Inside this issue...
- President's Message
- Coffee Sale a Success
- Comité's Community Partnerships
- Fund Development Activities
- Tacos = Cash for LWVMC
- Social Media Key to GOTV
- Join the Climate Action Group
- Diggelman's Decades of NR leadership
- Behind the Scenes at VOTE411
- Money Matters
- UW Class Creates Videos For Social Media
- Tidey Steps Back From HSVERP Leadership
- New Maps Affect Election
- It's Candidate Forum Season!
- Repro Rights Update
- Harris-Hodge Awarded for Community Service
- County Ethics Board
- Grantwriters Seek Funding for LWVMC
- 2024 Wisconsin Infrastructure Report Card
- In Memory of Sue Lindberg
| President's Message
Whew! What a year! It had highs and lows, hopes and dreams, and all the emotions that we could possibly have imagined. Before we step into a new year, I want to take a moment to reflect on the achievements of a jam-packed year that saw four significant elections.
This past year, the League of Women Voters of Milwaukee County engaged in important work to inform and encourage active participation in government at all levels. Through community outreach, Voter Services helped register hundreds of new voters and provided critical, nonpartisan election information to our communities. We stood firm in advocating for voting rights, fair redistricting, and transparency in government.
We had major impacts on our communities through forums, partnerships, and educational events. We empowered citizens to make their voices heard, particularly in the areas of reproductive rights and the harmful effects of climate change.
The new year presents us with fresh challenges and opportunities, and I am confident that we will meet them with the same resolve that has powered the League for over 100 years. Here’s a look at what’s ahead:
With local and state elections approaching, our focus will be on expanding voter education and combating misinformation. We will continue to protect access to the ballot for all eligible voters. We will continue to strengthen our presence in underrepresented communities and will ensure every citizen understands that their voices are important to the future of our democracy.
As part of our commitment to social and environmental justice, we will champion equitable climate solutions and promote policies that prioritize marginalized communities as well as our broader environment.
As usual, we cannot do this without your support. Our volunteers are the driving force in our organization. Your participation is at the heart of all our efforts. There are several ways you can support our work.
• Renew Your Membership: Ensure your voice continues to be part of our collective impact. The Transformation, whereby the LWVUS will take over our rosters, impacts how we will join and renew our memberships. The change will not be apparent as we will continue to join on our LWVMC website. The process will take place behind the scenes. What will change is how we need to donate to our local League (explained later in this newsletter).
• Volunteer: Join local efforts to register voters, host events, or lead advocacy campaigns.
• Donate: Support our mission by contributing to fund our programs and initiatives.
As President of the League of Women Voters of Milwaukee, I am deeply grateful for your support and passion. I am incredibly proud to represent our League as we move into the new year. Let us make 2025 a year of progress, empowerment, and unity. Here’s to another year of championing democracy and ensuring every voice is heard.
In League,
Nancy Maloney, President
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Traditionally, the League of Women Voters of Milwaukee County’s major fund-raising event has been the coffee sale. This year, we partnered with East View Coffee Company, founded and owned by Jenny Ulbricht. East View’s story is aligned with gender equality, environmental action, and social justice woven into everything they do. East View partners with women-owned coffee farms, championing quality and providing growth opportunities. With smart packaging and carbon-neutral shipping, East View ensures that our love for coffee doesn’t come at the expense of our planet.
Kathy Ulbricht, a long-time League member and former Board member, and Mary Voelker were co-chairs for this year’s Coffee for Our Cause fundraiser. Thirty-six League members worked as the Coffee Sales Team. We thank the team members for their huge contribution to the success of the sale:
Molly Collins, Peggy Creer, Deb Ciszewski, Susan Ellsworth, Jane Glodoski, Anita Gulottta-Connelly, Catherine Friel-Dombeck, Bonnie Gauger, Eloisa Gomez, Lorna Grade, Joan Hansen, Elizabeth Harris-Hodge, Laurie Herriges, Sarah Jakubiak, Virginia Jones, Michael Kloehn, Eva Lugo, Nancy Maloney, Maddie Mason, Patricia McFarland, Candice Owley, Marsha Poulsen, Dennis Schroeder, Donna Spars, Mary Ellen Spicuzza, Diane Steigerwald, Mary Stetter, Mary Sussman, Joy Tapper, Emily Tayler, Peggy Tennessen, Ellen Trytek, Mary Voelker, Mary Walz-Chojnacki, Chris Weber-Sponnick, Carol Wolcott.
