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Stanislaus County, CA November 2, 2010 Election
Smart Voter Full Biography for Carolyn Lott

Candidate for
Board Member; Yosemite Community College District; Trustee Area 1

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This information is provided by the candidate

BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH NAME Carolyn E. (Ratto) Lott

PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE 2005-2007 Senior Programs Manager, Great Valley Center, Modesto CA 2003-2005 Manager, Great Valley Center, New Valley Connexions, Modesto, CA 2001- Facilitator- Center for Collaborative Policy, Sacramento 2002-2003 Coordinator/Facilitator-Operation Clean Air, an 8-county, 13 industry sector, collaborative to address air quality issues (Under contract with Great Valley Center) 1993-2001 Office Manager- Dr. Michael P. Ratto 1996-1998 Teacher, Julien Elementary School, Turlock 1973-1975 Teacher-St. Brendan's Elementary School, San Francisco

HONORS AND AWARDS 1973 Cum Laude 1999 Paul Harris Award, Rotary International 1999 Turlock Chamber of Commerce Citizen of the Year Award 1998 Soroptomist Lifetime Honorary Membership 1998 Stanislaus County Minority Network Woman of the Year 1988 Nominee PTA Teacher of the Year

PROFESSIONAL TRAINING 2001 Mediation and facilitation training - Center for Collaborative Policy, Sacramento, CA 1996-2000 Basic, Advanced, and Leadership in Action Certificates, League of California Cities Mayors and Council Members Leadership Academy

CREDENTIAL 1973 Lifetime Elementary

ADMINISTRATIVE RESPONSIBILITIES/COMMITTEE ACTIVITIES

1997-2007 Board Member-California Cities, Counties, and Schools Partnership 1998-2005 Advisory Board Member- California State University Stanislaus 1990-2001 Council Member-City of Turlock 1998-1999 President: League of California Cities 1998-1990 Planning Commissioner-City of Turlock 1984-1988 Parks & Recreation Commissioner-City of Turlock 1994-1996 Board of Directors, National League of Cities 1996-2001 Advisory Board-National League of Cities 1996 Chair-National League of Cities Leadership Council 1998 Chair-California Cities, Counties, Schools Partnership 1997-1999 Commissioner-Governor's State Commission on Governance in the 21st Century 1999 Member-CA State Vocational and Technical Education Plan Field Review Committee

CURRENT POSITION TITLE/ INSTITUTION Partner/Carlon Consulting

EDUCATION/TRAINING INSTITUTION AND LOCATION DEGREE

YEAR FIELD OF STUDY
Holy Names University, Oakland, CA BA 1972 English Holy Names University - Lifetime Teaching Credential Credential 1973 Education

SUMMARY OF BACKGROUND

Carolyn Lott is a partner in Carlon Consulting, a private business offering public policy facilitation services, leadership development training, organizational development, and subject matter expertise in criminal justice.

Mrs. Lott is currently working with the Center for Collaborative Policy (CCP) in Sacramento, California. CCP is a joint program of California State University, Sacramento and McGeorge School of Law and offers facilitation for public policy development. Mrs. Lott has completed her ninth year of contract services, providing facilitation to the Department of Water Resources for San Joaquin County. During her tenure, the County and a joint powers authority have moved from a stalemate position to recipients of state funding for water supply projects and have developed an Integrated Regional Water Management Plan to help restore the depleted underground aquifer and address other issues regarding water use. She is also currently facilitating the Lower San Joaquin Regional Work Group for the Central Valley Flood Management Protection Plan (CVFMPP) process. Entering Phase II, the work group is beginning to develop management actions. Within Phase I the work group developed content for the Regional Conditions Summary Report (RCSR), a key component for developing the 2012 CVFMPP. The RCSR identified resources, conditions within the Central Valley, flood management and related problems and opportunities, and goals and objectives for use in preparing the CVFMPP.
Recently, Mrs. Lott facilitated appeals meetings and public outreach meetings for the U.S. Forest Service Stanislaus National Forest Motorized Travel Management Plan Record of Decision and Environmental Impact Study. In 2009, she facilitated public outreach meetings for "California Complete Count," the California component of the U.S. Census.

In 2009, Ms. Lott facilitated a consensus process for Calaveras County Water District, helping water agencies and the county develop a draft water element for their current county general plan update. Even though some of the stakeholders in this process were involved in litigation with each other on other issues, Ms. Lott was able to help develop a process within which members were able to identify common ground. Also with CCP, Mrs. Lott was both project manager and facilitator for the Smart Growth Local Elected Officials Roundtables, a joint project of the Governor's Office of Planning and Research, the California State Association of Counties, the Local Government Commission, and the League of California Cities.

From 2005-2007, Mrs. Lott was the Senior Program Manager for the Great Valley Center (GVC). A regional non-profit affiliated with UC Merced, GVC focuses on strengthening and supporting the economic, social, and environmental quality of life within the Great Central Valley of California, from Redding to Bakersfield. Mrs. Lott was responsible for the Great Valley Leadership Institute (GVLI). Engaging faculty from Harvard's Kennedy School of Government, Mrs. Lott offered an intensive 4.5 day leadership experience to local elected officials throughout California. Mrs. Lott was also responsible for facilitation of the regional advisory committee for the San Joaquin Valley Blueprint planning process. With over sixty members, including local elected officials, government agencies, business, environmental organizations, and others this group was charged with integrating land use plans from eight counties into a regional growth plan for the planning horizon of 2050. From 2003-2005, Mrs. Lott was manager of the New Valley Connexions program. While in these positions, she also managed and facilitated numerous projects, some of which included technology access projects with AT&T, public outreach projects with Caltrans, an international design competition for architectural renderings of a "green" public rest stop for California, and design, coordination, and implementation of regional and topical conferences.

Prior to these positions, Mrs. Lott was contracted by GVC to be the coordinator of Operation Clean Air. She was responsible for crafting the governance plan and organizing and facilitating all meetings of the steering committee (leaders from 13 industry sectors) and sector working groups. She coordinated an 8-county effort to organize sectors of the San Joaquin Valley to help improve air quality. She successfully guided the development of thirteen sectors, developed working groups, drafted an Air Quality Improvement Plan, coordinated an inaugural Summit with more than 400 attendees, and helped secure Congressional assistance through endorsement and funding commitments.
Mrs. (Ratto) Lott was a council member for the city of Turlock, CA. During this time she was actively involved in numerous policy development activities through both the League of California Cities (LCC) and the National League of Cities. She played a key leadership role as President of the LCC, board member for both organizations, and chair of numerous committees, including chairing the National League of Cities Leadership Training Council. She has also chaired the California Cities, Counties, and Schools State Partnership, served as a founding member of the Board of Directors, and served as Governor's Appointee on the Commission for Local Governance in the 21st Century. Mrs. Lott has completed a decade of service on the Turlock Chamber of Commerce Leadership Steering Committee and has spent more that half a decade as an Advisory Board Member for California State University, Stanislaus. She has also completed three terms as a board member for Emanuel Medical Center in Turlock.

One of Mrs. Lott's strengths noted both by the city of Turlock management while on City Council, and by leadership within the League of CA Cities, is her ability to build consensus. In facilitating conflict resolution, she works to understand individual interests versus positions; thereby underscoring common desired outcomes. Mrs. Lott has received numerous accolades for her keynote addresses on city council/city manager roles and relationships and helped shepherd the strategic planning efforts of both LCC and NLC.

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Created from information supplied by the candidate: October 22, 2010 10:33
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