b'Yet her mother also was very present with the kids and demonstrated the value of a strong support network, Lehman recalls. Balancing professional requirements with family life, and doing it well, is another expectation that Lehman inherited.Perhaps the biggest change for professional women is the extent to which values of family and community have come to shape how people expect government to work. Lehman talks passionately about access to government, hearing from people who receive and MENTORING ERASEDGLASS CEILING,LEHMAN SAYS.provide services when making decisions, collaborating with people in nonprofit organizations, and listening to different perspectives. Were working on complex issues: homelessness, housing, fire, Lehman notes. I do feel strongly about having different voices around the table to represent the county That really goes to producing the best policy and the best projects, and more importantly, what the community needs.Those conversations include different branches of government and different jurisdictions talking to each other, what Lehman calls networked governance. Such conversations likely include the clerks who perform the work and interact with members of the public another woman-valuing workplace shift that has been a long time coming. Such conversations, ideally, can lead to more accurate research for county supervisors. Our job is to make sure our board has the best information to make informed decisions, Lehman explains.The most important thing she has learned on the journey? By yourself, you can go faster, but together, we can go farther, Lehman says.To Bobbie Swanson, a life of service just seemed naturalBy Trina Kleist Bobbie SwansonW hen Roberta Bobbie Swanson was in first grade, she read books to the kindergartners in the school library. More than seven decades later in 2019, California Assemblyman Brian Dahle named her District 1s Woman of the Year, honoring Swanson for her contribution to organizations supporting education, children,Photo bytheater, music, the elderly and the homeless. Kristofer B. WakefieldContinued on Page 15Business 2020 13'