In October, the sales were advanced with a challenge match of $1000, which contributed $5 for each bag of coffee sold. Many thanks to the coffee match donors Barbara Boles, Colleen Golomski, Joan Hanson, Gail Sklodowska, Phyllis Wax, and two anonymous donors.
Close to 850 bags of coffee were sold in the sale that ended on December 10, 2024. This is AMAZING, and close to meeting our huge stretch goal to sell 900 bags of coffee.
CONGRATULATIONS!!!!
Thank you to everyone who bought, sold, marketed, and influenced others to purchase coffee. Thank you to East View Coffee Company for the quality and delicious coffee!
Each one of you contributed to a real win for LWVMC!!
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Why Community Partnerships Matter: Our Outreach on Milwaukee’s Southside
By Eloisa Gómez
Every year since 2018, the CVL-LVO (Comité por el Voto Latino - Latinx Voter Outreach) Team has taken time to reflect on our work over the past year, the successes and challenges, which helps us set the direction for the coming year. This includes reviewing ward-based voter turnout data in our geographic targeted area.
By the end of December 2024, Comité, as we call ourselves, participated in or led 75 community outreach events with thirteen (13) volunteers staffing these events. This is likely our highest number of outreach events since CVL-LVO began. This strong presence on Milwaukee’s near Southside is impossible without the much-appreciated support from our 19 community agencies, which include nonprofits, schools, and government agencies, who invite our participation in their community-building efforts. They see the League as an important asset to those they serve regarding voter information. We are recognized, too, for offering bilingual information and, as bilingual volunteers, for effectively engaging with their community members. Congratulations, League of Women Voters!
The additional good news is that the number of registered voters and voter turnout in Aldermanic District (AD) 8 (21 wards) increased overall. This can be celebrated, too. The not-so-great news is that the number of registered voters and voter turnout was lower in AD 12. Clearly, we have work to do, yet our outreach work through our Southside networks is making a difference.
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The FD Committee contributes to cultivating and stewardship of current, new, and prospective donors through activities that generate interest in LWVMC and education that promotes empowering voters and defending democracy.
Starting in 2024, handwritten thank you notes are written by the President and Board members for all donations to LWVMC as a recommendation from the Committee. Other activities the Committee recommended and/or implemented in 2024 include:
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A History of Voting Rights presentation was held at St. Camillus in October. Peg Schrader put this presentation together with a script that makes it easy to replicate.
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Chris Weber Sponnick researched contact information about advertising on WUWM. The Board referred this to Voter Services.
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Pat McFarland organized a Celebrate Democracy Day event on September 15 at Central United Methodist Church.
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Bonnie Jacobson created a process and template for House Parties to introduce prospective new members and donors to the League. House Parties will begin this spring.
While a Giving Tuesday Campaign was suggested, the recruitment for a leader was unsuccessful, and there wasn’t a campaign—just a few social media posts, an email to membership, and an article in the weekly Update asking for general support.
The Fund Development Committee meets quarterly in person during warm weather and via Zoom during winter. For information about joining the committee, contact Mary Voelker at m.voelker@lwvmilwaukee.org
| Taco Tuesdays for Tú y Yo
LWVMC was the beneficiary of a month of Taco Tuesdays at Corazon Cafe. Thanks to all the LWVMC members and friends who supported the League by participating in this fun and tasty fundraiser! Patrons at Corazon’s three locations ordered 421 taco plates on Taco Tuesdays during the month of November – netting the League $1 per plate.
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Social media has become the dominant source of news for many Americans, especially young people. LWVMC's social media team, led by Jenna Lara, includes Melissa Klein, Kelly Stockton, and Mary Rode, along with Leigh Ann Tidey, who posts for high schoolers and the youngest voters on TikTok @RVoteMatters2. LWVMC Administrative Support Coordinator Maddie Mason does many of our posts that are not election-related, such as our coffee fundraiser and events.
The run-up to the November election was particularly busy for the team, which posts on Facebook, Instagram, Reddit, and X using the handle @lwvmilwaukee. From September through November 10, the team had several hundred posts on those platforms. This year, the League had money available through grant funding to mobilize young voters to participate in the November general election. The funds were invested in paid ads on Facebook, Instagram, and Reddit. In addition to paid campaigns, the team generated free, organic social media posts on Facebook, Instagram, X, and LinkedIn.
