Meet the Board Series
Judith Myers, Board President
Judy calling and thanking donors personally during our Thank-A-Thon
We want you to get to know those who are dedicating their time and expertise to leading our organization and furthering our mission. To achieve that, we’ll be introducing you to one member every month. This month, we would like to introduce you to our Board President, Judith Myers. To help you get to know her we asked her about what brought her to Cope, why she believes Cope’s mission is important and what she hopes to achieve in her time on the Board.
“What brought me to Cope? My husband and I moved to Napa from Westchester County, NY in 2014 after I retired from ten years working as an elected County Legislator (equivalent to a County Supervisor here) and we wanted to be near our two grown children located in northern CA. I was intrigued with California's ballot initiatives (which we didn't have in NY) and began to work on a child-related funding initiative called Measure Y. I met Joelle Gallagher, then Executive Director of Cope, and she brought me onto the Board in 2016.
Cope is of vital importance to the community, I believe, because -- at the risk of sounding trite -- children are our future. They need to be protected and nurtured and educated from day one by their parents and/or caregivers and by their community. Cope is there to support the protection, nurturing and education of our children by educating the parents and caregivers.
Judy (right) with fellow Board Member Kathy Glass and Former Board Member Carole Kelly at Blue Ribbon Month Kick-Off event.
Having served on the Cope Board for 5 1/2 years, and as President for the past year and a half, I believe my role is to be an advocate for Cope in the community, to bring broader awareness of Cope to members of the community, and - as President - to make my fellow Board members more aware of the intricacies of Cope, its mission, and its accomplished staff.
With one more year on the Board before being "term limited out," I would like to create an Advocacy Committee for Cope, specifically to interact with County and State governments with regards to Childhood initiatives and spending. In Westchester County, we had a special budget carve-out known as "Campaign for Kids" to provide funding for contracts with not-for-profits on an annual basis... often referred to as the Children's Budget. I believe that Napa County would greatly benefit from the introduction of a "children's budget" and I think an Advocacy Committee could help to make this happen.”