Board Members
2024-2025
Julia Hill-Nichols
President (2024-2026)
Past Vice President, Member of Voter Services Committee,
and leader of efforts to reach underserved populations
Member since 2022
After retiring in 2019, Julia relocated to North Carolina from Littleton, Colorado. She came to our League with over 30 years’ experience as a hands-on strategic business partner providing a unique blend of operational and human resource management with public, private, and nonprofit corporations in Colorado and internationally. As Principal Consultant for LeadersCove Management Consulting Company, she was dedicated to working with management and executive teams to improve their effectiveness which, in turn, positively impacted their employees. She was actively involved in Jefferson County, Colorado’s Library Board of Trustees and various economic development organizations. She served on the Board of Colorado Companies to Watch and was a member of the Entrepreneurs Consortium of Colorado and Blackstone Entrepreneurs Network. Known for her organizational skills and builder traits as well as her persistence, Julia continues to engage in volunteer and community causes, including her support of Lincoln Elementary School in Leland. She volunteers with various activities in her neighborhood, the Bluffs on the Cape Fear and enjoys gardening, cooking and baking, time with her mother, and the companionship of Mazie, a corgie/healer rescue who is known and loved by the whole neighborhood.
Norma Gavin
Vice President (2024-2026)
Member since 2023
Norma retired in December 2016 having spent most of her adult life alternating between stints in Washington, DC and the Research Triangle region, NC. In 2022, she moved to Wilmington. Prior to retirement, Norma, a research economist, led federally-funded evaluations of programs to increase access to and coverage of health care for low-income women and children in the United States. These studies included interviews and surveys of multiple stakeholders, and analyses of survey responses and data from large administrative databases. She has collaborated in these efforts with government officials, medical professionals, and health services researchers; presented the results of her studies to a wide array of audiences; and published numerous articles and book chapters on her work. Norma is active on the League’s Action Teams for Social Issues and the Environment, and the LWVNC's National Popular Vote and the Citizens' Initiative Study Teams. Outside of the League, she volunteers with the American Red Cross and river/waterway clean-up with Cape Fear River Watch kayakers and others. She spends most of her “free time” taking UNCW OLLI classes and enjoying her five grandchildren, including a brilliant, talented transgender grandson.
Laura Williams
Secretary (2023-2025, running for re-election)
Member since 2018
Laura Williams
Secretary (2023-2025, running for re-election)
Member since 2018
Originally from North Carolina, Laura lived in California for many years, returning to Wilmington in 1997. Her work life as a leader and manager in non-profit organizations includes ten years as Business Manager for the Friends School of Wilmington and seven years as the Business Manager for WHQR Public Radio. Laura has a strong financial development background, including accounting, budgeting, and fund-raising. She holds a Bachelor’s in Creative Writing and received her MFA in Creative Writing at UNCW in 2016. Known for her boundless energy and sense of humor, Laura is a member of Church of the Servant, Episcopal, and several writing groups.
Ann Parvin
Treasurer (2024-2026)
Past Newsletter Editor, Nominations Committee Chair
Member since 1985 (NJ League)
Ann moved to NC from Moorestown, New Jersey in November 2006, having worked many years in corporate human resources, specializing in employee benefits and compensation. She also worked for a small custom home builder as Sales and Marketing Director, Customer Service and Communications lead. Her experience as a member with League of Women Voters started in the Moorestown Area (NJ). When she moved to Southport in 2007, she joined our local LCF League and has proven an engaged member who is data-oriented. Her background in math is a great asset to our organization! She also served for 12 years on the Board for Hope Harbor Home, a domestic violence shelter in Brunswick County. Ann’s hobbies include yoga, a community exercise group, and kayaking. She is a proud Nana to four beautiful grandchildren.
Nancy Garland
Director-At-Large (2024-26)
Past President (2021-2024)
Member since 2010 (Ohio League)
Nancy moved to Leland from Columbus, Ohio in June 2013. As a lawyer, she had worked for many years and served in multiple capacities as: an Ohio State legislator, Vice President of Government Affairs for the American Physical Therapy Association, lobbyist and legal counsel for the American Optometric Association. In addition to her past work, Nancy joined the LWV Lower Cape Fear in 2021 and instantly became involved in our leadership. She has also served as the Leland Precinct Democratic Chair, Adjudication Committee member for Compass Point (CP) Rules Committee, CP Newsletter reporter, chair of euchre club, and she plays on various tennis teams and belongs to various book clubs. Nancy’s natural energetic and fun-loving traits are complemented by her strong organizational and leadership skills.
Ellen Haragan
Director at-Large, Membership (2023-2025)
Member since 2022
Ellen has civic organization and advocacy in her blood, having been exposed to her mother’s work as a precinct chair from the time she was young. Politics and voting rights have always been important to her family, thus Ellen pursued Political Science as her major in college. In 2020, she moved to Wilmington from Brooklyn NY and became involved with the NHCDP, which involves a lot of canvassing and literature-dropping during campaign season. She continues her volunteering in the office as well and is a member of the Senior Democrats of NHC. Ellen is involved in the community by way of her service on the NHC Library Advisory board and her contributions to the League and membership growth. When she is not in the midst of her community engagement activities, Ellen reads and practices yoga. Her three children consider her witty, loyal, and kind; she loves the time she gets to spend with them, particularly the one who lives in Wilmington.
Kate Santhuff
Director-at-Large, Communications; Essentials Editor (2025)
Past Nominating Committee Chair
Member since 2024
Having moved to the Wilmington area from Falls Church, Virginia in the summer of 2007, Kate has been an active member of the community both professionally and civically. From 2007-2023, she was a Communications instructor at Cape Fear Community College, as well as Liaison to Wilmington Early College at CFCC from 2007-2018 and Advisor for Phi Theta Kappa (PTK) Honor Society from 2018-2024. She co-founded a theatre company with a church friend in 2008, producing and directing mainstage and children's productions for three years. In August 2025, she will join the faculty of UNCW's Communication Studies Department. Prior to her career in academia, Kate served in roles as the Project Manager for a national publication for the Public Broadcasting Service, the ArtsEdge Program Manager for the John F. Kennedy Center’s Education Department, and developer of teacher resources and training for many education-centered nonprofits. Kate is a mom of two GenZ’ers and has been married for 35 years. In 2022, the Santhuffs moved from Wilmington to Leland, at which time Kate started getting involved in more local grassroots advocacy groups, the Social Committee of Waterford, and the LWVLCF.