Special Notice / Hearing: None__
Vote Required: Majority
To: Honorable Board of Supervisors
From: Supervisor Warren Slocum, District 4
Subject: Reappointments to the Commission on the Status of Women
RECOMMENDATION:
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Recommendation for reappointments to the Commission on the Status of Women, for a term ending December 31, 2024:
A) Anya Drabkin, for a first full term; and
B) Dana Linda, a first full term; and
C) Nirmala Bandrapalli, for a first full term; and
D) Melissa Lukin, for a first full term; and
E) Cheryl Fama, for a first full term; and
F) Anisha Weber, for a third term; and
G) Marguerite Machen, for a third term.
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BACKGROUND:
The Commission on the Status of Women is charged with the responsibility of assessing the needs of women, girls and families in the County. The Commission also acts as a resource to the Board of Supervisors (the “Board”) and makes recommendations to the Board annually.
DISCUSSION:
Anya Drabkin, Dana Linda, and Nirmala Bandrapalli were each appointed in August 2018 for a partial term and are being recommended to be reappointed for a first full term on the commission.
Melissa Lukin and Cheryl Fama were appointed to the commission in August 2019 to serve a partial term. This reappointment is for their first full term on the commission.
Anisha Weber and Marguerite Machen have served on the commission since April 2013 and is being recommended to serve for a third term.
Anya Drabkin lives in Redwood City with her husband and 3 children, who all love exploring the natural landscape of San Mateo County, through biking, hiking, and ocean visits. Anya is a child psychologist by training, with a background in public health. Anya's professional and service work is centered around trying to understand and address mental health challenges, with a particular focus on youth and families. Anya has broad experience across academic, nonprofit, and industry settings. She is passionate about empowering girls and women to chart personal and professional lives of their own imagining.
Hailing from San Francisco’s East Bay Area, Dana Linda has lived and worked in San Mateo County since 2017 and resides in Burlingame. Her tenure at the Commission on the Status of Women began in 2018, and she remains dedicated to promoting awareness and resources that support the diversity of women’s and girls' experiences throughout the County.
Dana has a deep connection to and belief in public education, having attended the University of California for both her undergraduate and graduate training. She graduated Phi Beta Kappa from UC Santa Cruz with degrees in literature and feminist studies and earned her PhD from UCLA’s Department of Comparative Literature. During her time as a Bruin, Dana helped lead new teacher training and curriculum initiatives for the department and taught coursework spanning the full range of the interdisciplinary humanities. She also served as an advisor to the multi-campus UC Humanists@Work Initiative.
Dana previously worked with Oakland nonprofits and organizations that advocate for people and communities impacted by the California prison system. She credits her early professional engagement in this work to her participation in UCSC’s Inside Out Writing Project, which made palpable how storytelling can provide meaningful access to worlds beyond imagination.
Nirmala Bandrapalli is a resident of Burlingame. Prior to her time on the commission, she had the opportunity to serve on the Burlingame City Planning Commission. Nirmala also had the privilege of being the 88th President (and 3rd woman president) of the Burlingame Lions club. Protecting her community and being a mother are two things that she is very proud of and she showcases this by also being a continued emergency preparedness organizer for her neighborhood and being a proud participant on the Burlingame Mothers’ Club Board.
Nirmala’s professional experience includes 11 years as a manager at Genentech, a biotech company located in South San Francisco. She was actively involved with the South Asian Network at Genentech (SANG), a diversity networking group at Genentech, for over 10 years and held various positions including Co-Chair of the organization. She currently works for Kaiser Permanente as a Project Manager and holds a Project Management Professional certification and a master’s degree in Biochemistry from USF.
