By Susan Bell
Co-President, LWV of Greenville County

This week is the 102st anniversary of the founding of the League of Women Voters.  The Greenville branch was chartered 71 years ago.  The women who founded our organization fought long and often dangerous battles to win legal rights for women, minorities, children and other underrepresented communities.  You represent the legacy of each of them.  Our work today remains important as we continue to fight for free and fair elections, women’s equality and reproductive rights, a strong public education system and medical care available to everyone

As I thought about our founders, I also thought about our current members.  Our League  is made up of over 110 amazing volunteer members.  We have members who are attorneys, judges, educators, politicians, community activists, journalists, business executives, medical professionals, engineers, writers, realtors, consultants, podcasters, musicians, librarians, and homemakers.  Our members represent all genders, ethnicities and ages, from students to retirees.  

Each person joins because they believe in the work of the League and want to help promote its values.  That support is provided in as many different ways as the number of members.  Many start off by registering voters, which is vitally important.  Others participate in programs that interest them like Vote411, Diversity, Equity and Inclusion, candidate forums, working as poll managers or planning and participating in educational opportunities. Still others want to take on leadership roles.  Some cannot commit a lot of time, but support our beliefs and participate as they are able. 

Since we are an all-volunteer organization, we try to provide opportunities that allow participation at whatever level suits our members.  We value each and every contribution!  

With your support and commitment, these are some of the things we accomplished in the past year.

Voter Registration

Deb Drucker created training materials and kits for volunteers so that a group of members can conduct a registration drive independently. Most recently, the team has held several successful registration events at retirement communities. 

More than 25 League members participated in 12 registration events, even with COVID restrictions, and registered 175 people.  Over 1,300 people were in attendance at the combined events.  We also gave out a lot of business cards with information on how to register online, so the actual number is probably much higher. 

Vote411 

There were many fewer races this year than in 2020, but – Catherine Cuneo, Paula Winiski and their team did a great job of covering those and getting candidates to participate.  People who visited Vote411.org directly numbered 1,187.  

Issues Forums and Events

For Women’s History Month in 2021, we presented a virtual panel discussion by four women who hold positions in municipal government in Greenville County. 

Lawson Wetli, co-president, spoke at the Women’s March in Greenville to explain the League’s position on women’s reproductive freedom.

Lawson dedicated many, many hours to community presentations to help us understand redistricting.  She gave interviews, participated in podcasts and provided testimony to the SC house, SC senate redistricting committees, and Greenville County Council regarding the League’s position on redistricting and our support of fair maps. 

In January 2022, Dr. Sharda Jackson-Smith and Dr. Rebecca Mueller presented a very detailed explanation of the social studies and civics curriculum in SC schools.  They also discussed legislation being considered to change some current education standards and what that could mean for students, teachers and parents.

Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI)

DEI is headed by Dr. Michelle Byrne and Dr. Sharda Jackson-Smith.  The group’s purpose is to help us better understand how to be more tolerant of differences and  in making every individual feel included.  We work to respectfully hear different views, which can be challenging in these very hyper-partisan times.  To give us some perspective, they have outlined a DEI strategic plan and have hosted discussions of the books, The Sum of Us by Heather McGee, and The New Jim Crow by Michelle Alexander. These discussions were open to members and the public.  The group plans to hold a viewing party/discussion in the Spring of 2022.

Communications

Our communications team of Shelby Cohen and Laura Haight continues to improve the visibility and effectiveness of the information we share with our members and followers.  The combined reach of our social media and newsletters is over 15,000 and growing daily.  

Membership

Our total membership is 110 as of January 31, 2022.  In the last calendar year, 23 new members joined because of the work that you do every day on the League’s behalf.  We also have 75 non-members who receive our Mail Chimp communications and participate in some of our activities. 

What's coming in 2022

But we have more work to do.  This is a very important election year and we need help with a variety of election related work, especially Vote411 and candidate forums.  There are a tremendous number of laws or policies being discussed at every level of government that the League feels are dangerous to fair and free elections, reproductive freedom, equality, the environment, medical care, and public education.  You can learn more about any of these and find ways to take action on the state League website.

If you are interested in getting more involved with any of these efforts in 2022, please send me an email at lwvgreenvilleco@gmail.com.