Helen Thomson has served Yolo County and the Sacramento region in many capacities including serving on the Davis School Board, the Yolo County Board of Supervisors, and the California State Assembly. In her many years of service, Helen consistently brought expertise and passion to issues of access, transportation and air quality. In her tenure with SACOG, she served as vice chair and chair of the SACOG Board of Directors and was instrumental in the development and planning of the Rural-Urban Connections Strategy, the cutting edge project that helps policy makers and farmers make data supported decisions regarding land use and transportation investments. 

At the county level, Helen was known as a skilled policy maker, a champion of agriculture and the environment with a keen ability to balance the demands of growth and conservation, and a tremendous example of effective leadership.