As a student, Brendan was engaged in national politics, eager to make a difference. But after graduation, he found himself burnt out—powerless to change decisions that affected him as a young person. That’s when he was approached by his friend’s mother, who asked him to get involved with the New Jersey League.

A few months later, Brendan was frustrated to learn an oil pipeline was planned to route through his town. He wanted to stop it, but he didn’t know how. So, he talked with members of the League’s natural resources committee, who provided him tools and introduced him to activists who helped him fight off the pipeline.

Brendan credits the inter-generational mentorship at the League with turning his cynicism into action and re-energizing his engagement with local government. It’s at the local level where Brendan feels he can really effect change.

Adena first encountered the League of Women Voters as a college student, when her local League asked her to help register and mobilize her fellow students. Finding herself to be a natural organizer and civic leader, Adena became more and more involved in her Berkeley, CA, League and was eventually elected as the youngest president in their history.

Adena’s democracy advancement work skyrocketed from there. She led initiatives to engage young voters and voters of color, established efforts to increase diversity in League membership, and even helped implement voting rights for 16 and 17-year-olds in local school board elections. As a young, passionate League leader, Adena’s advocacy is shaping the next century of League activism.

Ashley never imagined that her casual interest in redistricting would turn into an appointment on the Maryland Governor’s redistricting commission and a speech in front of the U.S. Supreme Court.

But that’s exactly what happened. What started as an interest became a meaningful career with the League of Women Voters of Maryland, and Ashley’s work has made massive strides toward creating a more fair, representative government in her state.

Ashley sees firsthand the impact that voting rights has on important issues like education and healthcare. In her advocacy for fair districts with LWV Maryland, she impresses on voters that the issues they care about can’t move forward until elections are truly fair for all.

Dee’s desire to be a part of an organization that makes a real difference in people’s lives led her to the League of Women Voters while she was still an active duty service member. Now, this Air Force veteran and college educator works tirelessly to motivate her students, neighbors—indeed anyone she meets—to register and vote.
 
Dee works directly in the communities she’s fighting for, partnering with local school systems, sororities, churches, and election offices to equip community members with the knowledge and tools they need to take advantage of their vote. To Dee, her most important work with the League centers on voter engagement and empowerment. She believes the best way to support underrepresented voters is to help them use their voice.

Living in Ohio as a young goverment teacher and community activist, Carolyn wanted to attend the 1980 LWV-sponsored presidential debate. Learning that tickets were only available to Cleveland League members, she joined.

Membership with the League gave Carolyn unique access to policymakers. Her passion for education and democracy reform put her in front of the school board, city council, and eventually the state legislature. A historian by nature, Carolyn wrote a book for the LWV Education Fund, One Man, One Vote: The History of the African American Vote in the United States.

In the mid-90s, Carolyn served on the national board of LWV, becoming the national president in 1998. During her tenure, Carolyn shepherded the League into the technology age, launching LWV’s first voter information website, DNet—the predecessor to VOTE411. She testified before Congress, conveying the League’s support of important bills like the Help America Vote Act and the Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act.

As the League’s first African American national president, Carolyn made it her mission to prioritize diversity in the League’s initiatives and partnerships. Now, she’s carrying on that mission with her new book, The Untold Story of Women of Color in the League of Women Voters.

As one of few women at her tech company, adorned with tattoo sleeves and ever-changing colored hair, Liz is unafraid to break the mold. In fact, she intentionally lives her life by embracing diversity of perspective.

Liz grew up in a politically active family, tagging along at rallies and volunteering with her parents. So when she expressed frustration at the partisan division she saw impeding progress, her mother, a longtime League member, prompted her to join her local League.

The more Liz learned from the League, the more involved she became—drawn in by the organization’s immovable nonpartisan stance and dedication to protecting equal voting rights. When presented with the opportunity to apply for the national board of directors, she jumped at the chance.

Now, Liz chairs the national board’s mission impact committee, where she develops key strategies for empowering voters and defending democracy. Liz relishes bringing an outsider perspective to the League, as she does in her tech career, using it to break down cultural and political divides that stand in the way of equitable progress for all.

Getting money out of politics was what first drew Anna to the League of Women Voters. Eager to join an organization built on grassroots advocacy, they quickly got to work fighting to protect the Maine Clean Elections Act.

Anna is an organizer at heart. Now, as executive director of LWV of Maine, they focus on building an activist network by fostering individual volunteers to build power together.

As a nonbinary person, Anna shares their experience in order to invite fellow League members to think more complexly about gender. For them, it’s about making sure we expand the safe and welcoming space the League has created for women to gender minorities.

With an unwavering dedication to expanding and defending democracy, Anna leads with a clear vision for activating the League’s volunteer network and harnessing their power for real change.

Jhody was advocating for former felon rights when she was invited to work with the League of Women Voters of Florida on their voting rights restoration campaign. In her work with the League to get a constitutional amendment for re-enfranchisement, Jhody utilized her personal story to lobby for voting rights restoration for formerly incarcerated people like her.
 
Jhody and her fellow League members achieved passage of Amendment 4 on Florida’s 2018 ballot, which restored voting rights for millions of Floridians. Now, she continues the work, advocating for people with criminal convictions so that their access to the ballot is not limited or diminished.
 
Through working with the League, Jhody has transitioned from a representative in the movement for re-enfranchisement to a strategic organizer for disenfranchised and marginalized communities.

As an engaged community activist in her small Michigan town, Sue first encountered the League of Women Voters while working to get a neighborhood school rebuilt. Through the success of that project, Sue saw the power of the League to reform local government and improve the community. Now an active League member and former Michigan state League president, Sue is focused on growing the future of the League and making sure all votes count.
 
In her outreach to energize Michiganders about fair districts, Sue grew the Ann Arbor League from just shy of 80 members to over 400. Her hands-on training of voting rights activists has fueled the League’s progress, equipping the next generation of League leadership with the tools needed to defend our democracy.

Moments after she took the oath of citizenship at her naturalization ceremony, Luisa was greeted by the League of Women Voters who encouraged her to use her new rights by registering to vote. After participating in her first election, Luisa wanted to do more—to use her rights to expand others’. She joined the League that had registered her, eager to amplify her newly empowered voice.
 
As a new League member, Luisa dove into voter registration, visiting high schools to register students, taking on voter education projects to get out the vote among minority communities. But where she feels most fulfilled is when she registers new citizens to vote at naturalization ceremonies. That’s where everything comes full circle for her.
 
Luisa’s passion for defending voting rights comes from a profound place: knowing first-hand the power that comes from exercising your voice after a lifetime of waiting.