To: DWNC Membership
From: DWNC Nominating Committee, Tina Rodriguez, Chair
Date: August 8, 2023
Re: Nominating Committee Report
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The DWNC 2022-23 Nominating Committee recommends the following slate of individuals to serve as your 2024-25 DWNC Officers. This slate will be voted upon during the business meeting at the 63rd Annual State Convention.
President: Paula Shelton, Moore County
Paula and her husband Bill have 3 daughters and 1 son, with 8 grandchildren ranging from 31 years old to 23 months old. She is a member of the Lumbee Tribe of North Carolina. She worked in the insurance industry for 30 years in Claims, Communications, and Human Resource, and the National Catastrophe Team.
Paula grew up in Oklahoma but her maternal family is in Robeson County and she spent every summer there of her childhood. She has lived in NC since 2003, in Greenville, Raleigh and now Pinehurst. She served as president of the Democratic Women of Moore County, DWNC Region 6 Director, DWNC Treasurer, and DWNC 1st Vice President.
Her passion is working with the democrats for women’s and human rights, social justice and voting rights.
First Vice President & President-Elect: Cramer Vaughan, New Hanover County
L. Cramer Vaughan was born and raised in High Point and has made her home in Wilmington for 18 years. She is the current President of the Democratic Women of New Hanover County, and has served in that role since 2018. She also served on the DWNC Board as the District 7 Congressional Representative and as a Convention Committee member for three conventions.
Cramer is Branch Manager at First National Bank. Her 10 years in the finance industry allow her to help community members from high school to retirement with financial literacy, credit, retirement planning, and all their banking needs. Cramer is a beyond proud North Carolinian. She is continuing a family legacy of standing for equality and what is right, even when it is difficult. Her namesake Lydia Jane Cramer Snow helped High Point to become the Furniture Capital of the World. Though it was all but unheard of in the late 1800s and early 1900s, the Snows hired and paid their employees fairly no matter the color of their skin, assisted their factory workers in getting loans and taught them how to invest in their future.
When she’s not working, you’ll find Cramer spending time with her significant other, friends, family, puppies, and/or screaming at the TV cheering on the Carolina Panthers and USWNT Soccer. She also volunteers with local Wilmington organizations serving the unsheltered population and animal rescues.
Second Vice President: Vickie Zangwill, Carteret County
Vickie and her husband of 36 years are small business owners in Eastern North Carolina, owning a frozen yogurt dessert bar in Cape Carteret and Jacksonville. Together they have three sons and four grandsons. Originally from Staten Island, NY, Vickie loves her salt life in Carteret County and her adopted home of North Carolina.
Vickie has served as president of the Carteret County Democratic Women, DWNC Region 10 Director, and DWNC Legislative Committee Chairwoman. She served on both the 2022 and 2023 DWNC Convention Planning Committee. She's also held numerous roles in her county party including precinct chair, SEC member, headquarters manager, phone banking coordinator and fundraising chair. She is an active member of the 3rd Congressional District serving on the GOTV, voter outreach and planning committees.
Vickie also recently served as campaign staff for Katie Tomberlin, candidate for NC House 13. An active and passionate Democrat, she is excited to roll up her sleeves and pitch in wherever she can.
Third Vice President: Allison Allen, Mecklenburg County
Allison Allen-Mongo has 10 years of experience as an organizer for the Democratic Party. She received her bachelor’s of arts in Political Science at UNC-Charlotte and her law degree at Charlotte Law. She was the former Executive Vice-President of the Young Democrats of North Carolina and President of the Young Democrats of Mecklenburg County. She is currently the 3rd Vice-Chair of the Democratic Women of North Carolina and the Precinct Chair of 028 in Mecklenburg County. Further, she is New Leader’s Council 2023 fellow and an Emily List Fall 2022 fellow.
Allison is actively involved with her community, serving as an at-large central liaison for the Arts and Science Council. She works as a Business Execution Specialist at Wells Fargo. She resides with her husband and her furry bestie Oreo in Charlotte.
Continuing as 3rd Vice-Chair, Allison’s goals would include raising awareness of the issues facing our members and maintaining our current relationships with other auxiliaries across the state. She would continue chairing the publicity committee and engage with the press regarding statements. She hopes to align all social media to disseminate DWNC postings in a synchronized manner and engage elected officials/activist in our social media.
Secretary: Pam Genant, Burke County
Pam grew up like many of us, straddling the line between poverty and making ends meet. She has known both joy and heartbreak. And maybe because of her experiences with both, Pam devotes herself to helping better the lives of others. She’s a registered nurse, U.S. Army veteran, wife, small business owner, mother of two children, fierce crusader for people’s rights, and a passionate advocate in suicide prevention.
She serves currently on the Board of Directors for the Burke United Christian Ministries. She is the membership director for a local American Legion Auxiliary unity, is a member of a local American Legion unit, and founding member of the Blue Empowerment Project that assists candidates and county Democratic party organizations as they work toward a Blue North Carolina. She was the Burke County Democratic Party treasurer before being elected and serving as the Burke County Democratic Party chairman for almost 6 years, stepping back to run for Congress in 2022.
Pam has taken DNC and NCDP training, as well as social media marketing classes, leadership courses, fundraising workshops and several candidate training programs including the Bold Progressives candidate training. Along with years of practical experience in party and organizational leadership positions, these programs have helped her become a well rounded leader, organizer and strategic planner.
When considering a candidacy for Lt. Governor of NC, Pam traveled North Carolina visiting all 100 counties. Over those months, she talked with people from all walks of life, people from the Democratic Party organization, and from outside the organization, in coffeeshops and libraries, homeless, and business owners. Her unique perspective, passion for outreach and connection within the Democratic Party brings infectious excitement and energy to any position she holds.
Treasurer: Denise Castleberry Hall, Johnston County
Denise is a long time Democratic volunteer, putting her attention to detail, diligence, and technical knowledge of compliance to work as a treasurer for multiple organizations, including as current treasurer of the Democratic Women of North Carolina. She’s served as the treasurer for the Johnston County Democratic Party since 2017, the Democratic Women of Johnston County since 2018, the Senior Democrats of Johnston county since 2020, and was the campaign treasurer for Linda Bennett for House 26 in 2018, 2020 and 2022.
A graduate of UNCW, Denise has worked at GSK for 31 years in Legal and Compliance Technology, as the Product Owner and Director of Legal eDiscovery. Denise and her husband live in Clayton, NC.