National Women's Political Caucus Leaders

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  Lulu Flores

  President
  lulu@io.com
  
  

  Lulu Flores is an attorney and Of Counsel to Hendler Law, P.C. of Austin, Texas. One of her clients is the Mexican American Bar Association of Texas; she serves as their Legislative Coordinator during legislative sessions. She formerly served as Assistant Director for Intergovernmental Affairs of the Railroad Commission of Texas (1996-2001) and as Assistant Director for the Alternative Fuels Division of the Railroad Commission of Texas (1992-1996). Prior to working with the Railroad Commission, she was Director for Governmental Affairs for the State Bar of Texas from 1986-1991. From 1978-1980 and 1981-1986, Lulu was Chief of Staff to the first Hispanic woman elected to the Texas House of Representatives, the late Rep. Irma Rangel.

  Lulu has been an active member of the NWPC for more than 13 years in many capacities and at many levels. She is serving her third term on the Board. She previously served on the Administrative Committee from 1995-1999, as Chair of the NWPC Hispanic Caucus from 1997-1999, as a National Steering Committee Representative from Texas for six years, as Resolutions Committee Chair for the 1997 National Convention, and as a member of the Bylaws Committee for the 1995, 1999 and 2005 National Conventions.

  Lulu has served in various capacities on the state board. Prior to joining the Caucus, Lulu helped found the Texas Hispanic Women's PAC, which raised money for Hispanic pro-choice women candidates for elective and appointed office

  
  

• Laraine Lasdon

  Vice President, Board Operations
  
  

  Laraine Lasdon was born and raised in Johannesburg, South Africa, where she attended the University of the Witwatersrand. After working as Youth Director for an anti-apartheid political party, and as the production manager for a large publication for tourists, she left South Africa to continue her Drama and Theater studies in London.

  Laraine has lived in Austin, Texas since 1976. She is involved in city, county, and state politics taking on leadership roles and appointments on municipal boards and commissions and civic boards, including Envision Central Texas, LCRA Leadership Advisory Board, Great Austin Chamber of Commerce, RECA Regional Issues Committee, and Rotary Club of Austin and District committees. She is has been nominated and accepted as a member of the National Board of the National Women's Political Caucus.

  In 1985, after working as a political consultant with special emphasis on the politics of the real estate industry, and after honing her real estate skills by providing marketing and leadership strategies to a title company and real estate development firm, she established her own marketing firm.

  With an extensive network of contacts and an outstanding reputation for her creative leadership skills and reliable work ethic, colleagues from the public and private sector became her clients with projects that include: business development with emphasis on the construction industry, public involvement strategies, team building for proposals, fund raising, program development, personal coaching, and communications development. Her personal goal for the Board Operations position is to identify areas for Board collaboration on issues such as membership development, communications, fundraising and administrative efficiency issues.

  Laraine is married to Professor Leon Lasdon, a worldwide leader in optimization software and holder of the Bruton Chair for Management Science and Information Systems. Her daughter, Claire, is a graduate from The University of Texas and works in web development and business process analysis.

  
  

• Linda Mitchell

  Vice-President, Membership
  
  

  After spending 13 years in marketing at Microsoft, Linda Mitchell now leads strategy and fundraising efforts for campaigns with her company in Seattle, The Funding Connection. She has led several political training workshops locally and internationally and worked on a number of campaigns serving in several capacities.

  Her passion is helping great women candidates get elected to public office and she is currently the chair of the National Women's Political Caucus of Washington State. She is the past chair of the Seattle Women's Commission, an advisory group to the Mayor and City Council on issues facing women in Seattle, past chair of the Women's Funding Alliance, and is a founding member of the board of the Center for Women & Democracy at the University of Washington.

  
  
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  Linda Young

  Vice President, Development
  lyoung@austincc.edu
  
  

  Linda Young is the Vice President of Development for the National Women's Political Caucus, and serves as the 1st Vice President for the 2007-2009 officer cycle. She has served on the national board for eight years, first as a Regional Director, and later as Vice President for Development. Young served more than 10 years on the NWPC-Texas board in various capacities, including serving twice as state president. On behalf of the Caucus, she recruited the first two co-chairs for the President's Circle, Liz Carpenter and Luci Baines Johnson, and has begun the groundwork for establishing the first endowment for the Caucus. Young currently serves as Special Assistant to the President for Governmental and Community Relations for Austin Community College District, the eighth largest community college in the country. Her professional career has included significant development work for education institutions and for public and private organizations, with more than $18 million in funds raised through Young's efforts. Her academic work includes all-but-dissertation for the Ph.D. from Texas Women's University. She served as CEO of a small start-up state agency for five years in Texas, beginning during Governor Ann Richards administration. Linda was one of the early recipients of the national leadership award for women, the Athena Award. She serves as president of the board of a small education foundation, receiving the foundation's first $1 million award during her presidency, and has extensive experience on boards for numerous other organizations.