The Social Media team presented to the Board the performance of these ads (our Spanish ads had extremely positive engagement) and saw an increase in the number of Facebook and Instagram followers. The League is pursuing a paid advertising campaign in 2025.
Members who are active on social media are encouraged to follow us and like and share our posts.
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2024, the Hottest in Recorded History - time to Act - Join the CAG steering committee
By Candice Owley and Louise Petering, CAG Co-Chairs
As 2024 draws to an end, threats from climate change and the devastating impacts of burning fossil fuels are greater than ever. Record-breaking heat, historic storms, fires out of control, and the anticipated weakening of federal oversight mean local advocacy on climate is critical. In 2024, the LWVMC established a Climate Action Group to lead our League’s efforts.
2024 accomplishments were:
- Presentation of two educational programs
- Successful advocacy at the City and County of Milwaukee for funding for Climate Equity work
- Participation in the newly established climate coalition, Our Future MKE (OFM)
Moving Forward in 2025
Join us on Saturday, January 25th, 2025, from 10 a.m. to noon to hear a report on the status of climate change and its impact on our communities. We will also discuss educational programs and action plans for 2025 and explore the creation of a formal steering committee to lead our efforts.
Many of our LWVMC members are concerned about the impact of climate change. Join others in our League and community for this special meeting. For more information, contact c.owley@lwvmilwaukee.org.
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Dr. Carol Diggelman Stepping Down from LWVMC Natural Resources Co-Chair
By Lou Ann Van Fossen
Carol Diggelman, PhD, Milwaukee School of Engineering, Professor Emerita; Member, LWV; Member, ASCE-WI Section
Dr. Carol Diggelman has worn many hats – a few include university professor, stay-at-home mother, wife, environmentalist, friend, and League of Women Voters volunteer since the 1970s, serving since 2010 as co-chair of the Natural Resources committee in the Milwaukee County chapter.
Now stepping aside from her LWVMC leadership role, Diggelman – who intends to continue to volunteer – was honored with a letter of commendation passed by the committee’s board at its October meeting. “Her work on land use issues, recycling, and lead issues among many others over the years – as well as her collaborations with the American Society of Civil Engineers – WI Section (ASCE-WI) -- have been much appreciated,” the commendation states.
In the 1970s, when Diggelman began, the Natural Resources Committee mainly studied proposed federal legislation, including the Clean Water Act.
“More recently, new members bring a wide range of new issues, like infrastructure, electric cars and PFAS. We also address issues that are still with us, including climate change and lead in drinking water. I appreciate what our members have been able to achieve over many years by working together and covering for each other,” she said.
A major hallmark of the Diggelman tenure took root in a LWVWI 2014 meeting in which an ASCE-WI engineer discussed an infrastructure report card and an economist explained why funding infrastructure projects made economic sense. In 2015 the LWVWI and the ASCE-WI followed with four similar meetings around the state. The LWVWI again partnered with ASCE-WI in both 2021 and now in 2024 to produce a series of webinars to educate Wisconsinites about the categories covered in ASCE-WI Report Cards.
The 2024 nine-session webinar series includes sessions on bridges and roads, aviation and transit, inland waterways and ports, dams and stormwater, drinking water and wastewater, broadband and energy, hazardous waste and solid waste, rail, and parks and schools. Watch these webinars! The link to the webinars is: https://my.lwv.org/wisconsin/2024-asce-wi-infrastructure-report-card-webinar-series
“I am proud of this series. It is a public-private partnership in the best sense,” Diggelman said. “All volunteered time – lots of it! Behind the scenes there was support from LWVWI and ASCE-WI local, state, and national staff and support from local, state, and federal agencies, elected officials and their staff, local communities, employers and our families.”
“We can all be civil engineering advocates, whether or not we are civil engineers. Advocacy is more credible coming from an outsider than from an insider who stands to gain financially,” she said.
Of her six-year stint as an environmentalist on the Governor’s Snowmobile Recreational Council, Diggelman reflected, “I learned that I couldn’t get a thing passed, but just by showing up, I could prevent bad policy. “
Congratulations, and thank you, Dr. Diggelman!
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VOTE411.org provides election-related nonpartisan information to the public. Customized to your address, you see the candidates and ballot issues on your personal ballot. There is detailed information on the candidates, including League-provided questions to the candidates and their responses in their own words. You can compare candidates side by side before making your voting selections. Here is a behind-the-scenes look at VOTE411.org at the League of Women Voters in Milwaukee County.
