Commission on the Status of Women and Girls
Amy Hart
Amy Hart holds an M.A. in History from Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo, and a Ph.D. in History with a designated emphasis in Feminist Studies from UC Santa Cruz. Her research in graduate school focused on female social reformers in the Antebellum Period of U.S. history, including women who participated in the abolition and women’s rights movements. She has published articles on a variety of historical topics, and is particularly interested in California history.
Amy has served as a lecturer in the History department and the Women’s and Gender Studies department at Cal Poly, as well as worked as a historical consultant at Albion Environmental, Inc., a cultural resource management company in San Luis Obispo. Since 2019, she has been the District Historian for the San Luis Obispo Coast District of California State Parks. In 2022, she completed the Leadership SLO program managed by the Chamber of Commerce. Amy is dedicated to elevating the voices and stories of women in history and the present.
Deb Geaslen
Deb Geaslen has lived in the SLO community for 27 years. She and her loving husband Thomas have raised 4 beautiful children who are now raising their 10 gorgeous grandchildren. She has a varied educational background where she explored her many interests including office management and culinary arts.
Deb’s professional background includes: administrative assistant, office management, bookkeeping, payroll, financial and government reporting, as well as nonprofit compliance. In addition, she is co-owner with her husband in their tax and bookkeeping business, but her real passion is contributing to the growth and success of her community and its residents.
Deb co-created the Paul Teixeira Community Thanksgiving which serves holiday meals to over 1100 individuals each year and has over 75 volunteers, of which she organizes. In addition, she has served as the treasurer for many local nonprofits: Latino Outreach Council, Olde Towne Nipomo Association, South County Visitor Services, and the South County Family Educational & Cultural Center. The kids in the community are always a priority, as she has volunteered her time with the San Luis Obispo County 4-H Management Board, and both the Nipomo and the Adobe Nipomo 4-H Clubs.
In March 2019, Deb was honored to receive the San Luis Obispo County Commission on the Status of Women Wall of Fame Award for Volunteerism in SLO County for all her efforts in the community. Deb has been a member of the Commission since 2020.
Jamie Maraviglia
Jamie Maraviglia has been a resident of south San Luis Obispo County since 2003. After graduating from Cal Poly with a degree in English, Jamie began her career in marketing and communications at the Clark Center in Arroyo Grande and held a position at a local agency before shifting over to higher education. She currently works (remotely) in the Public Affairs office at UC Berkeley.
Jamie’s real joy lies in working with our community. She serves as the chair of the Planning Commission for the City of Arroyo Grande and as the vice-president on the Board of Directors for the Clark Center for the Performing Arts. However, her real passion is healthcare. As a mom of two children born with congenital disorders, she has spent the last twelve years in-and-out of hospitals and spent hundreds of hours learning to deal with the complexities of our current medical system. For the past decade, she has been working with a variety of organizations to make the system work better physically, emotionally, and financially for the people who have to deal with it. She has worked to pass healthcare legislation with Consumer Watchdog and the March of Dimes and was also one of the top national fundraisers for the March of Dimes for almost a decade. Jamie currently serves on the Ethic’s Committee for Children’s Hospital Los Angeles and volunteers with the California Nurses Association fighting for healthcare equity. Jamie is a long-time SLO County resident and lives in Arroyo Grande with her family. In her spare time, she loves hanging with her family, reading, hiking and practicing yoga.