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Our League
Last month I had the honor to preside over the 55th National Convention of the League of Women Voters of the United States (LWVUS). I was humbled and honored to be re-elected as your board president for the next biennium. We welcomed our newly elected national board of directors, who are determined to take up the reins and lead us into the new biennium with determination and wisdom. And, we said farewell and thank you to a dedicated, hard-working board who helped lead us through some challenging times in the last biennium.
I now want to highlight some of the important business decisions made by the membership at Convention and emphasize the impact they will have on our work in the next biennium. As leaders, it will fall upon your shoulders to guide your Leagues through these changes and their implementation with the national team, particularly your state liaisons, to support and help you. More highlights and resources from Convention are included later in this newsletter.
- The Campaign for Making Democracy Work® was adopted for the new biennium and amended to add language around the ‘election of the president by popular vote.’In my Convention remarks, I announced the League's next "moonshot" goal: abolition of the Electoral College. LWVUS will be making a financial investment to begin building out this work during the coming fiscal year. I want to be clear: we are at the very beginning stages of this work. We know we have a busy fall ahead of us, so LWVUS plans to further engage you in this work after the midterm elections.
- Delegates voted to add the Equal Rights Amendment to the LWVUS program so that resources – both financial and people powered – will be allocated to accomplish its passage and continue the work we are already doing on the ERA.
- Delegates voted to retain all current positions and adopted two new positions by concurrence (Criminal Justice and Digital Equity) and updated a third position by concurrence (Health Care). These will be published in the 2022 – 2024 edition of Impact on Issues before the end of the calendar year.
- Four bylaws amendments passed. Two were related to the Structure Transformation Plan and will be implemented over the coming months and years. Leagues at all levels will be presented with engagement opportunities as this work unfolds. Two other amendments were adopted to modernize the LWVUS Nominating Committee and LWVUS Board operations. Find the updated bylaws here.
- The biennium budget was adopted as presented to invest in the future of the organization and our mission. The Per-Member Payment rate will remain the same until the new membership system is in place, no sooner than 2024.
Thank you to every member who helped make this Convention a success and engaged in this important decision making.
You can read more about the additional resolutions that passed in the Convention Daily Briefings and find a landing page summarizing these developments on the League Management Site.
Our Nation
The first day of Convention coincided with the Supreme Court’s devastating decision to overturn the constitutional right to abortion. That day we marched in the streets of Denver, and we also passed a resolution supporting the rights of women and those who can become pregnant to bodily autonomy, privacy, reproductive health, and lifestyle choice. We are in this fight as a League and with our partners. We will not accept turning back the pages of history and stripping rights away from more than 50% of our population. We will not turn back. We are already witnessing the devastating impact of this decision, and I urge you to stay in the fight until we win.
Additionally, I encourage you to remind your fellow League leaders to sign up to receive the League Update. This bi-weekly newsletter includes important information about grant opportunities, stories from nationwide Leagues about their work, and information about upcoming webinars and trainings.
Finally, we learned last week that the local Highland Park/Highwood League was present on July 4 when a parade turned into a mass shooting. League members were serving their community when they were forced to flee for their lives. We extend our concern and support to our Illinois League friends and to all those who have been traumatized by gun violence in our nation. Together, we wish peace for the members of this League, their community, and our nation.
In League,
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Deborah Ann Turner, MD, JD
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Upcoming DISCLOSE Act Hearing
LWVUS’s very own CEO, Virginia Kase Solomón, will be giving testimonynext Tuesday, July 19, at 3pm ETon the vital importance of the DISCLOSE Act. Watch the hearing here.
Sign Up for National Voter Registration Day 2022!
158 Leagues have signed up for National Voter Registration Day (NVRD) 2022, coming up on Sept. 20. Has your League signed up yet? We’re asking every state and local League to take part in NVRD by signing on as an official partner and hosting a virtual or in-person registration event. Whether you’re promoting the day via a community registration drive, spreading the word on social media, texting voters to remind them about registration deadlines, or working with partners to spread the word, we need you!The message is simple: now is the time to register or update your registration, to ensure you can vote in the upcoming midterm elections.
