Charlotte Ruffner was born and raised in sunny Southern California, earned a history degree from UCLA, then headed straight into law school at UC San Francisco. After cutting her teeth as a civil litigator in a big LA firm, she moved to the Bay Area in 1992 to launch her own boutique litigation practice—which she ran for 15 years before retiring.
She now lives in Sonoma with her husband and their opinionated but lovable dog, Hachiko. Charlotte has two daughters she adores—one living in Manhattan and the other in Germany—plus two grandchildren who keep things lively (and bilingual) over in Europe.
In addition to serving on the Rainbow Honor Walk Board, Charlotte is Secretary of both the FISH board (Friends in Sonoma Helping) and the Ruffner Family Association. She’s also an avid global volunteer with Habitat for Humanity, helping build homes in places as far-flung as Cambodia, Ethiopia, India, Jordan, Kenya, Macedonia, Nicaragua, and Zambia.
Whether she’s drafting bylaws, organizing fundraisers, or navigating a construction site abroad, Charlotte brings equal parts passion, humor, and heart to everything she does.