  
  

• Marguerite Cooper

  Vice President, Education & Training
  marguerite9@adelphia.net
  4231 Avocado St   Los Angeles, California  90027
  
  

  Marguerite Cooper is a retired U.S. diplomat having served from 1956 - 1986. She was a leader of the women's movement in the federal foreign affairs agencies in 1970 where she battled agency personnel polices that prohibited foreign service women employees from marrying or having dependents, and limited their assignments to positions considered "women's work," with severe hurdles for spouses' work abroad. She was named a plaintiff in a successful class action sex discrimination case against the Secretary of State and received EEO Awards from President Nixon and Secretary of State George Schultz. She also has served as a professional staffer on the Dukakis and Clinton presidential campaigns (Issues, Daily Briefer, respectively) and on three congressional races, one gubernatorial, and several state assembly races in a variety of positions. She has been a member of NWPC since 1988, serving as Vice President for Education and Training since 2003.

  
  
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  Teray Stephens

  State Representative
  
  

  Ms. Stephens is a respected strategist, marketer, fundraiser and consultant who enjoys working with entrepreneurs as well as global corporations. She has provided leadership in a number of sectors with a specialty in entertainment/media, communication, health & beauty, technology, green/organic, new media and not-for-profit.

  Ms. Stephens had an illustrious career at Xerox Corporation where she was of the first senior female managers - receiving numerous awards and accolades for her marketing, sales and management performance. She has served as a high level advisor/consultant to Fortune 1000 and entrepreneurial companies. She was a founding partner of Phoenix Partners a private investment-banking boutique, and served as CEO of Entertainment Financial Services, Stephens Group Holdings and Invision Group (capital sourcing, structuring, strategy and venture consulting).

  As a private investment banker, Ms. Stephens worked with capital sources around the world including Morgan Stanley, CSFB, Hong Kong Shanghai Bank and Bank of America. As a senior business advisor and consultant in the entertainment industry, Ms. Stephens worked with Twentieth Century Fox, Jim Henson Productions, NHK, Tokyo Broadcast System, Disney, Sony and Columbia Pictures, as well as smaller entertainment companies.

  Ms. Stephens activities during recent years has included: strategic business development, distribution, marketing and fundraising for entertainment, new media, beauty & health, technology, green/organic, not-for-profit and political campaigns in the United State and around the world.

  Ms. Stephens has a long-standing commitment to women and progressive causes. She currently sits on the national, state and local board of the National Women’s Political Caucus. Previously, she was a founding member of the of SoCal Grassroots organization where she chaired the Women’s group, and was a board member/fundraiser/organizer for the Young Women’s Leadership Conference. She has also provided financial and outreach support for campaigns including those for Hillary Clinton, John Kerry, Debra Bowen, Julia Brownley and Abbe Land among others.

  Ms. Stephens other advisory activities include the Board of Advisors for Branding Iron Worldwide and recently Chairperson of the Board of Advisors for Global Communications. She co-chaired the membership committee at The Regency Club and has held board positions or been active in Women of Los Angeles, Women in Film, the United Nations Environmental Programme, The National Association of Female Executives, Los Angeles Venture Association, and Junior League among others. She has also been a University professor, teaching MBA courses in Marketing, Organizational Development and Case Study.

  Ms. Stephens has been recognized for her career and philanthropic work with special honors and awards. Among others, she received a commendation from the County of Los Angeles for her "outstanding community service and leadership”, was chosen for several Who’s Who including "Who's Who in Female Executives", and has been recognized by the National Women’s Political Caucus. She was featured in Chief Executive Magazine, and has been a keynote speaker at global conferences and interviewed for TV, radio and internet business programs.

  
  

• Marion Sullivan

  Vice President, Political Planning and Vice President, Political Planning
  
  

  Marion Sullivan has extensive experience in public policy, politics, nonprofit management, and public education campaigns. Ms. Sullivan has advised Members of Congress regarding arts, education, health care, housing, reproductive rights, transportation, geriatric concerns, and the federal grants process. She served as an Assistant to Presidential Advisor Stanley Greenberg and as an Advisor to Governor Mike Easley and Lt. Governor Bev Perdue.

  Ms. Sullivan gained vast nonprofit and philanthropic expertise as Executive Director of the Books for Kids Foundation, a national literacy foundation headquartered in New York City, NY, and as a Partnership Director for the Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation in Menlo Park, CA. While with the Kaiser Foundation, Ms. Sullivan directed a national media partnership focused on women's health policy between the Kaiser Foundation and Lifetime Television. As Director of the Pro-Choice Public Education Project (PEP), she managed one of the nation's largest women's reproductive rights coalitions, launching award-winning media campaigns, research, and grassroots efforts. Sullivan's work on women's reproductive health issues has been recognized in the New York Time's, New York Magazine, the Washington Post, the San Diego Union Tribune, Ms. Magazine, and many other publications.

  Ms. Sullivan has served on numerous committees and boards. She was appointed by North Carolina Senator Pro Tempore Basnight to the North Carolina State Health Plan and by the Mecklenburg County Commission to the Women's Commission. She serves on the Board of the National Women's Political Caucus and is a former President of the Charlotte Women's Political Caucus. She served on the Boards of the Books for Kids Foundation and the Day Care Council of New York City. She was a founding Steering Committee Member of the Women's Information Network in Washington, D.C. and served on Committees for the Women's Center of Northern Virginia. She is a Sustaining Member of the Charlotte Junior League.

  Marion Sullivan received her M.P.A. from Cornell University, where she was honored with a Gilman Fellowship. She is the proud mother of two daughters.

  
  

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