By Stephen Witt, Los Angeles County Politics (LACP)
When the Palisades fire broke out in January 2025, Nancy Voss could see it burning from her home. The retired emergency nurse did what she had spent her career doing: she organized a response.
“When they were burning, I’m like, we got to do something. So my husband and I, we mobilized,” said Voss, president of the Rotary Club of Marina del Rey, in an interview with LACP.
Then the call came from LA City Councilmember Traci Park‘s office. “Tracy called and said, ‘Nancy, I’m overwhelmed here,'” Voss recalled. Voss and her volunteers cleared some 220 pallets of donated supplies from the office and put them to work.
Her newly formed club became one of only two volunteer-led organizations allowed inside the secured fire perimeter, where Voss directed logistics supporting the Los Angeles Fire Department, the LAPD, the National Guard and displaced families, according to the City of Los Angeles.
More than 250 volunteers made 45 truck and flatbed deliveries, distributing more than 80,000 pounds of water and thousands of hot meals. In all, an estimated 500,000 pounds of relief supplies went to the Palisades and Eaton fire zones.
“We have the bandwidth, we have the resources, and we have the volunteers, so we can initiate quick action, and that’s what we did during the fire,” said Voss.
In March, Park chose Voss as Council District 11’s honoree at the city’s 36th annual Women of Impact Awards.
A nurse first
The firework drew on decades of crisis care. A Los Angeles native who grew up in Hacienda Heights, Voss graduated from Mount St. Mary’s College and served as an emergency department manager and house supervisor at hospitals across Los Angeles. She later founded a nursing agency that staffed hospitals and private-duty patients across the county, and has represented nurses as a delegate to the American Nurses Association.
“I’m a nurse by training,” said Voss. “I’ve taken all my spirit in nursing. I was a strong advocate. I did a lot of good in nursing, but my passion for the community is where I really stand out. I want to really make a difference, and it’s a daily intention. You have to wake up and say, ‘What am I going to do with my day?'”
She came to Rotary through her husband, Dave, a Rotarian for 32 years, and joined herself after years of volunteering alongside his club. Her own club now has 37 members.
A nomination for Rotary’s top honor
Last month, JR Dzubak, CEO of the Boys & Girls Clubs of West San Gabriel Valley, nominated Voss for Rotary International’s Service Above Self Award, its highest individual honor, citing her work expanding access to sailing for the clubs’ young people.
“What stands out to me about Nancy is that she does not wait for someone else to take the lead. When she sees an opportunity to make a difference, she finds a way to move it forward,” Dzubak wrote.
What’s next
Voss is focused on the water. Her club plans to install free life jacket loaner stations around the marina to prevent child drownings.
“Pediatric drowning is one of the leading causes of death for kids, so we’re going to install life jacket loaner stations throughout the marina,” said Voss. On Nov. 19, the club charters a Rotary fellowship for ocean lovers, which she said will be the first of its kind on North America’s West Coast.
Her reach extends far beyond the marina. This week, Voss leads 17 travelers, nearly half her club, on a humanitarian trip to El Salvador, where they will paint and dedicate homes for two families and refurbish a school. The larger goal is a $120,000 Rotary Foundation grant for a well to bring clean water to about 1,000 families, for which local villagers have formed their own water board.
“I like to be hands-on, and if they say, ‘Oh, we’re going to build a well,’ I want to see the site,” said Voss.
At home, the work can be as simple as a pumpkin. This fall, she delivered pumpkins to local schools.
“I took a bunch of pumpkins to the schools. I’m like, here you go. All the kids came out. They’re so excited,” said Voss.
Do you know an LA County Change Maker? Send your nominations, with a few lines on why they make a difference, to SWitt@LosAngelesCountyPolitics.com.
