District II Director
Terry Comiskey, Director

Terry Comiskey has been a Soroptimist exactly seven years. She joined SI Diablo Valley which merged two years later with SI Lamorinda. She served as vice president with Diablo Valley and as president of Lamorinda.

She has had a variety of careers in her life: teacher, business manager, florist, and entrepreneur. After having retired from teaching at least three times to try other careers she is back as Department Coordinator and teacher part time at St. Catherine of Siena School in Martinez. Education is a vital part of her life and she can't seem to leave the field for very long.

Born in Brooklyn, New York, and growing up in Westchester County has left its mark on her though she tried very hard to get rid of her accent when she went to St. Mary's College "across the Dixie Hwy" from Notre Dame University. It snowed in New York but SNOW was a four letter word in South Bend, Indiana.

She married a Navy Lieutenant Commander after a letter writing courtship and moved to Monterey, CA as a new bride. Except for an eight month duty station in Philadelphia, she and her husband have lived here in California. They have four wonderful sons, a couple daughters-in-law, and "The Cutie", a granddaughter who is almost three. Life is very good.

Quilting is her passion for which there is not enough time and much too much beautiful fabric--- but maybe there will be more time when she retires.

District III Director
Carol Finley Stein

Carol Stein was born and brought up in the San Joaquin Valley, and still feels very much a part of the small town agricultural culture. After graduating from high school, she attended Fresno State, partially on a Soroptimist scholarship. She has had several careers, first as an upper grade teacher, then owning and operating four restaurants, and then as library literacy associate.

Presently, as owner of Carol Stein Consulting, she works with non-profit and service organizations in an advisory capacity, holding workshops on membership recruitment and retention, revitalization, and public relations.

After living in several other states, she returned to California, settling in Napa for over thirty years. While there, she was active in local organizations, among them SI of Napa and the Chamber of Commerce. She was Soroptimist president and the club's delegate to the Japan Convention. In 1998, she and husband, Roy, moved to Vacaville, where she joined the club in which her daughter is a member. In 2002, she was elected to the District Director position, and thinks that her time spent in both the Vacaville and Napa areas is helpful in understanding the clubs with which she works.

In Vacaville, she served a two-year term as President of the St. Mary's Women's Club, and is a member of the Vacaville Museum Guild. She is a founding member of the Vacaville Heart of Community organization, and presently is working with the Saturday Club of Vacaville in establishing a charitable foundation.

Her most enjoyable recent activity was chairing her high school class's three-day reunion where she was able to see friends of more than fifty years duration.

Carol and her husband have traveled extensively throughout the United States and the world. Together, they have four children and twelve grandchildren. Carol's daughter, Stephanie Corrington, is also active in Soroptimist and will be president of the Vacaville club next year. One granddaughter is a charter member of the Will C. Wood High School S Club.

Carol, the founding editor of FounderLink, the Founder Region online newsletter, is editing her final issue. She also is a member of the Public Relations Committee.

In addition to making friends that last a lifetime, Carol says that her Soroptimist membership has enabled her to repay the Soroptimist women of her childhood community who believed in her, served as her role models, and assisted with her educational expenses.

District IV Director
Linda Simon

My background is part of who I am so I'll tell you a little about it. I'm the oldest of 6 children - 3 girls and 3 boys. My father was a career Army officer so we traveled the world while I was growing up. (I never spent a Christmas in the same house until I was 35 years old!). My parents were childhood sweethearts from the age of three on and are still married to each other for the past 55 years. They believed the traveling was a wonderful adventure that should be taken advantage of. As a result, they took us off the military posts and out into the country of places like Honduras, Japan, Germany, Spain, and Italy to name a few. We saw parts of the world we never would have gone to without my father being transferred due to his work. I consider myself extremely lucky to have been able to meet people from many different areas of the world and to be able to learn about different customs and cultures. I love to meet new people and go new places.

5LP, Inc is the business I started with my husband in 1988. It's a multi-faced business that deals with investments, employee benefits and financial planning for businesses. A number of clients are individuals, which we assist in preparing for their financial and insurance needs. I enjoy the business as there is never a dull moment. I continue to meet new and exciting people and have learned more about my business and myself every day.

I was given the gift of Soroptimist in 1993, when I became a charter member of Soroptimist International of Yokayo Sunrise in Ukiah. The internationality of the organization appeals to me and was one of the reasons I joined. I also was looking for an organization where I could meet other women and share time while working on projects that can make a difference to others. I enjoy learning about different service projects and being able to do a small part to help others through my club, as a past Fellowship Director and currently as the District IV Director. Soroptimist is a gift I get to enjoy it every day.

My hobbies are spoiling my 19 nieces and nephews (I have no children - only a fat girl dog named Emerson); reading; traveling, buying jewelry and as a licensed pilot I love flying!

District V Director
Elaine Reed

I have been a member of Soroptimist International of Eureka since 1990. During that time I have held office in every position except Treasurer. I was President for two years. I have been the chair of the Regional S Club committee and during that time we provided two S Club Conferences. I have also been the chair of the Regional Public Relations committee which activated the PR Contest and the Regional Newsletter, FounderLink, on the Internet, thanks to the support of my committee members and the editor of the newsletter, Carol Stein.

At the conference in 2000, I was greatly surprised to be awarded a membership in the Laurel Society. I have been instrumental in uniting the clubs in District V to sponsor a Teen Leadership Conference with our local Girl Scout Council. We have held two conferences, the first with 20 girls and this year we had 35 girls register. For this conference we received the SIA "Women Helping Women" Grant to provide scholarships for girls in need of financial assistance. The clubs in District V shared the Soroptimist Celebrating Success Award.

My own club honored me with the "Women Helping Women" award for my efforts with the Teen Leadership Conference, our club's own Women in Construction event and my care of foster children for over 30 years. I was much surprised to also receive the "Women Helping Women" Region Award. I will continue to encourage the clubs in District V to work together on events such as the Teen Leadership Conference, and to help the clubs become larger, stronger and more noticed in their communities.

District VI Director
Julie Kamanawa-Kala

webmaster's note: the following is an excerpt from the October 2000 issue of Honolulu Magazine.

In the past 13 years, Julie Kamanawa-Kala has managed a McDonald's in Kealakekua and turned a stint as a receptionist in a repair shop into a career as an auto technician and repair shop owner. And today, eight years after joining Soroptimist International of Kona, she's the district director of SI's Founder Region of Soroptimist International of the Americas, the largest branch of a service organization of about 95,000 women business owners and professionals worldwide.

A born leader, Kamanawa-Kala had to overcome one obstacle before getting to where she is today - feeling comfortable with public speaking. In fact, it was four years before she worked up the courage to introduce herself at meetings and conferences. "I used to let my friend introduce me", says Kamanawa-Kala. "I was scared I would make a fool of myself as soon as I opened my mouth."

Kamanawa-Kala credits SI with teaching her to become a better communicator, both as a speaker and listener, assets she has applied to running her business in Kona, Lady JK Fleet & Auto Repair. "It was like fitting a puzzle", says Kamanawa-Kala, who also says Soroptimist taught her how to handle herself in a profession dominated by men. "I learned to see myself as an equal in a man's field, but not lose sight of who I really am. A female first and a female technician second."