Board of Directors
We have a dedicated Board of Directors made up of local literacy advocates.
Deb Ehrhardt
President
Deb was born and raised in the northern Suburbs of Chicago, Illinois. Her father was in the Army Reserves and she lived in nine different states before moving to California in 1980. She and her husband moved to Lake County from the Bay Area in November 1989. After high school, she earned a Bachelor’s degree in Speech from Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois. Work in Education and Business followed until she decided to teach at the community college level, at which time, she returned to school and earned a Masters in Communication from University of the Pacific in Stockton, CA. She taught hearing impaired children in the 1970's, elementary school in the 1980's and worked for Yuba College in Clearlake (Campus Operations) from 1991-2010. She began teaching speech courses for Mendocino College in January 2001 and taught for Yuba College from 2008-2015. She joined the Coalition in 2011 and served as the Vineyard Run for Literacy co-director from 2013-2017.
Susan Parker
Vice President
Susan grew up in a north shore suburb of Chicago. She earned a BA degree in a dual major of education and economics from Lawrence University. Her first teaching position was teaching reading for Wisconsin’s Department of Corrections, Juvenile Division. Working with disadvantaged youth led her to pursue the first-ever Master’s Degree in Special Education offered by Cardinal Stritch College in Milwaukee, WI in 1978. In 1999, she began teaching at Howell Mountain School in Angwin, CA and in 1999, earned a second master’s degree in Education Administration from Chapman University, after which she moved to Lake County and began teaching for Middletown Unified School District, where she remained until retirement in June of 2018. She had always planned on becoming a literacy tutor in retirement and also welcomed the opportunity to become a LCLC board member in August of 2018.
Pam Klier
Secretary
Pam has been a resident of Lake County for most of the past 70 years. She has wonderful memories of visiting the library (the old Carnegie Library at the park) to check out an armful of books — fairy tales, Nancy Drew, classics (Charles Dickens, Jane Austen, many others), science fiction (Isaac Asimov, Ray Bradbury, etc.), mysteries (Agatha Christie, Rex Stout), and many more. Books were an important part of her childhood and she is still an avid reader with a frequently-used library card. One of the first things she did to prepare for the birth of her son was to buy some of her favorite children's books as a start to his personal library. She spent 34 years as a teacher, mostly in kindergarten, until retiring in June 2015. She enjoyed helping young learners increase their literacy skills and share their excitement as beginning readers and writers. After retiring, she wanted to become part of the literacy program to help adult learners improve their literacy skills.
Teresa Marks
Treasurer
Teresa was born in Seattle, WA and spent her early childhood in Burien, a suburb just south of Seattle. She later moved to Santa Rosa with her mother where she attended high school, and later earned an Associate of Science degree in Respiratory Therapy at Santa Rosa Junior College. For the next 35 years, she worked mostly in hospitals and from time to time worked short stints in Home Care and Rehab Medicine. Along the way, she earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Human Resources/Business Administration at San Jose State University. Veterans’ Administration Palo Alto was her last job before semi-retirement and she fully retired in 2017. She has volunteered as a CASA advocate and for Gleaner’s Food Bank, and was an adult literacy tutor for over four years. She and her learner are now friends and she is grateful for their connection.
Nancy Hudson
Director
Nancy was born and raised in Lakeport, California. After graduation from Clear Lake High School in 1977, she went to Sierra College in Roseville for a year, then came back to Lake County and worked at Lampson Aviation until she was hired at the Lake County Office of Education in February of 1980 as an Administrative Assistant. She worked at the Office of Education until she retired in August 2018, for nearly 39 years, and where she had the opportunity to work with the Literacy Coalition and in which she became involved after applying for the position of Race Director for the 2019 Vineyard Run. In her retirement, she serves on a committee with the Certified Tourism Ambassadors, and for several years, she tutored at the Lakeport Elementary School with the Schools of Hope. She also serves on the Hartley Cemetery Board and most recently was elected as a Board Trustee Area 4 with the Office of Education.
Jo Fay
Director
Jo was born in Los Angeles and graduated from the University of Maryland with a BS in Psychology. She subsequently achieved a multiple-subject teaching credential in 2000 and taught grades K-5 in schools in Aviano, Italy, Maryland, Fairfield, CA and Clearlake, CA. She retired in 2015. Her hobbies include playing soccer and tennis, Pilates, music (My Divas), and theater with Lake County Theatre Company. She serves on four volunteer boards: The Literacy Coalition, California Retired Teachers Association, Lake County Theatre Company, and Sutter Patient Advocacy Board.
