ELLEN NYHUS ELLIOT of Atherton led the 10-year legal battle called the Tinsley case to improve integration efforts in the Ravenswood School District. She also helped establish the message/request service at the San Mateo County Jail that now handles 28,000 requests annually and helped secure a building to house the Ecumenical Hunger Program in East Palo Alto. “She leads by doing. Her selfless commitment of time and energy to the needs of the poor, the disadvantages, those in jail, set her apart from the “typical’ suburban housewife.”
