Board Members

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President– Adrienne Percival
Immediate Past President – Sheila Jaffe
Vice President, Communications – Natalie Andre
Treasurer – Janet Clark
Technology Support – Rebecca André
Graphics Director – Bob Jaffe
Secretary – Adele Guadalupe
Director – Marilyn Davis
Director – Cristina Mabrey

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President – Adrienne Percival

Adrienne Percival started at the Compass Community Center, which has been serving the LGBTQ community in Palm Beach County for 35 years, as an intern in 2015 as she was completing her MA in Women’s Studies from FAU, and is now a co-chair for the Advisory Council of their Women, Gender & Sexuality Studies program. A lifelong feminist, Adrienne is passionate about activism and advocacy. When she’s not inviting folks to the latest event or festival, she enjoys butterfly gardening, dachshund rescue, and holiday decorating.

 

 

 

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Immediate Past President – Sheila Jaffe

Sheila Jaffe first became involved in the women’s rights movement in Philadelphia on August 26, 1970 at the Women’s Strike for Equality. That day thousands of women in America didn’t go to work to show how valuable was their labor. Women were celebrating the fiftieth anniversary of passage of the nineteenth amendment, which granted women the right to vote. The next year Congresswoman Bella Abzug got that day designated as Women’s Equality Day.

After moving to Florida, Sheila became involved in the South Palm Beach County chapter of NOW in 1988 when her printing company started printing NOW’s newsletters. She has been the chapter’s president and vice president of Florida NOW.

In 1996 she was one of the founding members of the Feminist Scholarship Fund and is still on the board of directors. The fund has awarded scholarships to over one hundred women and men to pursue their studies.

Sheila has been involved in FACTs Court Watch and health issue concerns with women and tobacco addiction.

Sheila is married to Bob and has a merged family of three daughters and one son.

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Communications Vice President – Natalie Andre

An activist since always, Natalie Andre settled into Palm Beach County in 1987 and joined NOW shortly after.  After successfully campaigning with Vivian Burch and Jean Poleshuck for comprehensive sex-education while her children were attending public school, Natalie moved into leadership roles, including a stint as Membership Chair for Florida NOW. Along with Sheila and Bob Jaffe, she signed the 1998 Declaration of Sentiments of the National Organization for Women,  in Seneca Falls,  150 years after the original 1848 Declaration of Sentiments was signed in the first Women’s Rights Convention in Seneca Falls.

In 2004, she joined the March for Women’s Lives along with numerous members of South Palm Beach County NOW–Jean Poleshuck, Sheila and Bob Jaffe, Gloria Alpert, Maria Romero-Cuesta and her husband Skip Clements, Katie Dvorak and her parents, Joe and Barbara Dvorak, Allan Taylor, Gloria Stein, Roz Rothman, and several others. She was also instrumental in creating and promoting Families Against Court Travesties (FACTS), a NOW spin-off, along with Sheila Jaffe and Adele Guadalupe; this court-watch based organization has campaigned for family court reform and helped defeat two sitting judges. Recently, she was President of the merged Palm Beach County NOW. Until recently, she was President of FACTS, which can be seen at http://factscourtwatch.org/

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Technology Support – Rebecca André

Rebecca André marched with her family against the Vietnam War in Washington D.C. while in high school and has been an activist ever since. She majored in Business Administration and caught the fever for life-long learning in Women’s Studies courses, where she earned a Minor and a Master’s Degree at Ohio State University. Beck ultimately earned a Ph.D. in Educational Policy and Leadership with an emphasis on women’s issues in higher education. Educational Technology developed into another fever 23 years ago and Beck served several universities and schools as Ed Tech Director, sharing her love of technology with faculty, staff, and K-20+ students. Beck is a long-time PBC NOW member and also enthusiastically serves as Co-chair on the Advisory Committee for FAU’s Women, Gender, and Sexuality Studies. She moved to Delray Beach in 2008 where she happily resides with her spouse in a super supportive community.

