Lisa was born in Patchogue New York and moved to Redondo Beach California when she was 6 - a New York Jew transplant. Her experience growing up in Redondo Beach was filled with the sadness and loneliness that being discriminated against brings, as it was a very non-inclusive community. This set the stage for her dedication to fighting for justice. After graduating from High School, she went to Cal Poly San Luis Obispo and received her BS degree in Journalism - where she was told that "women are not journalists" and she was discouraged from going into the professions. However, while at Cal Poly, Lisa was arrested at Diablo Canyon for protesting the building of the Avila Beach nuclear reactor, and that’s where her activist career began.

She moved to Sonoma in 1979 and has lived here ever since – 44 years. She began a job at Sonoma Developmental Center working first as a historian writing historical biographies on the lives of the clients there and found a joy that she describes as her calling, working as a friend and advocate for this population. She received her Adult Education degree after a brief year of working at the North Bay Regional Center in Napa helping her friends at SDC to find homes in the community. She returned and took an adult education job assisting the residents to gain independence and quality of life. She formed and helped the residents run a client advocacy program which featured dignity and independence. An incredibly favorite job.

Lisa was sponsored by SDC to get her LCSW while working there and as she did so, she transitioned to a social work job, which became the job she loved the most. She was promoted to a position as a Program Director in Quality Assurance – Co-developing a facility-wide advocacy and oversight program for the residents at SDC. She left for 4 years to work for Sonoma County Mental Health as a Crisis Worker, and then came back to SDC for several more years. As things were winding down due to the closure of SDC, Lisa moved to work at Napa County for 11 years as their Quality Assurance Assistant Manager and provided oversight of their auditing program of clinical documentation and measuring program outcomes. She “retired” from the county in 2020 and is now a private consultant to several counties for guidance in passing documentation audits with the state oversight program for substance use disorder programs.

Lisa began her work with Wake UP Sonoma in 2022. She is married to her wife Joanie Bourg and they have been together for the past 19 years. They have 3 children who are grown and out in the world doing incredible things. They have two dogs and a cat and they live in Boyes Hot Springs where they own a home. Lisa is passionate about animals, a gardener, and enjoys time as a close knit family and with good friends most of all. She is writing her memoir which features her journey towards coming out when she was 42, and she has been involved in promoting LGBTQI+ programs and actively supporting her son and his community who transitioned when he was 19. Lisa wants to develop positive and joyful programs for the LGBTQI+ youth in Sonoma Valley and encourage a community that is diverse and inclusive.