New trustee comes with White
House, science communications background
By Laura Ernde
Staff Writer
A San Diego communications
professional is the newest non-lawyer to join the Board of Trustees.
|
Spector |
Gov. Jerry Brown appointed Stacie
Spector, 52, to serve the remainder of a three-year term that began in October
2015. Spector has served as principal of Spector Strategies since 2000, and her
extensive communications background included a stint in the White House under
President Bill Clinton.
State Bar President David
Pasternak thanked the governor for his appointment and said Spector’s skills, “will
be particularly helpful as we seek to educate and engage our stakeholders
across the state.”
Spector said she feels honored
and privileged to serve on the board and help ensure the public trust. She
hopes that her public member perspective will be of value.
“I have spent a good portion of
my career talking to people all over this country about what they think about
issues, people, change, fears, hopes, dreams, elections, trust, leadership, to
name a few – and what I know is that sometimes one of the most effective
opinions in the room can be the one with the least ‘specific’ expertise on that
specific issue,” she said. “Also, the nature and very core of my work is based
on bringing differing opinions and constituencies together for the greater good
and to develop the strongest policies – my gut tells me that may be helpful in
this arena.”
Spector was vice president of
strategy and external relations at the Nutrition Science Initiative from 2013
to 2015, chief communications officer at The Salk Institute from 2011 to 2013
and associate vice chancellor of communications and public affairs at the University
of California San Diego from 2004 to 2009. Spector served as deputy campaign
manager and director of strategic operations at Al Gore for President in 1999
and deputy assistant to the president and deputy director of communications at
the White House from 1997 to 1999. She has been a member of the San Diego
Theatres Board of Trustees since 2013 and the Humane Society United States
Communications Council since 2010.
Although she said she is not
joining the board to manage communications for the bar, Spector said she is
happy to share her experience with staff. “Sharing information and encouraging
transparency of process is my nature,” she said.
The position requires Senate confirmation and the compensation is $50 per diem.
The Board of Trustees is the governing and policymaking body of the
257,000-member organization.