Tech Team
The Tech Team finds out which local races will be in each election and enters information about the races into the system. These are county-wide races, municipal races, and school board races. A team at LWVUS does this for the federal races and a team at LWVWI for the state-wide races. Our local team covers Milwaukee and Waukesha County races, races in all nineteen (19) municipalities in Milwaukee County, school board races in Milwaukee County, and races in the eight largest municipalities in Waukesha County and their school boards.
As candidate information becomes available, the tech team enters information about the candidates into the VOTE411 system. The LWVMC Tech team is led by Mary Ellen Spicuzza, and team members Sue Leister, Wally Creer, and Nancy Maloney. Once questions are entered into the system, Sue Leister is responsible for creating, testing, and sending invitations to the candidates to participate in VOTE411.org.
Questions Team
Mary Sue Kristiansen leads the Questions Team, which develops the questions that candidates are invited to answer to participate in VOTE411.org. Mary Geiser serves with Mary Sue as a member of the Questions Team.
Community Volunteers Team
Community Volunteers are responsible for contacting the County, municipal, and school board clerks to obtain candidates' names and contact information after filing their papers to run for office. The goal is to have a Community volunteer for each County, municipality, and school district. Ellen Trytek and Beth Lueck lead the Community Volunteers Team.
Candidate Participation and Marketing
Once the VOTE411.org online Voter Guide is published, citizens can learn about the candidates running for office by reading their answers and comparing them to the questions posed in the Guide. This is valuable to the extent that candidates have answered the questions. The role of the candidate participation effort is to encourage candidates to participate and answer the questions. Anita Gulatto-Connelly and Mary Voelker lead this effort. They also are responsible for marketing VOTE411 to increase voters' usage of the online Voter Guide.
The next online Voter Guide will be prepared and published for the Spring 2025 election.
|  | | Fund Development focuses on cultivating and stewardship of new and prospective donors, building relationships, and generating interest in LWVMC. Fundraising projects and campaigns are created and monitored.
Liz Harris-Hodge organized a successful silent auction at the Annual Meeting in May that raised over $1000.
Club Express activated the opportunity for recurring donations. This option requires a credit card, which is only open to members. Go to (link to recurring donations on the website) and sign up today!! Your monthly donation is another way to show support for our League and is a budget-friendly way to donate.
The League has started promoting
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- Qualified charitable distributions (QCD) as a part of donors required minimum distribution from their IRA and
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- Gifts from donor-advised funds (DAF).
Good Coffee for a Strong Democracy replaced the previous Coffee for Our Cause sale with a new partner: East View Coffee Company. Kathy Ulbricht and Mary Voelker were the co-chairs. East View has been a great fit for LWVMC because of its shared values. East View purchases coffee from women-owned coffee farms and uses sustainable business practices. An article in this Voter highlights the LWVMC members who worked to make this a successful sale.
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LWVMC teams up with UW-Madison School of Business to Develop Content for Youth Social Media
By Judy Winn and Leigh Ann Tidey
About a year and a half ago, Leigh Ann Tidey, team leader of the High School Voter Education and Registration Project, approached Dr. Aziza Jones, Assistant Professor of Marketing at the University of Wisconsin's School of Business, inquiring whether Dr. Jones could suggest several undergraduate students to work with her to develop strategies to increase the project’s social media presence. Dr. Jones not only found two students but decided she would like all the students in her Brand Management and Strategy class to be involved in educating Milwaukee high school students about voting and voter registration. She and Leigh Ann started meeting and collaboratively developed a class project. Both in the Fall semester of 2023 and this past semester, students have worked in teams to develop marketing campaigns for the Branding LWV Project, resulting in 44 videos.
Leigh Ann visited the class early in the semester and talked about Milwaukee Public School students and the League’s work to encourage them to vote. Using their course content and research about the League, along with their understanding of what would appeal to high school students, the class teams produced motivating, fast-paced, humorous, and relevant videos - videos that should make those on social media stop scrolling and watch them. Projects include a day in the life of a Badger football player, which involves his stopping to register; a game show about voting; a student skipping school who misses out on registering; and a student anxiously waiting for what the audience thinks is a college acceptance but turns out to be an absentee ballot. Leigh Ann gave feedback and attended the final presentations the first year. Judy Winn joined her in the second year, with both meeting all the students.
