by Shannon Reese (bios provided by Karen Lemelin)
Well, it’s that time of year again for the California Genealogical Society. After various meetings over the past few months to discuss both open positions on the board and new board of directors’ candidates for 2015-2016, the board nomination committee (comprised of Chair Karen Lemelin with Jeffrey Vaillant & Kathleen Beitiks) has three excellent candidates that were presented to and accepted by the board at the November meeting. These nominees will be presented at the Annual Business Meeting on Saturday, January 24, 2014 at 1:00 p.m., so mark your calendars!
Before we get to the good stuff, here are the technical details you need to know:
Before we get to the good stuff, here are the technical details you need to know:
The California Genealogical Society’s bylaws outline the requirements for Directors in Article V, Section 1:
1. The number of directors shall be not less than five (5) nor more than twenty (20).
2. The last active past president, he or she consenting, shall serve as a Member of the Board of Directors until replaced by a new past president willing to serve on the Board of Directors.
3. Immediate family members of Directors are ineligible for candidacy during the period of the sitting Director’s term.
4. The term of each Director shall be two (2) years from the date of election.
5. Any vacancy in the Board during an unexpired term may but is not required to be filled by the Board. Such Director shall serve until a successor Director is elected.
3. Immediate family members of Directors are ineligible for candidacy during the period of the sitting Director’s term.
4. The term of each Director shall be two (2) years from the date of election.
5. Any vacancy in the Board during an unexpired term may but is not required to be filled by the Board. Such Director shall serve until a successor Director is elected.
6. Directors shall be limited to a maximum of three successive two-year terms, or a total of six (6) consecutive years.
In addition, Kathie Jones is now our interim Treasurer since the board position was vacated by Edie Daly and is nominated for her first full term. All of the candidates have one thing in common: they were instrumental to the successful execution of our first Their Roots Are Showing celebrity fundraiser held in October 2013. Without further delay, here are the proposed new board of directors’ candidates nominated for their first two-year board term ending January 2017:
LINDA HARMS OKAZAKI
Linda Harms Okazaki is a fourth generation San Franciscan who has lived all but two years of her life in the Bay Area. Her interest in genealogy began as a hobby in 1998 but has since grown to a personal quest. Linda has been researching her husband’s ancestry for the past several years, documenting his family in the internment camps and in Japan. She is passionate about researching, documenting, teaching, and sharing the stores of Japanese Americans.
Linda is a member of APG and the Genealogical Speakers Guild. She is a 2012 graduate of NIGR. As a CGS volunteer, she first started in Book Repair before joining the Desk Duty team. She served as the Volunteer Coordinator for two years and managed the research team for Their Roots Are Showing in 2013.
In her previous career, Linda worked with hospitalized children. She holds a BA in Human Development and an MA in Education. Recently she has been able to combine this background with genealogy by presenting family history to children ages 4-8.
TODD ARMSTRONG
Todd Armstrong first became interested in genealogy as an early teenager when he received his great-great grandfather’s 1864 Civil War diary (and, thanks to Ancestry.com and some sleuthing, discovered this ancestor’s unmarked grave in Los Angeles in 2012).
He joined CGS while attending the first Ancestry Day and went on to take the beginning and intermediate genealogy courses offered by the Society. In 2013, he played an active role in the research and presentation of CGS’ fundraiser, Their Roots Are Showing. In addition to CGS, Todd’s a member of genealogical societies in southern California, Ohio, and western Pennsylvania, as well the Sons of Union Veterans of the Civil War, Sons of Veterans Reserve, and Sons of Spanish American War Veterans.
Todd is a publishing and strategic communications consultant based in San Francisco. He has been in the publishing industry for more than 25 years, with the majority of that time in the higher-education category. Past positions include being an executive-level acquisitions editor and/or a director of marketing at the following publishing houses: Wadsworth/Cengage Learning, Prentice Hall/Pearson, McGraw-Hill, W.W. Norton, and SAGE. He holds B.A.’s in English and in History from the College of William & Mary
THERESE HART-PIGNOTTI
Therese Hart-Pignotti is a fourth generation Walnut Creek-er and the only daughter of a Marine Corps Colonel. Her mother is a retired elementary school teacher, and her older brother is a Vice-President at Sony Gaming.
Therese says, “My hobbies are genealogy, genealogy and did I mention genealogy? I love it and all though I enjoy surfing the net in my PJs at 3:00 a.m., I really like antique books and family bibles. I have a growing collection at home.”
Therese has a BA in Communications from JFK University as well as a BA in Business Mathematics from the University of South Australia. She has worked as a paralegal at the same law office for about 20 years (with an 8 year break while she lived abroad in Australia).
One of the attorneys she works with has a practice in real estate and corporate law, but has a very specific “niche” practice as an expert witness. He appears in court (all over the US) and talks about the division of property (land and other large assets) upon the death of someone who has no known next of kin. She pedigrees a family, and it is submitted to the court along with his live testimony. It’s great for Therese, as she loves doing all things genealogical.
In 2014 she produced, along with CGS, Their Roots Are Showing, which raised substantial funds for the society. She also works the front desk during our Thursday Late Night Summer Hours. Therese really enjoys her time at CGS.
KATHLEEN DUNN JONES
Kathleen Dunn Jones, better known as “Kathie” is now serving as the Treasurer for the society. She has been a member of the California Genealogical Society since 1999. Before joining the society, she owned a specialty toy store for 23 years. As a small business owner, she wore many hats and developed skills in finances, advertising, marketing, display and sales.
Kathie has been instrumental in converting the society over to the Wild Apricot database and membership management software program that helps manage our finances as well. It will serve as a platform to allow both the society to grow and to serve our members in many new ways. Kathie was also a team member on CGS’ Their Roots Are Showing fundraiser, serving as both the video and presentation editor for all three celebrities’ screen visuals. Kathie has also used her editing talents to help produce several YouTube videos for the society. Kathleen was born and raised in San Francisco, but has spent her adult life living in the Oakland Hills. She has 2 children and 4 grandchildren.
With the help of CGS classes and other members, she has learned much about her ancestors and her brick walls have come tumbling down. Kathleen and her husband Tom have been Oakland A’s baseball fans for 25 years and have visited every major league stadium in the U.S. During these stadium trips they have been digging into their family history and have met a few distant cousins along the way.
In addition to the new board nominees, here are the details on the existing Board of Directors: Marcelle White, Felicia Addison and Tim Cox are continuing in their first term (Jan 2014-2016). Karen Lemelin, Kim Cotton, Nicka Smith and Henry Snyder are continuing in their second term (Feb 2014-2016). Jeffrey Vaillant continues in his third term (Mar 2014-2016).
Diana Edwards and Shannon Reese are nominated for a second term (Feb 2015-2017). Lisa Gorrell and Jim Sorenson are nominated for their third terms (Mar 2015-2017). Ellen Fernandez-Sacco will serve as Past-President.
Copyright © 2014 by Ellen Fernandez-Sacco, California Genealogical Society and Library.
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