Intro to Election Integrity: What you can do to secure elections
April 30 @ 6:30 pm – 8:00 pm
Dr. Clara Belle Wheeler is a senior fellow with the Virginia Institute for Public Policy. She is also a retired surgeon and former member of the Virginia State Board of Elections.
Born and raised in Charlottesville, Virginia, Clare Belle is a graduate of Hollins College and the Medical College of Virginia. Following medical school, she completed her residency at Harvard Combined Orthopaedic Surgery in Boston, Massachusetts and a fellowship at the Curtis National Hand Institute in Baltimore, Maryland. With more than four decades of medicine under her belt, Clara Belle primarily practiced medicine in Fredericksburg, Virginia, with a brief few years in Boise, Idaho.
Widely considered one of the foremost experts on Virginia’s electoral process and systems, Clara Belle previously served as the vice-chair of the Virginia State Board of Elections and a past chairman and secretary of the Albemarle County Electoral Board. She was also previously the western district chairman, on the board of directors, and on the legislative committee for the Virginia Electoral Board Association. She has also served as a poll watcher, election officer, chief election official, and worked with Virginia Voter’s Alliance.
Clara Belle makes her home in Charlottesville, where she has a small farm and local business. She joined the Virginia Institute team in 2021.
Building a Political Machine that Wins Elections
April 23 @ 6:30 pm – 8:00 pm
Liz Dickinson, the Virginia Director for American Majority, will be speaking about a strategy to win. She has a background in activism, outreach, county leadership, and national security. Recruited by the CIA during graduate school, Liz moved to Virginia and began her career as an Intelligence Analyst. She briefed and wrote finished intelligence for senior US officials on Russian political-military issues. While she enjoyed working for the Agency, she wanted to become directly involved in the political process.
Free from the constraints of the Hatch Act, Liz jumped into politics, volunteering with state, local, and national campaigns to promote conservative candidates. She has worked with elected officials and candidates, oversaw Election Day staffing, recruited volunteers, and worked on campaigns.
Liz earned a Master of Arts degree in International Policy Studies & Nonproliferation and a Bachelor of Arts in Russian and Political Science. She is a news junkie who enjoys politics, international relations, and spending time with her family. A lover of all things Virginia, she is excited to work with conservatives across the Commonwealth. Liz resides with her husband and their seven children in Leesburg, VA.