Esther Oertel
Director
Esther born in Manhattan to parents who were avid readers, both for themselves and to their children, and her passion for reading was no doubt born from this. She still recalls with joy the day her father took her and her brother to get their first library cards at the old, historic Kingston, New York library. She graduated from Point Arena High School and has an A.A. degree from Santa Rosa Junior College. She has served in various office-related positions throughout California for a city, an art school, a college, two churches, two contractors, a bank, a lobbying group, a homeless shelter, a special needs non-profit, two accounting firms, and a German shoe company. After arriving in Lake County in 2001, working at a florist shop, pulling espresso as a barista, and trying her hand at teaching culinary classes were added to the mix. Her favorite job was being a teaching assistant in the RSP English classroom at Middletown High School. She was drawn to being a literacy tutor for which she feels constantly blessed. She loves to write and began a column with Lake County News in 2010, which led to a second column and now feature stories. In addition to sharing her love of reading with her granddaughter, she is a volunteer at her parish church and edits the newsletter for the Oakville Carmelite community.
India Mendonca
Director
India is a stay-at-home mother who loves reading, exploring new places, going to the beach, going to restaurants, and listening to bossa nova music. She received her A.A. in Liberal Arts from Chabot Community College and her B.A. in Black Studies from University of California, Santa Barbara. Before becoming a wife and mother, India worked at the Martin Luther King, Jr. Research and Education Institute at Stanford University as a Document Specialist. She and her husband purchased a home in Lake County in 2012 and in 2017 married each other in the living room of their lovely home. She is currently a homeschool teacher to her six-year-old daughter, and she enjoys every minute she spends witnessing and cultivating her daughter’s education. India feels fortunate to have the option and the opportunity to teach her daughter how to read. She lives with her husband, Marco, their daughter, and their three birds in Clearlake Oaks, CA.
Karen Magnuson
Director
I’m a Native Californian and proud of receiving an excellent education in the public schools. I majored in art and psychology and attended UC Berkeley and SF State University. I briefly taught 4th grade in Hawaii after receiving a teaching credential from San Francisco State University. I returned to San Francisco and the South Bay, and redirected my career to graphic design, publishing and marketing. I had a variety of positions such as the advertising coordinator for a women’s apparel chain, production manager for the wine spectator, art director for the largest distributor of motorcycle parts and accessories, and creative services manager for an international enterprise antivirus software company. As a retiree in Kelseyville, I have volunteered my skills as a marketing and graphic designer for my HOA and produced a fire safety booklet for the homeowners. For the LC Arts Council, I created signs, logos and brochures and have shown my work at their Main Street Gallery. I was a counselor and board member for ten years for The Senior Peer Counseling and the Friendly Visitors Programs. I created their website, brochures and flyers. Currently I belong to the Konocti Arts Society. We meet monthly, creating art pieces which we exhibit at West America Bank during the Kelseyville Pear Festival. We also exhibit at other locations in the county. I look forward to applying my marketing skills to help promote the literacy program.
Peggy Alexander
Director
I was born and raised in Lake county. I grew up on a farm and was active in 4-H and my school. I earned a bachelor's in English from UC Davis, then an MA in English, and an MA in Counseling. Those degrees enabled me to teach high school and community college for 40 years here in Lake county. As of June 2018, I retired. I now enjoy working with young people in 4-H, gardening, exercise, and walking. I also love to read and bake and travel.
Pat Cox
Director
Lakeport has been our home for over 45 years, and it has been a wonderful place to raise a family. I embraced our rural community and volunteered time with Girl Scouts, 4-H, the schools, and sports. When our youngest kids were in school, I became a “reentry” student, earning a BA from Sonoma State University and a teaching credential from Dominican College, both through their satellite programs. That led to teaching English at Kelseyville High School and then math at Terrace Middle School. Now retired, I am very happy spending time with family and friends, puttering around in the garden, exploring new places, and listening to the ocean. I grew up in a home where academic achievement was an expectation. I attended a primary school where reading was of great importance, so every award ceremony included the presentation of books to recipients. I treasured, read and reread my copy of Black Beauty. This background created in me an inquiring mind that wants to know and learn. Reading is key. And that is what led me to the Lake County Literacy Coalition.
Lake County Library Literacy Program
Georgina Marie Guardado
Literacy Program Coordinator
Georgina has been the Literacy Program Coordinator for the Lake County Library since December of 2021. She is the Poet Laureate of Lake County, CA for 2020-2024, a Poets Laureate Fellow with The Academy of American Poets, and the Literary Editor for The Bloom. Georgina was raised in Lake County and is a longtime patron of the Library system. She also serves as the Treasurer for the Northern California Literacy Coalition.