Elizabeth was born and raised in Massachusetts but moved to Arizona at age 23 to live with her favorite aunt and uncle, both educators at Arizona State University in Tempe, and to attend ASU. During her first summer, she worked in Prescott as a camp counselor for the family dude ranch, learning to ride horseback, planning social events, and camping in the White Mountains. The terrain was amazing, completely different than the Berkshire Hills of Massachusetts, and there were new places to explore! Returning to Tempe, she found work as a Health Insurance Claim Analyst with Connecticut General Life Insurance Company in Phoenix, married, and divorced three years later. Life changed quickly. She was promoted to work in Hartford, Connecticut writing software instructions for claim processing terminals. Eager to be working directly with people again, she joined the Field Claims staff traveling and assisting for months at a time in Tennessee, Florida, New Jersey, and California.

In 1973 Elizabeth wanted roots and a new career so she left her job and traveled by Volkswagen “bug” through Canada and down the west coast to visit her brother Bill in California. Connecticut General Life coaxed her back to work as Service Representative for their San Francisco sales office. After a year of auditing bills, explaining policies and meeting with businesses in the Bay area, Elizabeth left the company, enrolled in The College of Marin as a Liberal Arts and Communication major with the goal of becoming a videographer. While attending school, she created videos for Marin Community Video, cleaned houses, sold hydroponic gardens, and produced seminars, dance events and marketing materials. After graduation, she worked as an Administrative Assistant for architects in San Francisco until deciding to sell solar water heating systems on commission in Marin County.

In 1983, son Chris was born. Elizabeth created a home daycare in Kentfield, CA which she operated for three years. In 1987 she enrolled in Sonoma State University and graduated in 1991 with a BA degree in Humanistic Psychology and a Multiple Subject Teacher Credential with an Early Childhood Emphasis. She began substitute teaching in Sonoma County in grades K-12 and tutored students after school. Her summer job was locating corporate sponsors for a K-12 newspaper literacy program for 30 schools and working part-time for the Volunteer Center of Sonoma County. In the spring, while teaching on-call, Elizabeth coordinated a writing and ad design contest for 15 classrooms and published an annual community newspaper featuring 60 winners, their teachers, and winning entries.

Experience and training as a publisher, educator and fundraiser led to a career in advertising sales, beginning with Sonoma Business Magazine from 1996 to 1999 and then Valley Yellow Pages in 2006. In between, Elizabeth raised funds for many non-profit organizations, located the funds and volunteers for expanding Rebuilding Together into Sebastopol, and promoted business and community services as a marketing consultant. In 2008 she studied graphic design at Santa Rosa Junior College and became Marketing Manager for the Santa Rosa Concert Association in 2009, helping to bring world famous classical musicians to Sonoma County to perform at the Wells Fargo Center for the Performing Arts and teach free music workshops for high school music students.

In 2001, Chris graduated from Montgomery High School with honors, was accepted at UCLA and graduated in 2006 with a BS degree in Microbiology. He and his wife Renee now live in Healdsburg. Both are busy working, decorating their new home and caring for new dog Lucy. Elizabeth treasures family times with them and her brother Bill, his wife Barbara, their daughters Megan and Rebecca, and grandchild Briana.



Today, Elizabeth represents The Sonoma County Gazette as an Advertising Consultant, volunteers as Secretary for the Santa Rosa Neighborhood Alliance and the Bennett Valley Neighborhood Association, is a House Manager for 6th Street Playhouse, and an usher for the Spreckles Performing Arts Center. She also enjoys attending classical, folk or jazz musical events, Contra dancing, live theater, walking at Spring Lake and hiking with groups in the Open Space Districts with Landpaths or Sonoma Land Trust guides.



Elizabeth’s community experience is helpful to people who wish to discover the artists, beauty, and resources within Sonoma County. She enjoys promoting The Sonoma County Gazette which provides community resources and opportunities for community involvement through meetings, volunteerism, classes and events. It is a free magazine, written by readers, read countywide by over 50,000 people each month, and is a conduit for building healthy communities.

Elizabeth has over 10 years of business experience in marketing and sales and can help you create a compelling ad and marketing campaign for the Sonoma County Gazette. You may contact her for advertising assistance by calling (707) 573-0543, 321-1512 or by emailing her at eolsen@sonic.net.