Having trouble viewing this email? View it in your web browser

Friend, 

This Saturday marks the 30th anniversary of the passage of the National Voter Registration Act (NVRA), a landmark law that increased accessibility to the electoral process and reformed voter registration. The “motor voter” bill allowed citizens to register to vote at motor vehicle agencies, as well as by mail and through other agencies that serve the public. The League was instrumental in passing the NVRA, organizing a national grassroots campaign to make voter registration more accessible. I hope you will join me this Saturday in celebrating the NVRA and our legacy as the law’s foremost defender! Please share our graphics and learn more on our latest blog at www.lwv.org. 

At the end of 2022, LWVUS asked Leagues to complete our Annual League Survey, a space for Leagues to share their activities and priorities. Your responses to the survey are critical as we continue to garner crucial resources to support our mission. Leagues also received their own data and tools to create a personalized report. It is also critical that we improve how we share data between levels of League and how national shares data back to you. Therefore we need your input! Share your thoughts using this short form by May 30 and tell us how you would like your data. 

Last week, I shared that the LWVUS board approved League and member rights and responsibilities policies, defining what it means to be a member and what it means to be a League. We recently made these policies available on the League Management Site and shared them with our entire League community. These policies are standard in federated nonprofit organizations like the League, and I want to remind you that no action is required from League leaders or members. However, I strongly encourage you all to take a moment to review these policies and accompanying resources and share with your boards and local leagues as you feel appropriate. You can access the League Responsibilities Policy and Member Rights and Responsibilities on the League Management Site.

Finally, as Leagues across the country welcome new leadership and incoming members, we compiled some resources Leagues can use in your existing onboarding process. This comprehensive resource list serves as a template, with sample language and tools Leagues can pull from to help welcome new members. Leagues are welcome to copy and paste or customize content from this webpage to use in their own onboarding materials. Take a look at our onboarding resources on the League Management Site. 

As we continue to celebrate Mother’s Day, I hope you will join me in appreciating our League mothers, grandmothers, caregivers, and everyone who has mothered you in your lifetime. Many of us mother others every day in different ways. And all you mothers who are in the nursing field get a double shout out in appreciate of National Nurses Appreciate week and the special mothering you do for our nation.

Working with you and for you every day.

In League,

Deborah

See all upcoming events on the League Management Site.

• Action Alert: Tell Congress to Ensure That the ERA Is Published

The LWVUS evaluation department wants to improve how they share data back to Leagues. Please reflect on how you used the data from the 2022 Annual League Survey and fill out this short survey by May 30, 2023.

Ahead of the 2024 election, LWVUS will be offering trainings on all things VOTE411 to help Leagues empower and educate voters in their communities. Trainings will begin in August. Leagues can learn more about these trainings and register here.

Now is the time to consider and apply to attend the UN Climate Change Conference of the Parties (COP28) in Dubai, UAE. The conference will take place Nov. 30, 2023 – Dec. 12, 2023. If interested, complete the application form. The deadline to apply is July 1, 2023. This is a self-funded opportunity; see application for links to learn more about the conference. If you have questions, please contact Robin Tokmakian (rtokmakian@lwv.org).

• Blog: Protecting the National Voter Registration Act
• Blog: Leagues Working for Civics Education
• Blog: The Fight for Voting Rights Is Alive in Tennessee
• Blog: The League’s History Sponsoring Presidential Debates

May 20, 2023, marks the 30th anniversary of the passage of the National Voter Registration Act (NVRA). Celebrate the NVRA and the League’s legacy as it’s foremost defender with our social media graphics. Visit the League Management Site to download. 

State leaders are invited to register now for Council 2023. Council will take place June 22 – 25 at the Palms Casino Resort in Las Vegas, NV. Each state League is invited to bring one to three state-level leaders. State leaders can register here.

We are excited to announce the recognition of the following new local Leagues:

• LWV Black Hills Area (SD)
• LWV of Southeast Iowa (IA)

• Letter: LWVUS Joins Letter Requesting Congress Support Broadband Internet Access

• Jeanne Morrison, co-president of the League of Women Voters of the Cape Cod Area, MA, and board member of the League of Women Voters of Massachusetts, was honored with the Massachusetts Black and Latino Legislative Caucus 2023 Black Excellence Award. Read the profile: One Cape family, three Black Excellence Awards, lifetimes of good. Meet the Morrisons.
• Morgan Hose is a student at the University of Wisconsin-La Cross and the first student representative for UWL’s League of Women Voters. Learn more: Humans of UWL: Morgan Hose.
• Liz Tentarelli, president of the League of Women Voters of New Hampshire, spoke to Public News Service about voter registration and turnout. Read more: Voter Registration Rates Highest in 20 Years.

Special Notifications: To help keep members informed, LWVUS sends this bi-weekly, internal email newsletter to state and local League presidents, as well as other highly engaged League members. The League Update includes important announcements about upcoming trainings and webinars, grant opportunities, messaging resources, stories from Leagues nationwide, and surveys to help LWVUS serve Leagues better. This newsletter is curated for League members specifically and is not intended for public consumption or distribution. 

Do you know a League member who wants to receive this email? Members can subscribe to receive the League Update here. Please do not reply to this message. To unsubscribe, please click the “unsubscribe” button at the bottom of this email.