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HomeBoard of Directors

The League of Women Voters of Wake County
2026 - 2027 Board of Directors


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Gaye Williams
President

Gaye Williams (she/her) is a child of the South. Originally from South Carolina, she grew up in South Florida, attended college and graduate school in Louisiana and Texas, and had a long career in Atlanta with a brief stint in Fort Worth before landing in North Carolina where she has deep family ties. Moving to Apex in 2013, Gaye joined LWV-Wake in 2020, looking for an opportunity for deeper community involvement. She has been a Voter Services volunteer and part of the LWV-Wake Vote411.org team. A self-described Redistricting geek, in 2024, Gaye began serving as the Redistricting Liaison for LWVNC. She also served as co-lead for the League's statewide Citizen Initiative Study Team, whose work resulted in a new position on Citizen Initiative being adopted in 2025 by the LWVNC.

Gaye’s graduate education and professional career was anchored in Human Resources, primarily for high tech and professional services companies. Before retiring from Cisco Systems, Inc in 2023, she led the People & Communities (HR) team focused on global mergers & acquisitions for Cisco Systems, Inc.

In addition to volunteering with the LWV, Gaye’s community involvement includes working as an Election Official, serving on the Multimodal Transportation Advisory Board for the town of Apex, and deploying in October 2024 as a Red Cross volunteer to assist with the support of Western North Carolina communities impacted by Hurricane Helene.

Sandra Birckhead

Treasurer/Finance

Sandra Birckhead is an Organizational Change Coach specializing in enabling leaders to transform their business through process improvement and culture change.

Sandra is an expert in lean management systems, in team effectiveness and in the change-management process. She has led transformation projects in manufacturing, laboratory environments, and sales and marketing.

She is an experienced facilitator and trainer, preparing organizations to implement lean six sigma and other change initiatives.  Sandra’s work experience spans a broad range including strategic planning, supply chain, project management, and process improvement implementation.

Sandra has also worked with non-profits facilitating strategic plans, conducting focus groups, and training leaders. She is currently assessing and mentoring new workshop moderators for Braver Angels.

Sandra has BA from UNC-Greensboro and an MBA from the University of North Carolina. She is certified by the American Society for Quality as a Lean Six Sigma Black Belt and by the International Coach Federation as an executive coach.
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Kristen Howard

Secretary


Kristen studied History of Science and Biology in college, and she returned to those roots last year by completing the Wake County Extension Master Gardener program. 


After college she became a COBOL programmer in New York with Equitable Life and when PCs came out, she switched over and became a financial analyst. While there she completed her MBA in Finance at NYU in the evenings. After 12 years, she left Equitable Life to raise her three children and teach computers at her local colleges in CT. 


During that time, Kristin started her own computer training service, Granite Micro, specializing in private one-hour lessons, and supported TCI, a consulting company doing benchmarking studies in the life insurance industry. When TCI sold their company, Kristen tagged along and became an employee of Deloitte Consulting.


For the last 14 years of her career, she benchmarked back-office expenses across industries and managed a data analytics team based in Atlanta and Hyderabad. There were other side ventures along the way like writing an Heirloom Gardening newsletter, becoming an Associate Professor at Norwalk Community Technical College, and owning a metaphysical bookstore.


During the pandemic she joined the Wake County League of Women Voters and started studying art via zoom.


Family, the league, art, and gardening are now her primary concerns.

Suzanne Botts
Development Chair

Suzanne originally joined the League of Women Voters in Auburn, Alabama in 1970. Born and raised in Troy, Alabama, she attended Auburn University earning a B.S. in Zoology, M.S. in Wildlife Biology and Game Management. Suzanne taught science and biology in middle and high school and worked in Fisheries at Auburn University as a Research Associate before returning to study to be a veterinarian (D.V.M.) This education path continued in a Pathology Residency, followed by a PhD in Veterinary Pathology and Virology at Cornell University. She is also diplomate of the American College of Veterinary Pathology.

Suzanne's long career began as a Veterinary Pathologist at Experimental Pathology Laboratories, Inc. She led peer review for studies conducted for the National Toxicology Program and its Archive, and comparative pathology for studies with the Department of Defense. She also approved medical devices at Becton-Dickinson, led drug safety development and evaluation of human and animal medicines at Pfizer, human medicine at GlaxoSmithKline, Hoffman LaRoche, and served as Head of Pathology at Vertex Pharmaceuticals.

