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Friday, March 16
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LWVMA Board Meeting, Tufts Library, Weymouth, 11:00 a.m. until 2:00 p.m.
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Thursday, March 22
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LWVMA Moderator Training, Sandwich Library, 142 Main Street, Sandwich, 10:00 a.m. until 12:30 p.m.
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Saturday, March 24
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March for Our Lives Rallies
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Saturday, March 31
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LWVMA Video Contest, "Get in the Game and Vote" Submission Deadline
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Sunday, April 8
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LWVMA Moderator Training, Smith Vocational and Agricultural High School, 80 Locust Street, Northampton, 2:00 p.m. until 4:00 p.m.
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Tuesday, April 17
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Daniel Scharfman Grant Deadline
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Saturday, April 28
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LWVMA Spring Conference, "Beyond the March: Women Leading the Way in Massachusetts", Clark University, Worcester, 9:00 a.m. until 3:00 p.m.
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Tsongas to Keynote April 28 Conference
Congresswoman Niki Tsongas will be the keynote speaker for the LWVMA spring conference "Beyond the March: Women Leading the Way in Massachusetts." The conference is Saturday, April 28, from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m., at Clark University in Worcester.
This conference replaces our usual state Council held in non-convention years. All League members are encouraged to attend; there is no limit to the number of people from a local League. The conference is open to the public, so encourage your friends to attend.
Click here to register or for more information.
Please join us for a full day of engaging speakers to explore lessons from women's activist past, the role of women leaders today, and concrete steps we can all take to strengthen our democracy going forward.
In addition to Rep. Tsongas, conference speakers will include:
- Ruthanne Fuller, Mayor, Newton
- Sarai Rivera, City Councilor, Worcester
- Yvonne Spicer, Mayor, Framingham
- Lisa Wong, Deputy Director, Asian American Civic Association, Former Mayor, Fitchburg
- Barbara Berenson, author of Massachusetts in the Woman Suffrage Movement: Revolutionary Reformers
- Erin O'Brien, Associate Professor of Political Science, University of Massachusetts Boston
- Daniel Ziblatt, Professor of Government, Harvard University, co-author, How Democracies Die
Encourage your members to come and bring a friend, to feel the energy, and to be inspired and educated to "do something" when they leave.
And look for an advertisement for the conference in the
Boston Globe
Sunday, March 18! The League earned this free advertising space in last year's Globe Grant campaign.
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Moderator Training: Cape and Western Massachusetts
LWVMA is planning two moderator training sessions for both new and current moderators.
Moderator Training on Cape Cod
WHEN: Thursday, March 22, 10 a.m.-12:30 p.m.
WHERE: Sandwich Library, 142 Main Street, Sandwich
Moderator Training in Western Massachusetts
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High School Video Contest Deadline March 31
For its fifth annual student video contest, LWVMA invites high school students to create 30-second public service announcements to motivate voters for Massachusetts' Fall 2018 elections.
The contest,
Get In the Game...and Vote, is open to all high school students in Massachusetts. Top winners will be awarded $500, $250, and $100 prizes, and their videos will be publicized statewide.
Entries must be submitted online by March 31 at
www.lwvma.org. Judging will take place in April, and winners will be announced in May. Official rules and further details are available at
www.lwvma.org.
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LWVMA Office Needs New Office Administrator
Brynne Gorman, our membership and community engagement manager and the person who has played a key role in the LWVMA office and supporting our members for the past four years, is leaving us to move to California at the end of March. We will miss her and wish her good luck.
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Summer Intern Position Available
LWVMA is seeking a summer intern to assist with an exciting initiative: MoVE 2018 (Massachusetts Voter Engagement 2018), a statewide voter education and engagement project. Please feel free to share the posting.
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Voter Registration at Gun Control Events
On March 24, March for Our Lives rallies are planned around Massachusetts, and you can find one near you
here
. LWVMA is currently working with March for Our Lives organizers in Boston to support their voter registration efforts. We encourage local Leagues to contact March for Our Lives organizers near you and offer to provide voter registration at these events. Let's make sure every supporter of stronger gun laws is registered to vote.
Many local Leagues also are working with high school students to offer voter registration during planned March 14 protests against gun violence at the schools. If your League is involved in this effort, please let the LWVMA office know and send us a photo. Thanks for supporting students who are making democracy work.
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Time to plan spring high school voter registrations
In addition to any voter registration efforts in high schools related to the gun violence protests, it's not too early to contact high schools in your area and arrange to register students to vote later this spring. Remember you can now pre-register 16- and 17-year-olds to vote. You use the same voter registration form, but make sure you have the newest version which indicates people filling it out must be at least 16, not 18. You can see the new version
here
to check. Students can also register or pre-register online at
www.registertovoteMA.com
if they have a driver's license.
LWVUS offers a guide to high school voter registration here.
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Voter Registration Info Postcards
The LWVMA office has postcards on how to register to vote online and on pre-registration for 16- and 17-year-olds which you can make available to schools or at other events. Contact us
if your League wants some of these cards. We also have Want Change? cards suggesting ways people can make a difference.
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The next deadline for Daniel Scharfman Citizen Education grant applications is April 17. Local Leagues can apply for grants up to $250 for a project; three or more Leagues collaborating on a project can apply for up to $500. The application and requirements are here.
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LWVMA is sending the Mass League Action Newsletter to all members on the first of each month. We will be adding mid-month action newsletter from now until the legislature ends July 31 to cover all the activity on the bills we are following.
We urge all League members to take a look at these newsletters and pick one or two actions to take each month in areas that interest you. It can be as simple as sending an email supporting a bill to your Senator and/or Representative.
Please put a notice in your League's bulletin asking members to act on items in the newsletters, and remind them that, if they do not receive these monthly action newsletters, they can ask to be added to the list by contacting
lwvma@lwvma.org
.
Action by our members boosts the League's voice on Beacon Hill!
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LWVUS Convention in June in Chicago
Has your League picked delegates to the national convention in Chicago? Every local League is entitled to one voting delegate, with an additional delegate for every 50 members. So if your League has up to 49 members, you are entitled to one delegate; 50-99 members, two delegates; 100-149 members, three delegates, and so on.
The 53rd National Convention is June 28-July 1 in Chicago. All available information on the convention
can be found here
. Please contact
membership@lwv.org
with any Convention-related questions or concerns.
- Registration is open! You can register online here. The Early Bird Registration rate is $450.
- 2018 Awards: Share the great work that your League has done during the past biennium by applying for a Convention award. Nominations are being accepted in three categories. Applications are due April 14.
- Explore Chicago: The LWV of Illinois has arranged discounted architecture tours for Convention attendees. There will be two opportunities to take part in a river cruise and one opportunity for a walking tour. More information can be found here.
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The League Leader Update is distributed to local League board members and LWVMA leaders. Anyone can request the Update by clicking here. Please review this Update for articles of interest to your League and include them in your local Bulletin.
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