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Treasurer – Janet Clark

Upon graduating with a degree in Accounting, Janet pursued a lengthy career in Information Technology. Much of her focus during those years was in developing, training and implementing financial applications for a wide variety of clients. Although not an “activist” until retirement, during her career Janet became fully aware of the pervasive pay discrepancies in the technology sector as well the plight of mothers trying to work while raising a family. Also, as a native Floridian who grew up during the Civil Rights movement, Janet has first-hand knowledge of the segregation and discrimination so prevalent in the South during that time.

In 2007 Janet began volunteering as a mentor with Big Brother, Big Sister and Children’s Home Society. Experience with these children propelled her to pursue organizations like NOW that advocate for women’s issues and children’s rights. In 2015 Janet joined NOW and Families Against Court Travesties (FACTS) to become actively involved in court watch and family court reform. She also volunteers with Mental Health Association’s Listen to Children program in schools as well as tutoring with Literacy Coalition’s Building Better Readers. As a firm believer in the need to choose legislators who share our values, she works closely with Women’s March and Palm Beach Indivisibles’ Get Out The Vote (GOTV).

Janet and her husband are avid water-skiers and she is past Treasurer of the Ski Club of the Palm Beaches. She has also served as Treasurer and Secretary for FACTS, handling its scheduling of courtwatches.

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Secretary – Adele Guadalupe

Adele Guadalupe of Palm Beach County NOW, and one of the founders of Families Against Court Travesties, Inc. (FACTS), has presented “Florida’s Family Court System and Its Effect on Women and Children” to many groups and organizations in Florida. She is also on the Florida NOW Child Custody Committee and National NOW Family Law Committee.

She was born and raised in N.Y.C., is married to Manny, the wind beneath her sails, is a mother, grandmother and great-grandmother. She graduated from Goddard College in Vermont with a degree in journalism, and also studied psychology. She later attended N.Y. School of Design and worked in the field of interior design for many years.

 

 

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Director – Marilyn Davis          

Marilyn Davis currently serves on the Boards of three not-for-profit organizations in South Florida and participates in other national philanthropic activities.

Her focus is split between the creative arts and human services, particularly those impacting women and families.

Marilyn retired from a legal corporate counsel career in which she sequentially managed the large legal and subrogation departments of a major insurance company, served as vice president and general counsel for a national consulting company and lastly for a national company providing women’s focused health care education and engagement through several hundred hospitals.

Additionally, Marilyn served as chairwoman of a not-for-profit national organization focused on advancements in women’s healthcare.

Marilyn Davis has been published in the arts through a children’s book she wrote titled “The Color of Birds” which is available on Amazon. She is also a published author in public policy in a compendium complied by the Brooking Institute.

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Graphics Director – Bob Jaffe  

Bob Jaffe has been involved with the design and printing of our  communications since 1989. Jaffe Printing Corp. started printing our newsletters, mailings and invitations when his spouse Sheila Jaffe became an active chapter member. As a father of three daughters, Bob has been a committed feminist and supportive of women’s rights and opportunities.

Bob has experience as board chair of Boca Raton Kiwanis and the PBC American Cancer Society. He was also on the board of Planned Parenthood in Boca Raton. Now that Bob and Sheila are retired, they are dedicating their time to improving the lives of women and equal rights for all.

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Director – Cristina Mabrey

M. Cristina Mabrey, PhD., Professor Emerita, University of South Carolina. I taught undergraduate and graduatecourses in Spanish language and literature, comparative literature, and women and gender studies. A career in teaching has motivated me to advocate for women’s issues and support initiatives for women’s wellbeing. After retirement I moved to Florida in 2017, and as a member of NOW I joined Palm Beach Chapter. I have collaborated with other members to protect women’s rights. As domestic violence, children’s custody battles, and mistreatment of women plague the Florida family courts, with the activists of Families Against Court Travesties, a NOW spin-off, I have attended court watches with the intention of supporting other women and make a difference in their long struggle to obtain justice.