Retiring in 2015, Suzanne returned to Raleigh and became active in her church, RotaryClub, joined the Wake County League of Women Voters in 2017 and Wake Master Gardeners (2018). Suzanne is a strong advocate of the non-partisan work of the League and is currently serving as our Development Chair for Wake County. 

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Terry Bradley Dunn
Voter Services Chair
Terry Bradley Dunn joined LWV-Wake in early 2025, drawn by the League’s commitment to informed civic participation and protecting the freedom to vote for every eligible citizen. She brings a long history of civic leadership, advocacy, and community engagement to the Board.

Terry is President & CEO of Tai-Lynn HR Solutions and formerly served as Director of Public Policy for the Greater Raleigh chapter of the National Association of Women Business Owners (NAWBO). Her work has supported strategic growth and operational excellence for businesses and nonprofits across North Carolina. In recognition of her advocacy and leadership, Terry received NAWBO’s Gillian Rudd Advocacy Award in 2025 and was inducted into the North Carolina Women Business Owner Hall of Fame.

An experienced Voter Services volunteer, Terry has worked for many years registering voters and conducting community outreach. Her broader leadership includes serving as former president of the Raleigh Metro Society for Human Resource Management, as a Fellow of the NC Institute of Public Leadership, as a Paul Harris Fellow with Rotary International, and as a Golden Life Member of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc. She also volunteers with Big Brothers Big Sisters of the Triangle, Dress for Success of the Triangle, and Girl Scouts North Carolina Coastal Pines.y concerns.

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Liz Simon

At-Large Board Member and Co-Chair Affordable Housing Committee
Liz joined the League of Women Voters of Wake County in March 2022. She co-chairs the Affordable Housing Committee and has served the League by volunteering with the Women’s Equality Day events and registering voters at USCIS’ swearing-in ceremonies.
She retired in 2020 after 32 years working in the Graphics Division at SAS Institute, Inc. in Cary. In addition to her Computer Science profession, Liz is a certified ESL (English as a Second Language) and teaches ESL classes through Wake Tech.

For many years, Liz was very active with the Toastmasters International organization, where she achieved the DTM (Distinguished Toastmaster) award and served in various leadership roles from the Club to State levels. Liz has volunteered extensively with the International Focus organization and various Student International Exchange programs.

Liz is married to Gary Bryant and between them have 3 daughters, 1 son, and 9 grandchildren. Liz enjoys family events, reading, traveling, and fun times with her book club. We're excited that Liz is now serving as a member of the LWV-Wake Board of Directors.
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Robin Hammond

At-Large Member and Affordable Housing Committee Co-Chair


Robin Hammond is a North Carolina native, born and raised in Wilson. She has been a Raleigh/Wake County resident since 1983. She attended the University of North Carolina at Greensboro, and is a graduate of East Carolina University and the School of Law at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Robin is retired from the practice of law where she worked in state government and private practice as a judicial clerk at the NC Court of Appeals, in mortgage banking, administrative law, residential and commercial real estate, zoning and land use, natural resource protection, local government law and public finance. She holds a certificate in municipal administration from the UNC School of Government.

We're thrilled to have Robin's experience added to the Board of Directors for LWV-Wake.

Martha Svoboda
At-Large and League Leaders Chair

Martha Svoboda is deeply committed to protecting voting rights and strengthening a functioning democratic society. She joined LWV-Wake in 2022 after volunteering as a poll observer during the 2020 general election. Martha has continued her election-protection work through multiple election cycles. She has served as a volunteer attorney on the Voter Protection Hotline administered by Democracy NC and, since the 2024 general election, has regularly monitored Wake County Board of Elections proceedings and supported statewide voter-protection efforts.

Martha is an NC-licensed attorney and a licensed CPA (California, inactive). She began her career as an auditor at Price Waterhouse (now PwC) in Silicon Valley before moving into management roles at high-tech companies. After earning her law degree from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, she practiced as a financial regulatory compliance attorney with Poyner Spruill LLP and later with the national firm Offit Kurman, where she maintained a nationwide practice and regularly spoke at legal and industry conferences. 

Martha also brings extensive nonprofit and community leadership experience, including serving as Past President of Food Runners Collaborative (a joint venture of Meals on Wheels of Wake County and Interfaith Food Shuttle) and holding numerous board, officer, and committee roles with community and school organizations.



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