Join the Movement to Support Poll Worker Recruitment
Interested in serving as a poll worker this year, or know someone who might be? LWVEF is proud to once again partner with Power the Polls to recruit thousands of needed poll workers ahead of the important midterm elections. Election officials – and voters! - need us more than ever. Consider serving as a poll worker and share our custom link with people in your life who can help at the polls this year!
Deadline Extended: COP27 UN Climate Conference in Egypt
With great pleasure, we would like to announce that there are scholarships available for League members who identify as Black, Indigenous, or People of Color (BIPOC), or those members between 18 – 35 years of age to attend the UN Climate Change Conference of the Parties (COP27) in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt, on Nov. 8 – 20, 2022. The deadline to apply is July 25th at 5pm ET. To apply, please complete the applicant interest form. If you have questions about the application or process, contact Robin Tokmakian at rtokmakian@lwv.org.
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Using Canva for League Work
Canva is a great tool for creating professional looking graphics for social media and print items. Learn more about this tool, including an option for Leagues to gain free access to Canva Pro.
Catch Up on the Fun Things at Convention!
The 2022 National Convention wasn’t ALL about business! Check out some of the highlights through videos and pictures:
Convention Photo Collection from Attendees
We are collecting photos and videos from attendees to share in our online Convention gallery on Flickr. If you would like your photos or videos to be featured as part of this gallery, please upload them here. A Google account is required to upload. If you are unable to upload to Google Drive but wish to share, please send your photos to shernandez@lwv.org.
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Reminder to Submit Comments on Draft Policies by Aug. 1
In line with legal and nonprofit best practices, the LWVUS board has developed two draft policies that provide clarity on organization-wide expectations for LWVUS, Leagues, and members in the form of a League Rights and Responsibilities Policy and a Member Rights and Responsibilities Policy, which are formed from existing bylaws, policies, and legal or nonprofit best practices. As the LWVUS board and staff prepare to finalize and implement these policies, they are seeking additional input from the field. League members are encouraged to submit their comments on these policies by Aug. 1, 2022, via the forms posted on each page.
File Your Form 990-N Before Election Season Intensifies
Did your League’s fiscal year end on June 30? If so, you need to file your Form 990-N by Nov. 15. Leagues that receive less than $50,000 in income must file an e-postcard return (also known as Form 990-N) every year, with only a few exceptions. To avoid having to think about your League’s e-postcard return during midterms, it’s a good idea to submit your Form 990-N as soon as possible. It should only take a few minutes to complete. Form 990-N is entirely web-based; there isn’t a paper version. More information can be found here.
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Meet Our Summer Interns & Fellows
Evaluation Fellows
Immanuel Nelson, aka Manny, is pursuing a degree in political science and a minor in education. She is currently enrolled in Temple's Master of Public Policy +1 Program.
Leanna Mullen, Ed.D., has worked in P-12 public education for the past 10 years. Today, she serves as the district data analysis specialist in Atlantic County (NJ)'s largest school district.
Legal & Research Fellows
Thomas Tai is a former legal intern returning to LWVUS as our new legal and research fellow. He graduated last year from Loyola Law School in Los Angeles, CA, and was admitted to the Bar in California. Prior to law school, Thomas graduated from the University of California, Los Angeles, with a BA in geography in 2017.
Legal Interns
Martina Berger is a rising third-year law student at Columbia Law School. She graduated from Middlebury College with a BA in political science in 2017.
Kristen Roehrig is a rising second-year law student at American University Washington College of Law. She graduated from the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, in 2019 with a BA in religious studies and Spanish.
Programs & Outreach Interns
Abigail Phillips is a rising senior at Duke University studying political science and religious studies.
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Special Notifications: Please don’t reply to this message. For additional information, contact the individual listed or visit our websites: lwv.organd the League Management Site. To help keep your members informed, consider forwarding this bi-weekly message. Want to sign up to receive this email? Use this form. Please note that this is an internal communication that provides both announcements and opportunities meant only for your members and League, as well as updates on important news and events.
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