WOMEN
OF LONG BEACH
Equity. Progress. Power.
What We Stand For
Equity
Racial, gender & sexual identity, migrant status all have deep inequities in Long Beach. They affect the health outcomes, economic instability, and safety of our community.
In Long Beach we have a 17 year life expectancy difference. Policy addressing Racial inequity is needed to address all gaps and lift all residents.
Climate
The Climate Crisis takes over 7 million lives a year. We must ground all public policy in climate resiliency and stopping our dependency on fossil fuels while working with Labor and economic development leaders to ensure these are good career level jobs.
Housing
Everyone deserves safe & affordable housing, from youth, vulnerable populations, to our aging community.
Our most vulnerable populations deserve diverse housing options, some including wrap around services, mental health support.
Youth & Families
Youth and Families face the same challenges in addition to access to quality public education, career pipelines, and services and support for our unhoused youth, and vulnerable aging population. Priorities include good job standards for those who care for our families, and digital inclusion.
Who We Are
We manage a small volunteer board, we have hundreds of Long Beach donors, and work to be a Political Action Committee that every residents can participate in, volunteer with and access candidates and decision makers on issues we focus on.
Naida Tushnet, PhD. (she/her/hers)
Naida Tushnet retired from leading a program that evaluated educational and other social programs about 10 years ago. Since then, she has been an activist for peace and social justice. She serves as vice chair of the Advisory Commission for Senior Citizens, immediate past president of the Osher Lifelong Learning Institute (OLLI) at CSULB, where she also teaches course that explore the roots of current social problems. Prior to coming to Long Beach, she led programs in research and development organizations, a state education agency, and the US Department of Education. Her first professional jobs were as a high school history teacher, in Pennsylvania and Missouri. Naida holds a BA from Grinnell College, an MA from Columbia University (both in history), and a PhD in policy analysis from Washington University in St. Louis.
Ennette Morton, Ed.D. (she/her/hers) is a higher education administrator, women’s leadership speaker, and advocate/supporter for Close the Gap California (CTGCA). Prior to her position in higher education administration, she served in leadership roles for the City of Riverside. She is actively engaged within the community and serves on several boards and commissions including, the California Cultural and Historic Endowment Board and the Long Beach City Commission on Youth and Family. Additionally, she is an Emerge CA alumnus, completing her term as President of the Long Beach Democratic Club, and a former board member of the Alamitos Beach Neighborhood Association. She earned her doctorate in Organizational Leadership from Pepperdine’s Graduate School of Education and Psychology, an MBA from Pepperdine’s Graziadio Business School, and bachelor’s degree in Communications from Cal Poly Pomona.
Jacqui Viale (she/her/hers) is a California native, though she grew up in Philadelphia attending public schools. She returned to earn her B. A. from U. C. Berkeley and later an M. A. in Educational Administration from CSULB. Her teaching career began with the Los Angeles Unified School District, where she earned her teaching credential. She took a leave of absence from teaching to raise her children in Long Beach. Viale then returned to the education realm via the nonprofit world, first as volunteer, then staff, and finally as a director of local Long Beach nonprofit, Shared Science. Her work advocating for STEM education, especially for girls and all underserved populations, took her to every corner of Long Beach, where she forged many relationships. She served as a commissioner on the Long Beach Community Development Advisory Commission from 2010 to 2012. In 2017 she started work at the LBPL Michelle Obama Neighborhood Library. Currently, Jacqui works as a Library Assistant and volunteers with advocacy groups working for women’s rights, voting rights, and equality. As a founding member of the Long Beach Resister Sisters, she has been a grassroots organizer on both the local and national levels. She was an area coordinator for the Warren Campaign and volunteered with the national grassroots group Persist USA.
Our Board is fully volunteer, and prior board members include Nubia Flores, Christine Petit, and Hon. Jeannine Pearce. We keep a small board to be nimble, but accessible. We welcome all community partners, donors, volunteers and board interest.