Who We Are

Born and raised in the Bay Area, Helen graduated from California State University, Hayward with a B.A. in Psychology. She fell into technical writing by accident. Before she became a Technical Writer, she was a Programmer Analyst for a few years. During her career as a Programmer Analyst, she found that she enjoyed writing more than working with data and code. She decided to take a leap into the technical communication profession and made a career change. She completed a Certificate in Technical Communication through U.C. Berkeley Extension. She joined STC in 2005 and immediately became active in the East Bay STC Chapter.

She is currently a Technical Writer/Senior Consultant for Booz Allen Hamilton, a global strategy and technology consulting firm. Her current client is the Department of Defense, specifically the Navy.

Ann has been an active volunteer with the chapter from the first meeting she attended last June, where she volunteered to become Hospitality Manager.

Before coming to the Bay Area, Ann was active in the Los Angeles chapter, serving as Membership Manager. Ann plans to include more technical topics at our meetings, along with the tried-and-true soft skills and trends topics. The technical programs she attends in the Silicon Valley have given her fresh ideas for future programs for our chapter.

Ann is a Senior Technical Communication Specialist with Kyocera Technology Development in Concord. The group supplies software for Kyocera's global printer business. She is working on improving translation processes and implementing topic-based authoring within a content management system. Ann found her current position through a posting at the Career Center on stc.org. Her employer is very supportive of her STC activities and underwrites her annual dues.

Jeanie has been playing around with the Internet since 1982, long before the Web was a maniacal gleam in anyone's eye. She has been a computer programmer, analyst, teacher, and writer.

She contributes well-researched and finely-worded features to her local newspaper, along with the occasional erudite commentary (OK, sarcastic diatribes). Every member of her family believes she is a wonderful writer."

A native of New York City, she graduated from the City University of New York (Queens College) with a B.A. in Art and Education, and then completed another major in psychology at NYU. She finds her art background enormously helpful as a technical writer, in designing the overall look of documents and incorporating graphical elements.

She moved to the Bay Area in 1979. When she is not working, Elaine is a fanatical gardener and loves to cook. She also enjoys dancing, listening to music (especially jazz, classical, and world genres), and takes time to exercise and do Breema bodywork.

Elaine recently supported four local STC chapters to welcome the national Board of Directors to the Bay Area for their August meeting by creating an online brochure about area events and resources. She looks forward to serving the East Bay Chapter by being on the Nominating Committee and working on the newsletter.

Richard's STC activities include chapter president and competition director. He is currently president of the Berkeley Chapter, treasurer of the Gordon Scholarship, and treasurer of the Management SIG. He serves on a society-level task force to determine the appropriate funding model for STC communities.