Nancy Goldberg, Communications Chair of the League of Women Voters Highland Park, joined the non-partisan organization in 2008. Nancy shared with us some history. On June 4, 1919, the US Senate passed the 19th Amendment, which was sent to the states for ratification. On June 10, 1919, Illinois ratified the 19th Amendment, claiming to be the first. The League of Women Voters was founded on February 14, 1920. On August 18, 1920, Tennessee was the 36th state to ratify the Amendment was adopted. LWV of Highland Park/Highwood are just part of the big umbrella of LWV.. As part of LWV Lake County, they focus on Criminal Justice in regards to violent death reporting and mental health, candidate forums, the Lake County Board Observer Corps, including environment issues such as ethylene oxide and storm water management, Waukegan Harbor and wetland restoration,. The LWV Lake Michigan Region focus their concerns for water quality and education, LWV Illinois advocates for voter protection, redistricting, criminal justice, gun violence and fair taxes. The U.S. organization focuses on health care reform, voter suppression, money in politics, redistricting immigration and the census. Shoshana Friedman is Coordinator of the Stroll to the Polls program. This was a program initiated in Naperville with great results. The objective of the program is to increase involvement and encouraging those who haven't voted before to register. She partnered with the HPHS civics department in the spring of 2019 and the ideas started adding up. In the Fall of 2019 they had planned the event beginning with a rally and ending with a pizza party. There were certain challenges to this kick off in January like using school buses to take the students into the neighborhoods, collaborating calendars and with the police department. Bags handed to the student volunteers included maps, student name tags, door tags in both English and Spanish. Safety was of course the primary concern of the teachers and sponsors - the students were dropped off and picked up at a certain corner, they only approached homes with a front door facing the street and no apartments were included. Teams of 3 or 4 walked around their assigned block going door to door to educate residents of the upcoming election. Like the Naperville program, the result was about 20% of the contacts registered. Nancy, a native of New Jersey, is also a board member of the Lake County League. She has been a resident of Highland Park since 1985. A former educator, she switched careers to the technology field.working 29 years in software development. She retired from Bank of America in 2008 as a Senior Technology Principal for B of A. Shoshana has been a member of the League since 2017. As Citizen Educator and Voter Registration Chair, Shoshana is responsible for voter registration events, She also serves on the Leadership Team. Born and raised in the Chicago area, she has lived in Highland Park for 44 years. After a career in sales, she devoted her time volunteering at community based organizations and nonprofits. |