Board of Directors

HomeBoard of Directors

The LWVSBA Board of Directors is the planning, administrative, and policy- and decision-making body of the League,If you are interested in learning more about board service, please send an email to league@lwvsouthbend.org.

Beth North
President

Beth North (formally Elizabeth Ann Batten North – Elizabeth A.B. North). Born in Latrobe, PA, 1956; Dad ran for Congress 1960; Mom member of League of Women Voters.

Moved to Elkhart, IN 1966; graduated Elkhart Central HS 1974; graduated Indiana University Bloomington (Kelley) School of Business 1978; moved to Ohio first career position after graduating – Clinical Information Systems Representative – Ames Division, Miles Labs Inc. (which was already owned by Bayer as of the April before I joined July 10, 1978). Enjoyed 28 ½ year career in sales, domestic and global marketing primarily in the In Vitro Diabetes Care business. Traveled extensively and raised three children in parallel; continued career with smaller company in Ft. Lauderdale FL then startup company in Ann Arbor, then with current employer Force 5 (a marketing and advertising agency in South Bend); joined the League of Women Voters (finally!) in 2014. Was asked to join the BOD in December 2021. Have worked as a volunteer voter registrar at various events. MOST enjoy Lunch with the League! After embarking on my “glide-path to retirement” June 1 of 2024, I decided to fully retire as Force 5’s Director of Business Development in January, so have been fully retired since my birthday… February 1, 2025. Husband Ned and I have been married more than 45 years; we have three grown children and seven grandchildren ages 10 years old to one year old.

Elizabeth Bennion
Vice President Voter Services

Dr. Elizabeth Bennion is Chancellor’s Professor of Political Science and Director of Community Engagement at Indiana University South Bend. Bennion holds a BA in American Studies from Smith College and an MA and PhD in Political Science from the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

Bennion teaches American politics, with an emphasis on political behavior. She is the founding director of IUSB's American Democracy Project, Vice President for Voter Services for the League of Women Voters of the South Bend Area, President of the Indiana Debate Commission, and host of WNIT's live weekly television program Politically Speaking. In these capacities, she moderates political discussions, public issue forums, and candidate debates for local, state, and national candidates.

A nationally recognized expert on civic education and political engagement, Professor Bennion has won numerous local, state, and national awards for her community-engaged teaching, research and service, and has published widely in academic books, journals and newsletters. With over 80 publications, 200 invited presentations, and 600 media appearances, Dr. Bennion is committed to sharing her research and teaching beyond the classroom.

Bennion is co-editor of three books on teaching civic engagement: Teaching Civic Engagement: From Student to Active Citizen (2013), Teaching Civic Engagement Across the Disciplines (2017), and Teaching Civic Engagement Globally (2021). She is also the principal investigator for several large-scale, multi-campus field experiments testing the best way to mobilize student voters, co-PI for several national student surveys and survey-based experiments, and editor of the book Teaching Experimental Political Science.

Catherine Fanello
Treasurer

Bio coming soon.

Ann Hoewing, Director

Ann Hoewing, and her husband Gil Staffend, moved to South Bend four years ago, motivated by retirement and living closer to family, including two of their 8 grandchildren. They were interested in learning about Michiana and getting involved in the life of the community. They viewed joining LWV as a great way to accomplish both.

Ann’s first career choice was teaching. She received a BA from the University of Iowa in education/social work. For her MA she incorporated psychology into her degree at the University of Texas, Permian Basin. She taught fifteen years, starting in elementary
grades in Iowa City CSD and finishing in middle school in Goose Creek CISD in Baytown, TX where she helped develop and initiate a gifted education program. Ann then established AAH Consulting, a practice in organization development consulting. Her work focused on strategic direction, corporate alignment, conflict resolution, and the resolution of significant organizational issues. Her forty-year career supported government, private industry, and non-profit organizations to improve their ability to act more strategically and to resolve complex organizational issues, domestic and international. Many of her clients contracted with her for a decade or more.

Exemplars of her career include:
NATO Medical and Operational Issues in a Biological Environment Workshop,
First attempt to bring together working group representatives from operational, medical, intelligence, and armament fields along with representatives from Headquarters, resulting in identification of significant capability shortfalls – or gaps – for NATO when operating within a biological warfare environment.
Projekt Dijakom (Project Dialogue and Community), Sanski Most and Prijedor, Bosnia-Herzegovina
A four-year project between two school districts, one in each Bosnian entity, which recognized essential role educators play in rebuilding and reintegration of a community. The program was then delivered by a cadre of Bosnian Serbs and Muslims educators.

Geri Pawelski
Past President

Geri Pawelski believes the League has a vital role to play in the ongoing work of empowering voters and defending Democracy, and she volunteers to help build and strengthen the League so that members can continue this important work.

Geri joined the League in 2010 and served as president of LWV South Bend Area from 2013 to 2017 and again from 2024 to 2025. She currently serves on the boards of both LWV South Bend Area and LWV Indiana.

She holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in English from Oklahoma State University and a certificate in paralegal studies from Indiana University South Bend. She has worked as a paralegal, executive office administrator, technical writer, and publicist. Geri enjoys writing about things that interest her, volunteering in our community, gardening, and pampering two senior kitties. She has lived in St. Joseph County since 1988.

Marti Heline
Director

Marti Goodlad Heline has been on the LWV board for several years and is co-chair of the membership committee with Judy Bradford.

Marti became involved with the League of Women Voters after 35 years as a newspaper reporter in Muncie and South Bend. Most of that time was with the South Bend Tribune covering courts, legal affairs and local government.

