Shirlee Zane

Board of Supervisors representative; Health and Human Services liaison member and Chairwoman of the Board of Supervisors, Shirlee Zane.

Supervisor Zane has over 25 years of experience working in health and human services as a family therapist, minister, hospital chaplain, special education educator, and inner city social worker. She holds a Master of Arts (M.A.) degree in theology from Trinity Evangelical Divinity School and an M.A. in family counseling from Sonoma State University.

Ms. Zane is a fluent Spanish speaker and has worked abroad in Caracas, Venezuela. She is serving as Chair of the Long-term Care Subcommittee for the National Association of Counties; the Subcommittee’s work focuses on implementation of long-term care goals, mental health issues, and a policy platform for counties across the US. She also serves on a number of boards and commissions, including the Bay Area Air Quality Management District, SMART, and the Sonoma County Transportation Authority- Regional Climate Protection Authority. She is a recipient of the Reverend Coffee Human Rights Award and the Community Service Award in Education from the Hispanic Chamber of Commerce.

Prior to her election to the Board of Supervisors, she served from 1999 - 2008 as the CEO for the Council on Aging, a private nonprofit corporation that provides services for seniors countywide. There she led the successful capital campaign to raise $3.5 million for a new community kitchen to provide hot meals for seniors and serve as an emergency disaster kitchen for Sonoma County.