Please read bios for candidates and plan to vote at our upcoming meeting April 9!
Annmarie Izuel Evans – Candidate for President
I have been an active member since the start of the chapter 2 years ago, attend the meetings on a regular basis and am also on the Legislative committee. I have organized 2 Candlelight Vigils commemorating the anniversary of Roe vs Wade. I have also reached out and established a relationship with the SANE coordinator for Larimer County and organized a clothing collection for their program.
I have met with Population Connection, NARAL and Planned Parenthood of the Rockies and established a good relationship with them all in which we collaborate on events and have each group support one another. I am passionate about Women's Rights and have been since my early 20's.
I have previously served as President of the N Orange County NOW chapter when I lived in S. California. Reproductive Rights has always been my main focus. I believe I can be an asset to NOCO Now.
I have strong organizational skills and want to see the growth of Women's Groups and coalitions in Northern Colorado expand .
I believe in the 6 pillars that NOW stands for and want to see NOW succeed!
Jennifer Yaste Guthals – Candidate for Vice President
I am currently the Secretary for NOCONOW. Before that, I helped the Executive Board as an appointee. I would love to continue my work on the Board in a different role this upcoming year, that of Vice President.
In addition to normal Secretary duties, such as taking minutes, I've supported our Chapter by researching and writing our By-laws and Operating Policies. I also helped the board set our goals and priorities for the upcoming year at our board retreat this past winter. I run our bi-monthly Radical Feminist Book Group, selecting fiction and non-fiction feminist titles and reserving space to bring people together to discuss many different perspectives on Feminism. I helped arrange our bus rental to the Womyn's March this January and I have worked with our web administrators to try to keep our website up to date and running properly (definitely a work in progress!).
I am a school administrator, and have found it difficult to get deeply involved in feminist activism in the past due to my busy schedule. I have participated in political protests and volunteered many times to assist with canvassing for political campaigns and school mill levies; joining NOCONOW is the first time I've found a way to be involved in more on-going day-to-day efforts to support the values I believe in. It has been an honor to bring my knowledge of systems and management to the table to help NOCONOW become an organization of note.
I've so enjoyed the time I've spent supporting NOCONOW to this point; I would be honored to continue working with this inspiring group on all of the great work to come. I look forward to supporting our new president as we transition to new leadership by sharing what our board has learned and assisting with new ideas and vision.
Rosemary Rader – Candidate for Treasurer
I have been a member of the National Organization for Women for over 35 years but never active in a local chapter until December 2016, when like many of you, I was distraught over the 2016 Presidential election, and decided that I had to become more involved in local organizations and work for political change around issues important to me. Since women's issues, especially reproductive rights, are very important to me, I began attending NOW meetings in Washtenaw County, Michigan where I was living at the time.
Professionally I was on the faculty at Washtenaw Community College in Ann Arbor, MI, where I taught chemistry for 22 years. I retired in August 2016, and my husband and I relocated to Fort Collins in October 2017, to enjoy the sunshine and the mountains. I am delighted to be living in this progressive community that has been very welcoming.
I am especially glad to have found the NOCO NOW community and have
enjoyed getting involved with the group and meeting its members. I have been serving on the NOCO NOW board as a member-at-large and volunteer
coordinator. I have collected feminine hygiene products at several of our
meetings and delivered them to Crossroads Safe House in Fort Collins. Thanks to the generosity of our members, in December I was able to deliver a large number of items to Crossroads Safe House for their Holiday Gift Shop, a place where residents at Crossroads can get items for their family members as holiday gifts.
I would now like to serve NOCO NOW as treasurer. In the past I have been treasurer for the local Ann Arbor chapter of La Leche League (LLL), a nonprofit breastfeeding support organization. I then went on to be treasurer for the State of Michigan Area LLL. I am confident that, if elected, I can effectively serve as NOCO NOW treasurer.
Claudia Parker – Candidate for Secretary
Being a volunteer has been part of my life since I was 13 years old & a "Scottie" at the Scottish Rite Hospital in Dallas. During my childhood, I was around powerful women in my church who participated in politics & served on the church boards. In my adult life, I was exposed to the new wave of feminism & knew I wanted to be in the new generation of women who would change the world. I want to keep changing the world by being involved in NOW & serving as the new chapter secretary.
