Leadership of the Shawnee County Democrats

 

Keith Tatum, Chair

Keith Tatum brought his leadership skills to the party when he was selected by the membership in 2020. Keith is a native Kansan, born in Manhattan and raised in Topeka.  He has dedicated his career to public service and in empowering every voice within our community.  His professional experience includes nonprofit administration and 20+ years of diverse leadership capacities in Kansas government, including for the Kansas Council on Developmental Disabilities, the Kansas Volunteer Commission, and the Kansas Department of Education. He currently serves as the Director of Training and Staff Development for the Kansas Neurological Institute.  Additionally, Keith is an Adjunct Professor with the Family and Human Services Department at Washburn University.

Keith holds a Master’s Degree in Public Administration from the University of Kansas, and a Bachelor’s Degree in Psychology from Washburn University. Keith and his wife, Teresa, live in Topeka and have a wonderfully-blended family consisting of 10 children and one grandson.

Janel Clark, Vice-Chair

Janel Clark is equipped with a solid educational background and long history of leadership roles in her professional career. Janel graduated from Washburn University in 2009 with a Bachelor’s Degree in Management and Marketing, then received her MBA in 2013. She has been active with the Shawnee County Democrats since 2021, when she joined the communications committee. She also participated as a door to door canvasser for the Vote No campaign and the 2022 elections! Janel and her husband, Charles, live in Topeka and have 2 energetic boys.

Karen Rooney-Cuevas

Karen Rooney-Cuevas has lived in Kansas all her life born a farmer’s daughter in Brown
County, Fairview, KS. She learned from her Dad early on the importance of being politically
savvy and especially the importance of voting. After graduating from high school, Karen
pursued a Business associate degree in Stenography at Kansas State Teachers College in
Emporia, worked as a stenographer at AT&SF Railroad but switched to pre-nursing at KSTC.
She graduated from Stormont-Vail School of nursing in 1979 and recently retired in 2018 after a
39 year career. During those 39 years she worked as a RN in mental health, emergency
nursing, surgical nursing, and medical/surgical nursing. She held supervisory positions
along with achieving certifications for Case Management, Disease Management, Diabetic
Educator, and Chronic Care Professional Health Coach. She has volunteered for Stormont-Vail Health Center and Shawnee County Health Department,  and the League of Women’s Voters. A neighbor planted a seed that she may enjoy becoming involved with the Shawnee County Dems. So she wrote her name in and was elected as a Precinct Comitte Person(PCP) of Ward 3 Precinct 4. Karen has found her passion for community involvement as PCP for the past 3 years now. Karen has been married to Ignacio Cuevas for 43 years with a family of 2 daughters, 2 son-in-laws and 2 grandchildren. Karen recently completed certification as a Yoga Instructor and has taught community classes in Lawrence.

Roxie Ramirez Ortiz, Secretary

Roxie Ramirez brings honed leadership skills to our group. Roxie has worked 40 years as a public servant in state government. All her years have been with the Kansas Department of Human Resources/Department of Labor except for eight years when she worked as the Governor’s Operations Coordinator for Governors Sebelius and Parkinson. She currently works as an Ombudsman/Claims Adviser in the Division of Workers Compensation. She has served as a precinct committee woman for 18 years. For the last 2 1/2 years she has been secretary for the Shawnee County Democrats. Besides state and local politics, Roxie and her husband, Dan, are very active in the Holy Family Catholic School Booster Club. They have two sons, Daniel Jr. (DJ) and José. They are all die hard Jayhawk, Chiefs, and Royals fans.