Melissa Lukin is a well-respected nonprofit leader with a track record for building strong relationships with local and regional funders and creating strong partnerships with a wide variety of community leaders. Melissa's 30 years of experience supporting traditionally marginalized communities include her current position as the Executive Director of Rebuilding Together Peninsula which provides home repair for low income homeowners in San Mateo County and Sunnyvale. Prior to that, she served for nearly 15 years as the Executive Director of CORA, San Mateo County's only domestic violence services agency, where she oversaw the agency’s three-fold growth. In 2015, she was named Woman of the Year for the 22nd District by State Assemblyman, Kevin Mullen.
Melissa also serves on the board of Visions, Inc., a national nonprofit dedicated to eliminating all forms of interpersonal, institutional and systemic oppression. An avid outdoors person, she can be found outside whenever possible. Melissa lives in Belmont with her teen daughter, Karla, and their chickens, dogs, parakeets and turtle. She holds a B.A. from Brown University and a Master’s in Business Administration from Boston University.
Cheryl Fama joined the Peninsula Healthcare District as its chief executive May 1, 2007. A lifetime resident of San Mateo County, Ms. Fama spent her professional life in healthcare, starting as a critical care nurse, retiring from hospitals as the President/CEO of Saint Francis Memorial Hospital in San Francisco, and now focusing on community-based health and wellness for the Peninsula Health Care District. Ms. Fama has served on a broad range of community and service organization boards and committees including the Hospital Council of Northern and Central California, Association of California Healthcare Districts, Saint Francis Hospital Foundation, the San Mateo County Healthy Community Collaborative and Oral Health Coalition, Burlingame Rotary and the County’s Commission on the Status of Women.
Ms. Fama holds a master’s degree in Public Administration and a Bachelor of Science Degree in Nursing, both from the University of San Francisco, and still maintains an active RN license.
Anisha Weber is a native to the Peninsula, born and raised in Palo Alto, living in Redwood City, and working in San Francisco. She is the COO at Primitive Logic, a woman owned business in San Francisco, that has been solving digital business strategy challenges for over thirty years. In her role, she is responsible for people and operations, as she bridges business and technical needs, while also growing company culture and employee morale. With over 20 years of technology and solution consulting, Anisha wears many hats in the organization. Prior to joining Primitive Logic, she worked for Andersen Consulting (aka Accenture) with primarily financial services and PeopleSoft projects
Anisha is a graduate of University of San Francisco’s MBA program, and continues to serve on various USF boards and committees, such as Past-President of Alumni Board of Directors, former member of Board of Trustees, former President of MBA Alumni Society, among others, including the Community Service Committee. Additionally, Anisha received her B.A. in Communications with minors in Business and German from the University of Oregon in Eugene. Following her undergraduate degree, she worked for the Rothschild Bank in Zurich, Switzerland for three years and for Stanford University for two years, before her MBA. Anisha is a first generation American, her parents are from Switzerland and Holland, and she continues to maintain close ties with immigrant communities/groups from both countries.
Since Marguerite Machen joined CSW, her focus on women’s and children’s issues has increased through exposure to powerful female role models, and she hopes to use her experience to continue being an example of integrity to her seven nieces.
In 1997, Marguerite founded the Machen Center with her mother, Ms. Machen, and sister, Barbara, based on Ms. Machen's fundamental belief that "every individual needs unconditional love and support in order to succeed in life." This belief inspired Marguerite to commit her life to helping others through her volunteer position as a Youth & Family Advocate. As the Machen Center Board President, she is also in charge of organizing fundraisers and bringing visibility to the organization.
Marguerite served as Community Worker for San Mateo County, empowering teens and families for over 15 years. Her focus was empowerment through education, mentoring, resource-linkage, and improved access to accurate health information.
In recognition of her courage, vision, and commitment to enriching quality of life in the Daly City community, the City Council of Daly City honored Marguerite with the Woman of Excellence Award in 2008.
With the exception of college, Marguerite has lived in Daly City her entire life. She attended UC Berkeley for her undergraduate education and San Francisco State University for graduate school, studying Psychology and African-American Studies.
FISCAL IMPACT:
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