Lori Sassoon

Contact:  VicePresident@WomenLeadingGovernment.com 

Women Leading Government Board Member Lori Sassoon serves as the Vice-Chair for the organization.  She is the City Manager of Villa Park, located in Orange County, California, and lives in Claremont with her husband Marco, daughter Noel and border collie Cocoa.  Lori talks about her job saying, “I love waking up with the goal of solving today’s problems in a constructive way, and working with elected officials to map out the course for the future.  I also love helping others along in their public service careers.”  She earned a BA from Cal Poly/Pomona and an MPA from California State University/San Bernardino.

WLG is important to Lori because, “It is so important to have real connections to other local government professionals. It’s not ‘fluff’ - it’s essential to providing the best service we can to each of our communities. I learn something new from other WLG members every time I’m engaged in conversation with them.“ 

Lori’s perspective on  her profession is this:  “The tools of the trade in public service are passed from one professional generation to another.  We have an obligation to our communities to always learn and always look to support that next generation. You are never to early in your career to reach out to someone else, share your mistakes, and help them along. I hope WLG can be known as the ultimate mentoring organization – like a long chain of people climbing a mountain, holding the hand of the person ahead as well as the person just behind.”

SARONA VIVANCO

Contact:  Treasurer@WomenLeadingGovernment.com

Women Leading Government Board Member Sarona Vivanco serves as the Financial Chair for the organization.  Sarona serves as Senior Management Analyst in the City of Santa Clarita Parks, Recreation and Community Services Department, and lives in Los Angeles.  She is married and has “three fantastic kids.”   She says her favorite parts of the work are, “Two things:  I love that every day is different and challenging, and I also get fulfillment knowing that people's lives are touched by the work that we do.”

Sarona earned a BA in Political Science with an emphasis in State and Local Government from CSUN, and she has an MPA from the University of Southern California. She is a member of ICMA and past president as well as current member of the Municipal Management Association of Southern California.  

She shares why WLG is important to her:  “I remember being in on the conversation a few years ago when someone said, "Wouldn't it be great if there was a professional organization that specifically met the needs of women in the profession?"  At the time, I thought it was a great idea, and now this idea is reality.  I am very proud of the strides we have made as an organization, and it has been wonderful interacting with so many smart, driven, talented, and successful women that are Women Leading Government.