Meet Our New Members

These short bios include information about our newest branch members. Please greet them when you get a chance and ask about their various interests and backgrounds.

Barbara Casey

Barbara Casey grew up in New Jersey and moved to Morgan Hill with her family in 1977 before attending college at the University of Colorado at Boulder. She has lived in various locations, including nearly 30 years in Denver. She recently moved back to Morgan Hill to care for her parents. Her dad passed away last year, and she continues to live with her mom, Nancy Casey, who has belonged to our branch since 1984. She works part time at Morgan Ranch Winery and is enjoying learning all about wine. Barbara’s interests are art, music, and politics. She was a history major so also loves museums and books about history. She says she joined AAUW because it is something that she and her mother can do together.

Sharon Kirsch

Sharon Kirsch has a BS degree from Marylhurst College in Oregon and a law degree from Santa Clara University. She and her husband moved to Morgan Hill from San Jose in 2014. Sharon retired from the law firm of McManis Faulkner in 2016 where she was the partner in charge of the Labor and Employment Group. After retirement, she became a certified University of California Master Gardener and volunteers for the Master Gardner program of Santa Clara County. Sharon enjoys spoiling her grandchildren, gardening, hiking, traveling, reading and cooking. Sharon was attracted to AAUW for its support of education for young women and its community involvement.  She says that several friends talked to her about joining AAUW MH, including the three Fishman sisters and Marilyn Freund, but when Jenny Redfern invited her to a Wine and Whine event, that’s what sealed the deal!

Susan Meyers

Susan Meyers was born and raised in Fresno. She earned a BA degree at UC Berkeley, master’s degree and teaching credential at San Francisco State, and a PhD in Special Education at UC Berkeley. She started her career teaching children who were blind/visually impaired, and then children with multiple disabilities. She joined the faculty at SJ State and served as professor and Dean of the College of Education, where she enjoyed a 35-year career. After retirement in 2009, she was named Emeritus Dean. She also founded the Interfaith Community of South County and has served on the Jewish Community Relations Council and board of Congregation Emeth. She and her husband have lived in Santa Clara County for more than 30 years. Her family—four children and six grandchildren—keep her busy, along with a variety of interests. A member of AAUW national for many years, she learned about AAUW MH from Elizabeth Mandel, Marcia and Nancy Fishman, and Nancy Altman.

Corina Sapien

Corina Sapien has a BA in history, a teaching credential, and MA in Educational Administration, all from Santa Clara University. She and her husband live in San Martin. They have two adult children and two grandsons.  She loves cooking, home improvement projects, party planning, and spending time with her family. She is the Director of Family and Community Engagement for the Morgan Hill Unified School District, where she oversees the Family and Community Engagement Center, located behind Britton School, and the Community Adult School. Corina met Donna Dicker at the Community Adult School graduation ceremony and invited her to join. She sees AAUW as providing opportunities for friendships, networking, and community building.

Laura Whitaker

Laura Whitaker hails from Los Angeles. She has a BA in Behavioral Science from the University of Oregon in Eugene, as well as a BA in Journalism and a BS in Telecommunications from Pacific University in Oregon. Before retirement she  worked for various companies in the fields of marketing and internal communications. Her husband Jerry is an engineer, and she says that he has wired their home for everything! They have two adult daughters, one recently engaged. Laura has two female rescue dogs: a black Lab from China and a Chi mix from AARF MH. She enjoys volunteering at the San Martin Animal Shelter to help dogs get adopted.  She loves flower gardening and whimsical fairy gardens. She is a long time friend of member Pat Toombs who encouraged her to join. She is looking forward to making friends in AAUW and keeping busy with a purposeful organization.

Sherrie Wren and Barbara Palmer, Membership chairs