She was attracted to LWV because it is nonpartisan and because of its important work registering and educating voters, sponsoring candidate forums, and advocating for issues to preserve citizens’ rights and open government. Marti served as nominations chair and joined the fundraising/Friend-raiser committee before her election to the board of directors. Her favorite League activity is registering new voters. She also has served as board secretary, worked on the Citizens Guide, and participated in school presentations and voter registration, Marti recommends attending League state meetings to understand the impact of LWV beyond the local chapter.

Marti continues to work part-time as a lead event specialist at Sam's Club and occasionally freelance writes. She is president of the South Bend Press Club, for which she is a long-time board member. She and her husband Tom have two grown daughters: Laura, head athletic trainer at the University of Southern Indiana, Evansville, and Amy Slav, marketing director at Wag’n Tails Mobile Conversions, Granger. Amy and her husband Jared are parents of 4-year-old grandson, Dominic

Dalila Huerta
Director

Dalila Huerta is a restorative justice facilitator, community-based victim advocate, and educator. She is the founding executive director of the Restorative Justice Collaborative Hub in South Bend and currently leads the Hub’s restorative justice services for gender-based violence, homicides, and other severe harms. Alongside her team, she is working to cultivate community-based accountability that supports survivors, helps people take responsibility, and transforms harm.

Dalila is a native of Chicago and has lived in South Bend with her husband and son for over a decade, working for various local nonprofits, schools, and museums locally and on the east coast. She holds a B.A. in History with minors in Peace & Justice Studies and Global Studies, and worked in the museum education field after completing graduate studies through the Winterthur Program in American Material Culture at the University of Delaware. She later graduated from Vermont Law and Graduate School’s restorative justice certificate program and has led restorative justice and cultural equity consulting and training services in South Bend for nearly a decade.

Aladean DeRose
Director

Aladean DeRose is a lawyer. Her mission has been to practice law for the betterment of society, helping one person at a time.

Aladean graduated from Georgetown University in Washington D.C. with a major in languages and linguistics. She received her law degree from Indiana University’s Mauer School of Law in Bloomington, Indiana at a time when around 20% of her law class was female, and when women were around 5% of all lawyers in the U.S.A.

Her early law practice was in the field of civil rights litigation under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act addressing equal employment. This trial work led to Aladean’s career as a part-time attorney in the City of South Bend’s Legal Department for nearly 33 years. Early in her career, Aladean was president of the St. Joseph County Women’s Political Caucus, a bi-partisan issues-focused organization. She was also a president of the St. Joseph County Bar Association. She regularly volunteers her law services through the St. Joseph County Volunteer Lawyer Network. A former member/dancer of Southhold Dance Theater, Aladean appeared in several performances from 1978 to 1983, and served on its Board of Directors for several years.

As a member of the LWV, Aladean most enjoyed LWV’s voter registration events, especially the U.S. naturalization ceremonies and talking to students about the importance of voting. Without the vote, we would not have the laws that have increased the number of persons who can enter careers such as law which were once virtually closed to women.

Continuing to practice law, Aladean now handles mostly family law cases, along with wills and estates, and small real estate transactions.

Shontale Townsend
Director

Shontale Townsend is a seasoned professional in Food Safety with over 25 years of experience in Quality Assurance, Food Safety, and Defense. In her current capacity as Food Safety Manager, she is dedicated to ensuring a safe dining experience for all patrons at her place of employment. She advocates for the importance of food safety education both within and outside her workplace. She strongly believes that proper food safety education can help prevent many foodborne illnesses.

Additionally, she is actively involved in various community activities, holding positions such as Treasurer at Faith Baptist Church, Vice President of the South Bend Chapter of Indiana Black Expo, Board member of the League of Women Voters of St. Joe County , and Social Action Chairs for both the National Pan-Hellenic Council- South Bend and Sigma Gamma Rho Sorority Inc. Iota Xi Sigma Alumnae Chapter and member of Lakeside Reunion Committee.

Shontale holds a BS from Purdue University in Food Science and Master of Project Management from Keller Graduate School of Management. Shontale is very thankful to God for allowing her to achieve these accomplishments in her life. One of her most heartwarming and humble experiences is being a mother to her now grown son.

Shontale’s most favorite bible verses are Philippians 4:11-13 ( NIV); “I am not saying this because I am in need, for I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances.I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want.I can do all this through him who gives me strength.”

She leaves this as a remembrance to all… throughout your entire life God will always be by your side.

Tami Springer

Director

Tami was born in South Bend and has lived in the area all her life. She graduated from Penn High School and raised seven children while working full-time at the University of Notre Dame as a copy editor in the business school. She attended Ivy Tech and obtained her associates degree in business administration, followed by a bachelor of science degree in psychology from Trine University, and finally an MBA degree from Western Governors University. Tami served on the Staff Advisory Council (SAC) at Notre Dame for many years, including two years as the president. She received the Team Irish award twice during her tenure with SAC and also received the Dean’s Excellence Award twice from the Mendoza College of Business at Notre Dame. She retired in October 2025 after 43 years at Notre Dame.

Tami first joined the League of Women Voters in 2017 with the desire to promote voting and citizen engagement with government. She also worked as a poll inspector for two elections. She served briefly on the LWVSBA board of directors as the secretary before resigning in 2018 to pursue a political career. She ran for Penn township administrative board, then ran in 2020 for St. Joseph County Council and again in 2024 for the same office. She decided to leave politics and concentrate on volunteer work after retiring and rejoined the LWV board in 2025, becoming the interim secretary.

Tami enjoys spending time with her seven children and 20 grandchildren and keeps busy with home improvement projects and caring for her pet cats and fish. She also enjoys gardening, swimming, hiking, trivia, reading, and karaoke.