Board of Directors

Lisa Lesniak

Lisa Lesniak

Kim Matthews

  • A DWBC member for virtually eight years, Lisa is inspired by knowing that through DWBC she can contribute directly to our mission to educate, engage and elect in our community and across the state. No stranger to volunteering, Lisa began her community service activities in high school and says that she has done almost every volunteer job imaginable. A retired attorney, property manager, and co-owner of an auto repair shop, Lisa says she maintains her strength and optimism by participating in our community to keep democracy alive.

  • Kim says her greatest strength is “never taking no for an answer,” which translates to being committed and determined in helping the DWBC to elect progressive candidates locally. Passionate about defending democracy, environmental protection, women’s rights and gun violence prevention, Kim recently retired from an intellectual property law practice. Although she just joined our board in 2023, Kim has already made a huge impact by bringing in new members, spear-heading some program activities, and pouring her creative energy into making our meeting venue comfortable and welcoming. Volunteering, gardening, skiing, hiking and travel keep her energized and engaged in our community.

Joanna Clark

Tali Magoun

  • Joanna has been campaigning to elect Democrats since handing out balloons for her dad’s election to the Ohio State Senate in 1978. While a student at Vassar College, Joanna became passionate about recycling and protecting our environment. Going door-to-door is second nature, whether for worthy candidates or as an EcoCycle volunteer in Louisville. Joining DWBC in 2004, Joanna loves how much she learns from the monthly meetings, values the friends and connections she makes, and appreciates executing on action items, including the 2020 US Census. Joanna enjoys cycling, hiking and skiing with her husband when not being political or delivering Meals on Wheels.

  • Social justice activism continues to preoccupy Tali even after her retirement from Adams and Boulder County school districts. As a school psychologist, she had a bird’s eye view of children and family’s basic unmet needs–food, housing, clothing, medical and mental health support. Through her activism with BoCo Dems, Indivisible Colorado and now DWBC, she helps to elect representatives who support student growth so that they can thrive. Her experience with education policy development intertwined with social systems gives her a powerful voice today.  Raised in Ohio, Tali recharges her batteries by hiking, traveling, skiing and joining friends and family in the outdoors. 

Tina Marquis

Cathy Carlson

Cathy James

Barb Knapp

  • Cathy believes that the challenges we face around climate crisis, voting rights, racism, gun violence and reproductive rights require her to step up to protect democracy. DWBC offers Cathy an opportunity to make a difference at the grass roots level. She finds that cycling on rail trails helps her maintain a balanced perspective during these tumultuous times.

  • Passionate. Creative. Calm and Deliberate. When this dynamic board member was asked to share her aspirations around DWBC membership, Barb says, “I believe in the power of volunteerism, community organizing and advocacy.” She certainly knows how to translate those lofty goals into action as she directs programs that serve the mental health needs of children and families in under-served schools across Colorado. Barb is most happy when she can tackle big issues by bringing like-minded folks together to develop targeted action and communications plans. Her laser focus, unflagging energy and ability to optimize limited resources represent a huge contribution to DWBC. When Barb has free time, she seeks out live music, kicks back with family and friends and yes, finds additional opportunities for volunteering.

  • A self-described life-long Democrat and social liberal, Lisa brings diverse volunteer and professional expertise to her DWBC board role. A Apowerhouse agent in the local real estate market, Lisa lends her sizable talents and energy to 100+ Women Who Care and Together Women Rise. She also serves as Federal Political Coordinator for the National Association of Realtors in Senator John Hickenlooper’s office. Lisa looks forward to continuing the hard work of making important changes to our political landscape with the DWBC. She works hard to enrich our lives today while protecting the future we all hand off to our children and grandchildren.

  • It’s no stretch to describe Leslie as a warrior for women’s empowerment. Since the 1960s when she marched with her mother for progressive causes, she has racked up career stints in broadcast journalism, community development and academia. As an international correspondent, she covered elections, social movements and climate change. Her PhD from CU-Boulder’s engineering school focused on humanitarian engineering. As faculty at Worcester Polytechnic Institute, she designs and advises research projects in global engagement and community action. Leslie is a passionate advocate for reproductive justice and her creative interests are multi-dimensional: from painting large-scale acrylic works and perfecting Motown beats on her drum set to rafting the western waterways.

Helen Moshak

Lisa Darby

  • Helen, retired from the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR) since 2019, hasn’t slowed down yet. In 2023, she poured her energies into helping to pass the Louisville 2C Ballot issue to renew the sales tax for ten more years to protect open space and and mitigate wildfires. In addition to keeping her eye on open spaces, Helen leverages her law degree and interjects her passion for social justice into causes such as restorative justice and diversity, equity and inclusion education. Describing key attributes she brings to the board, Helen loves to work with passionate people to make work fun and productive. In these perilous times as we focus on strengthening democracy, Helen’s optimism provides an impactful perspective.

  • When it comes to volunteering, Lisa kills it! An avid reader of mystery stories, Lisa adroitly juggles professional responsibilities with a demonstrated commitment to her community. As a meteorologist, she served a stint at Boulder’s National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. At the same time, she volunteered as a county mediator for landlord/tenant cases. If that’s not enough, she provided leadership for the Safehouse Progressive Alliance for Nonviolence (SPAN) for nine years. Today Lisa flexes her scientific sleuthing muscles by working to monitor Front Range oil and gas emissions. Now she’s exercising her talents with DWBC. And should she have free time, you’ll find her hiking and traveling with husband Bob.

Lisa Kalfas

Liz Valles

WE WANT YOU!

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  • As a national, state and local consultant, Cathy has substantial expertise in climate and energy policy, federal lands/water resources management, mining policy, and land use policies. She also runs a Colorado initiative called Blueflower Action, raising funds to support pro-choice women candidates running for political office up and down the ballot. Cathy’s superpower is putting people and money and ideas together. As a new DWBC board member, Cathy wants to engage with an amazing group of women leaders (and a few good men and gender nonconforming individuals) and share her knowledge of how to raise women’s voices in politics.

  • Involved with DWBC off and on for 10 years, Tina served on the Boulder Valley School District (BVSD) board for 8 years. As board president, Tina followed her passion for the public education system advocating for increased funding and inclusive policies to support all students. She hopes that her engagement with DWBC will further her goal to elect candidates who will help our students succeed with support around community-related issues like gun violence prevention, housing, and health care. When Tina wants to chill from managing a busy home and political advocacy, you’ll find her wielding a paintbrush or hiking in the great outdoors.

Leslie Dodson

Lisa Wade

  • It’s a good thing that Lisa is retired because it seems unlikely she’d be able to juggle her pro-choice and climate change mitigation activities along with a full-time dental practice. When Boulder lost an outstanding dentist, the DWBC board gained a passionate, smart, honest advocate for human dignity and progressive values.  

    Lisa states that giving money to candidates is no longer enough. Not now, when our democracy is under attack.  As the daughter of immigrants, some areas that capture her attention are diversity, income/wealth inequality and LGBTQ rights. Today she’s committed to paying closer attention to current events to educate herself. When she’s not riding her motorcycle or hiking with her husband, you’ll find her investing her energy in environmental causes and a myriad of ways to make our community better.

WE NEED YOU

DWBC is looking for volunteers to join the board of directors.

Be a part of the group who makes our meetings successful, determine where the funding is applied to achieve our mission, and grow our organization.

If you would like to apply to or have questions about the board of directors, please contact us.