For a Healthy Sonoma County

Shirlee's Background

Shirlee Zane with her family, husband Peter Kingston and children David and Gwenny

For the past nine years Shirlee Zane has been the Chief Executive Officer for the Council on Aging, a 3.5 million dollar private nonprofit corporation that provides 12 different programs for seniors countywide through its Senior Meals Department, Legal Services and Social and Financial Services. The 90 employees and 300 volunteers of the Council on Aging work toward protecting seniors and enhancing their quality of life.

Ms. Zane has over 25 years of experience working in human services as a family therapist, minister, hospital chaplain, special education educator, inner city social worker and Executive Director. She is the former Executive Director of Hospital Chaplaincy Services and has been a committee member for numerous hospital boards including bioethics committees, patient quality review committees and institutional review boards.

Ms. Zane holds two Masters Degrees, an M.A. in Theology from Trinity International University, Chicago IL, and an M.A. in Family Counseling from Sonoma State University.

She has worked and lived abroad in Caracas, Venezuela and speaks fluent Spanish. In 1995 Ms. Zane was awarded the Community Service Award in Education from the Hispanic Chamber of Commerce of Sonoma County for her work in the Latino community.  In 2004 the United Way of Sonoma, Mendocino and Lake Counties awarded the Council on Aging the Community Impact in Advocacy Award for Ms. Zane’s advocacy efforts on behalf of seniors.  In addition she has received a 2005 Leadership Award from the Sonoma County Medical Association for her work to increase Medicare reimbursements (2005) and the Reverend Coffee Human Rights Award from the Sonoma County Commissions Office in December 2005.

Ms. Zane has published guest editorials in the New York Times owned newspaper, The Press Democrat, as well as many other local Sonoma County publications.  Under her leadership the Council on Aging was awarded a Tranny Award by the California Transportation Foundation for development of a citywide bus program for seniors.   She has presented workshops at the California Area Agency on Aging Conference and at the 2004 National Council on Aging Conference.

The Metropolitan Transportation Commission (MTC) appointed Ms. Zane to its Elderly and Disabled Advisory Committee for her second 2-year term. She sits on the City of Santa Rosa ADA Advisory Committee and the Santa Rosa Junior College Human Services Committee.  Ms. Zane is also a former Commissioner on the Sonoma County Commission on the Status of Women, and has served on the boards of the Sonoma County Cultural Arts Council, Southwest Community Health Care Center and United Way of Sonoma, Mendocino and Lake Counties.  She was a 2006-2007 Fellow for the Women’s Policy Institute of California.

In her spare time she enjoys travel, cooking, hiking, writing and oil painting.  She is married to an Englishman named Peter Kingston and they have three children, Jamie, David and Gwenny.  Their son Jamie and his wife are expecting twins in December, who will be the first grandchildren.