, bigotry, and racism among youth and serves on the National Organization of Workforce Diversity board which helps promote diversity in the workplace.

Katelyn Benhoff
Katelyn BenhoffLWVN Community Connections Co-Chair
Coming Soon!

Ophelia Doe
Ophelia DoeLWVN Communications Co-Chair
Ophelia holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in English from Columbia College where she also double minored in Communication and Political Science. During her time at Columbia College, she interned for United States Congressman James E. Clyburn, South Carolina State Representative Bill Bowers, and South Carolina State Senators John W. Matthews and Clementa Pinckney.

After college, Ophelia has focused her career efforts in the private sector specializing in supporting government programs for healthcare companies and state government. Currently, she works as a Consulting Communications Specialist for HCA Healthcare in Nashville, TN.

When she’s not working, she dedicates her time to the League of Women Voters and The Women’s Fund.

Dr. Patricia H. Brock
Dr. Patricia H. BrockLWVN Education Co-Chair
Coming Soon!
Harper-Grace Niedermeyer
Harper-Grace NiedermeyerLWVN Education Co- Chair
Coming Soon!
Jack McFadden
Jack McFaddenLWVN Environment Co-Chair
Jack McFadden spent the early part of his professional life utilizing video technology in education and community development before transitioning to Information Technology positions in telecommunications and planning.
Since retirement in 2018, he has been active in LWV voter registration and tracking of broadband legislation, as well as volunteering with other nonprofits in environmental, health and technology sectors. Jack also enjoys spending time hiking with friends on the many wonderful trails available to us in Nashville area parks.
Russanne Buchi-Fotre
Russanne Buchi-FotreLWVN Environment Co-Chair
Early on Russanne worked as an Outdoor Education instructor while living in Colorado. After moving back to Nashville she worked for 27 years as a social worker with the Metro Health Department working with homeless persons and HIV patients. Her family has served as a foster family for 25 years with numerous agencies in Nashville.

Russanne has served on Park Center’s Quality Assurance Board and on the Hillsboro West End Neighborhood Association Board. She is now retired and volunteers with various agencies involving the arts.

Cindee Gold
Cindee GoldLWVN Fundraising Chair
Coming Soon!
Clare Sullivan
Clare SullivanLWVN Health Care Co-Chair
Clare Sullivan recently retired from Vanderbilt University Medical Center where she worked as a family nurse practitioner and community-engaged research coordinator for 22 years. During her tenure she also worked under contract for the Tennessee Department of Health and Nashville Davidson County Health Department. Prior to attending nursing school, Clare worked on the occupational health and safety staff of the United Paperworkers/PACE/United Steelworkers Union, taught high school, and was an early advocate for school health in Tennessee.

She received a Master’s degree in Health Policy and Management from Harvard School of Public Health and a Master’s in Nursing Practice from Vanderbilt University School of Nursing.

In addition to her work with the League of Women Voters, she gardens and volunteers with the Tennessee Health Care Campaign and Ten Thousand Villages. She is the spouse of Mark Brooks, and parent of Adria and Cade Brooks.

Constance Caldwell
Constance CaldwellLWVN Health Care Co-Chair
Constance Caldwell is a native of Durham, North Carolina.

By professional training, she is a Registered Nurse, now retired from the Department of Veterans Affairs and the Tennessee Air National Guard. She holds a Bachelor’s degree in Nursing from North Carolina A&T State University in Greensboro, NC; a Master’s of Public Health degree from the School of Public
Health, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill; and a Master of Science degree in Counseling from Tennessee State University.

She loves to travel, and that experience has acquainted her with the varied statuses of women in different cultures, especially in the area of women’s health. She currently serves as the Coordinator of the Mission Ministry for Temple Baptist Church, where she is involved in outreach ministries in Haiti and Belize, Central America. She also serves as Vice-Chair of the Board of Directors for Samaritan Ministries, Inc. and was nominated by her sorority chapter, Nashville Metropolitan Alumnae of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc. as a candidate for the ATHENA Award in 2012.

Reba Holmes
Reba HolmesLWVN Membership Chair
Coming Soon!
Karen Hernan
Karen HernanLWVN Metro Government Co-Chair
Coming Soon!
Pat McCauley
Pat McCauley LWVN Metro Government Co-Chair
Coming Soon!
Kathy Anderson
Kathy AndersonLWVN Voter Service Co-Chair
Coming Soon!
Kalen Russell
Kalen RussellLWVN Voter Service Co-Chair
Coming Soon!

Advisory Committee

The Advisory Committee serves as mentors to the Leadership Team.

Barbara Gay

Carole Bucy

Marian Ott

Karen Edwards

Jo Singer

Debby Gould

Brenda Wynn

Luvenia Harrison

Sally Levine

June Bond

Beth Gordon

Nominating Committee

Brenda Gilmore
Brenda GilmoreLWVN Nominating Committee Chair
Gilmore, a former Metro councilwoman from 1999 to 2006, is presently representative for District 54 in the Tennessee General Assembly, where she has served since 2006. Her career includes almost twenty years as director of University Mail Services for Vanderbilt University.

A strong voice of advocacy in the community, Gilmore has served on a number of boards in Middle Tennessee (e.g., Board of Vanderbilt’s Susan Gray School for Abused and Special Needs Children at the John F. Kennedy Center, Board Chair of the Margaret Cunningham Women’s Center) and received numerous awards. She is currently a member of the boards of TSU Women’s Center and Fifty Forward. In addition, she chairs the Davidson County Delegation, is vice president of the Tennessee Black Caucus of State Legislators, and co-chairs the STEM Caucus.
A life member of the NAACP, Gilmore holds membership in the Music City Chapter of the Links, Inc.; Top Ladies of Distinction; the National Council of Negro Women; and is president of both the National Hook Up of Black Women and the Minerva Foundation.

Betsy Walkup
Betsy WalkupLWVN Nominating Committee Member
Betsy Walkup has long been involved in issues that impact children and youth in Nashville. She is a former member and chair of the MNPS Board of Education and has served on the Board of Directors and is the current co-chair of the Middle Tennessee Advisory Board for Youth Villages, a nonprofit that works with children and youth who are in state custody. In addition, she is a member of the Board of Trustees for the Community Foundation of Middle Tennessee.

Betsy has a Bachelor’s degree in English from Millsaps College and a Master’s in library science from Emory University. She and her husband, Knox, have two grown
daughters.

Constance Caldwell
Constance CaldwellLWVN Nominating Committee Member
Constance Caldwell is a native of Durham, North Carolina.

By professional training, she is a Registered Nurse, now retired from the Department of Veterans Affairs and the Tennessee Air National Guard. She holds a Bachelor’s degree in Nursing from North Carolina A&T State University in Greensboro, NC; a Master’s of Public Health degree from the School of Public
Health, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill; and a Master of Science degree in Counseling from Tennessee State University.

She loves to travel, and that experience has acquainted her with the varied statuses of women in different cultures, especially in the area of women’s health. She currently serves as the Coordinator of the Mission Ministry for Temple Baptist Church, where she is involved in outreach ministries in Haiti and Belize, Central America. She also serves as Vice-Chair of the Board of Directors for Samaritan Ministries, Inc. and was nominated by her sorority chapter, Nashville Metropolitan Alumnae of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc. as a candidate for the ATHENA Award in 2012.

Ophelia Doe
Ophelia DoeLWVN Nominating Committee Member
Hasina Mohyuddin
Hasina MohyuddinLWVN Nominating Committee Member
Coming Soon!
Brenda Wynn
Brenda WynnLWVN Nominating Committee Member
Coming Soon!