Our Team
Cinnamon Danielson
Executive Director
With 20 years experience working with women in crisis, Cinnamon brings her passion for women and her leadership skills to the WoW family. Making use of her Counseling and Chaplain credentials, as well as years of leadership training she is using her expertise to positively impact the vulnerable women in Nevada County and beyond.
Cinnamon has been married to her best friend Bruce for 30 years. Cinnamon has 4 children and 2 grandchildren. She enjoys family time and is an avid golfer.
Alexa DeSena
Program Director
Alexa has resided in Nevada County for 25 years and loves the community. She graduated with a BSW from Sacramento State University and has worked with children and families for over 20 years. Her passion is to bring resources and hope to families within the community, and to help each thrive and grow in the best way possible. Alexa spends her down time with her three wonderful children. She enjoys all things outdoors, attending all her children’s sporting events, and reading.
Jan-Michelle
Marketing Coordinator
With a Ph.D. in Integral Studies: Learning and Change in Human Systems from the California Institute of Integral Studies (CIIS) in San Francisco, Jan-Michelle’s career has spanned healthcare and education fields in her various roles as Director of Public Relations and Marketing, photographer, and Publications Manager. She was a professor and educator in Communications and Marketing at the University of Hawaii, Manoa for 15 years. Her profession as a sculptor (with sculptures on permanent public display in Hawaii and California) has been influenced by a philosophy that every public sculpture should inform, educate, and inspire the viewer. Jan-Michelle has several years of experience working in the non-profit sector. She is a certified financial literacy educator and coach. Her primary interests are adult education and financial literacy. She recently authored an eBook entitled Budgeting to Make Ends Meet.
Stephanie Monahan
Bookkeeper
Stephanie Monahan has been working in the nonprofit community for 23 years and is a new resident in Nevada County. She is so grateful for Women of Worth and their mission to help create Hope in the community.
Board of Directors
Diane French
President
Diane was so impressed after attending the 2023 Women of Worth (WoW) Spaghetti Dinner fundraiser that she reached out to WoW to find out how she could become a volunteer and to offer her help at WoW’s newly purchased safe house. Shortly after becoming a WoW volunteer, she accepted an invitation to be on their board and feels blessed and honored to be part of the WoW team.
Diane has a passion for helping others. In the past, when she lived in Southern California, she volunteered for the non-profit, Fresh Start Surgical Gifts that provides pro bono surgeries to under and non-insured children. She also volunteered for the non-profit, Angel Faces that empowers adolescent girls who have sustainedsevere facial burns. Feeling that it’s important to give back to the community she also currently volunteers weekly at Interfaith Food Ministry.
She and her husband, Mike live in Alta Sierra and are members of Twin Cities church. In her downtime, some of her favorite things to do are bird watching, hiking, and reading. Diane feels fortunate to be involved with an organization that helps to empower women and whose mission is to help restore a woman’s worth. Hope is definitely found here at WoW.
Terry McLaughlin
Secretary
Terry was a regular weekly volunteer for Women of Worth for over four years before joining WoW's board of directors in 2019. Early in her professional life, she was employed as a private school secretary in Los Angeles and a legal secretary in San Diego County, as well as a staff member in the Legacy and Planned Giving Department of the American Cancer Society's San Diego branch. After the birth of her two children, she enjoyed a lengthy career in Marin County, providing marketing and operations for a small travel company. Since retiring to Nevada County, she has been an active member of her community, involved in numerous organizations, nonprofits, and her church.
As a past President and current committee member of Nevada County Republican Women Federated, she serves as a liaison with its members regarding fundraising and volunteering projects for Women of Worth. Terry is also a Nevada County Citizens Academy graduate, a member of her church choir and other church ministries, and is involved with a fledgling nonprofit begun in 2019 dedicated to supporting local children's programs. She has been producing a bi-monthly opinion column in The Union newspaper since 2016, during which time she has profiled various local nonprofits, including the Marine Corps League's Memorial Wall project, The Norah Foundation, Newcomers Club of Nevada County, Welcome Home Vets, The Grass Valley Male Voice Choir, Hospice of the Foothills, Nevada County Animal Evacuation, and of course, Women of Worth.
Robert “Bud” Hawley
Treasurer
Robert has an extensive background in institutional and private commercial real estate development, construction, and management, spanning over three decades. He has held executive roles within various renowned national companies and also co-owned a real estate firm that specialized in redeveloping properties.
Robert earned a Bachelor's degree in Civil Engineering from the University of Vermont and was a registered Engineer in Illinois (now retired). Additionally, he holds a real estate license in Arizona and an FAA remote pilot's license (now retired). Moreover, Robert has completed solar initiative studies in California to further enhance his expertise in the field.
Russell H. Wilder
Board Member
Russell has been a member of WoW's board since 2014. A veteran of over 40 years in the leasing and financing of equipment for businesses, he is the executive Vice President, chief risk officer for ATEL Capital Group in San Francisco, one of the largest independent equipment financing firms in the industry. He is also on the board of directors of the KARE Crisis Nursery in Grass Valley, a member of the 49er Breakfast Rotary Club of Nevada City, and a Red Rose Society member of the Sierra Nevada Memorial Hospital Foundation. Along with his wife Deborah, he has been a donor and volunteer to several other Nevada County nonprofits. An Eagle Scout himself, as an adult, he served first as a den leader for a Cub Scout pack and then as Scoutmaster of a troop. He then ran a large annual event attended by over 600 scouts and staffed by 100 volunteers for the Pacific Skyline Council for several years. He was the registrar and on the board of an AYSO youth soccer league and officiated games for several years. In recognition of his service to youth, he is a recipient of the Silver Beaver award from the Pacific Skyline Council, scouting's highest award to adult leaders at the council level.
Shirlyn Vogel
Board Member
Shirlyn relocated to Nevada County 20 years ago from the San Fernando Valley. After getting her degree in Business from the University of Southern California she helped run the family business a Florist and Bridal Shop. She was active in the Chamber of Commerce, The Loyal Order of the Moose, and on the Board of Directors for Chaplin’s Eagles a group that brought ministry to local Juvenile Halls and Youth Camps.
After moving into Lake Wildwood she got her Real Estate License. She was an active member of the Kiwanis, on the Board of Directors for the Domestic Violence and Coalition spearheading their yearly fundraising event and Daddy Daughter Day Dance, and Chairperson for the Fund-Raising Committee at Century 21. She is currently active in her church youth ministry programs. She is recently retired and enjoys spending time with her loving family and her rescue dog Batman.