Hello ~~first_name~~:

Harry Bognich

I joined LWVJoCo (along with my wife Mary) in 2015.

For many years, I have been an Observer Corps member who attends the Johnson County Mental Health Center Advisory Board meetings and submits reports for The VOTER newsletter.

In 2017-2018, I served as chair on the Voter Education Ad Hoc Committee that researched and created a “Media Integrity in an Era of Fake News” presentation which the LWVJoCo Speakers Bureau can use.  I also served as chair of the Budget Committee for fiscal year 2021-2022.

As a member of the Speakers Bureau, I have made presentations in recent years on topics like “Be an Informed and Active Voter” and “Power Up Your Advocacy”, etc. to various audiences in the area.

I was elected at the March 2023 Annual Meeting to be the new LWVJoCo Secretary and continue to serve since April 2023 on the LWVJoCo Executive Board.

Ruth E. Cain

I joined the LWVJoCo in June 2021. Since then, I have assisted with voter registration information events, candidate fora, and meet and greets.  I serve on the JoCo Vote411 team and assumed the role of leader of that team in summer 2024.  Since January 2024, I have attended the LWVK Legislative Observers Fast Friday meetings to learn about the State’s legislative processes, priorities, and nuances and the LWVK’s advocacy efforts.

Other volunteer activities include serving as a peer reviewer for the higher education accreditation association (Higher Learning Commission), as a scholarship application reviewer for KC Scholars, and as a member of the Visitor Research Committee at the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art.

I hold a doctorate in higher education administration, and my professional positions included serving in institutional-wide roles in academic program development, implementation, and evaluation; institutional accreditation, including serving as the liaison for a ten-year accreditation site visit; and assessment of student learning achievement.

Mary Estrada

I have been a member since 2012, I held board positions as Pres.-Elect (monthly speakers) and also Co-chair of Voter Services. I also helped with voter registrations, visiting high schools in Johnson and Wyandotte counties and JCCC to register voters. I also went to the Naturalization ceremonies to register new American citizens.

In the past have helped with candidate forums and also served as a greeter. I just left the Hospitality committee, as I serve on another board and a couple of times helped set up then left to assist the non-profit with their Saturday event.

Leslie D. Mark

Born in Geneva, Switzerland at the height of the Cold War, daughter of American diplomats, Leslie spent much of her childhood in Europe, Africa and the United States.

She attended University of Maryland, College Park, MD while working on Capitol Hill for Rep. Les Aspin on the big push of the day: creating an all-volunteer military. The congressman went on to serve as President Clinton’s first Secretary of Defense. Leslie transferred to Smith College, Northampton, MA., to pursue a Studio Art major and Government minor, leaving her DC home and politics behind.

Hallmark Cards recruited Leslie from Smith, and eager to learn from internationally acclaimed calligraphers already in Kansas City at Hallmark, she jumped at the chance. That quick decision to take the first job offer morphed into a 41-year design and calligraphy career. Leslie retains membership in several guilds, including the Washington DC Calligraphy Society.

In volunteer work, Leslie has focused on long-term, sustained alumnae development and participation for Smith College as well as mentoring many young women from high school through Smith and beyond. Until 2016, she also served the Kansas City community on a variety of projects supporting education, elder care, inter-faith dialogue and environmental awareness.

After the 2016 election Leslie refocused on politics. She fell in with the local group of (mainly) women activists who stood up the Kansas City chapter of Indivisible. They committed to raising community engagement, training on harnessing power to change the political landscape and bringing more attention to the failures of the media to keep citizens informed. Indivisible Kansas City (now Missouri Action Alliance) continues to focus on primary issue advocacy topics: voting rights and access to the ballot, Medicaid expansion (MO & KS), equitable school funding, including higher education, and implementing better gun safety laws. Leslie continues her work with a national political messaging group to better reclaim our national narrative and help activists and candidates use those tools to support relational voter outreach efforts.