The project was a win-win for all involved. Dr. Jones (who recently received an award from Poets and Quants, a website rating business schools, as one of the Top 50 Business Professors) gave her students a way to use what they were learning to promote democracy. The League received a way to increase its message and presence on social media, and the university students had the opportunity to work together on an important issue. Their response was very positive, as seen in two students’ comments below:
Specific highlights from this project were 1) Being able to channel personal energy towards such a big election year into a project that doesn't focus on either side/differences but rather finds a way to bring people together with the shared value and right of democracy—and simply going to vote! 2) I learned more about local voting and ways to get more education on candidates' policies and generally felt more confident in the information I spread to others when talking about voting. Especially with a younger brother who is almost 18, I am glad to know much more about the voting process to help motivate and lead him to vote in all elections.
I'm so grateful for the opportunity to be a Brand Intern for the League of Women Voters; working with an organization that continues to make such a big impact was truly incredible. Our campaign inspires even one student to register and vote, which will be a success.
We plan to continue this collaboration next fall and to involve high school students in giving feedback to university students as they develop their marketing campaigns. Please watch future Updates for links to samples of the videos.
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Leigh Ann Tidey Stepping Down from High School Registration Team
By Lou Ann Van Fossen
Next time you vote, look around for the youngest person casting a ballot – we can probably thank Leigh Ann Tidey and her team, at least partially, for the youthful presence of that person at the polls.
Tidey has led the LWVMC high school voter registration team for 10 years and is stepping down.“She has really expanded the high school program. It’s been very successful,” said one LWVMC member. Here’s the proof: The high school recruitment program registered 1,100 voters in calendar year 2024.
Tidey describes the program this way: “We offer non-partisan education and training to area high school students, encourage students to register and vote and help them hold voter registration events in their own schools. We also encourage students to follow us on our social media platforms, where we promote registration and voting.” Little-known facts about area high schools and voting include:
- The target audience for the program, established in 2014 at Riverside High School, is high school seniors in Milwaukee and Waukesha Counties.
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10,000 18-year-olds live in the City of Milwaukee.
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Approximately 3,000 seniors are enrolled in 24 MPS high schools.
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The program now serves 75 Milwaukee and Waukesha County Schools, including Shorewood and Menomonee Falls.
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LWVMC is assisting MPS in implementing a school board resolution that “all MPS high school seniors be offered voter registration every year before they graduate.”
Tidey joined the LWVMC in 2014. “At the beginning, the best we could do is get the principals to okay us setting up a table to recruit voters,” she said.
"Soon, the experience taught me that the LWV recruitment table did not register on the students’ radar. Students aren’t thinking about registration. They’re thinking about the upcoming test, prom, what they’re going to do this weekend. We realized the best idea was to get the students themselves to organize the event,” said Tidey.
The team works with school employees in the college and career centers to recruit students to plan the voting registration events. The students bring great publicity ideas to the mix: “In one school, they researched the names of the voting-aged seniors, found out their locker numbers and put flyers on their specific lockers,” said Tidey.
The Milwaukee Bucks Foundation has approved a grant for the team to pay area high school students to create authentic social media content that encourages registration and voting, for use on LWV Instagram and TikTok accounts, as well as create a video on how to vote for the first time.
Currently the high school recruitment team is also working with a UW-Madison professor of marketing, who made a class assignment of creating 30-second videos targeting high schoolers old enough to vote. Eighteen videos were produced last year, and 25 new videos were completed this semester.
“Young, vibrant people trying to convince younger high school students to vote – it doesn’t get better than that,” Tidey said, noting that the videos use state-of-the-art technology.
“I love it! I love the young people, meeting and talking with them. I think they’re wonderful and often underestimated. This is our future. If you can get young people to vote when they’re 18 for the first time, then the second time is easier . . . you’ve created a lifetime voter. We have the opportunity to create a bloc of voters for the future,” she said.
Congratulations and thank you, Leigh Ann Tidey!
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Fair Maps Lead to Robust, Competitive Elections
from the "Law Forward" newsletter, December 3, 2024
Last year, Law Forward and our partners secured a landmark victory when the Wisconsin Supreme Court ruled the state must have new legislative maps ahead of the 2024 election. The November 2024 election was the first held under the new maps, and the results were dramatic.
For one thing, the new maps sparked a renewal of competitive electoral contests.
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In more than 80% of legislative races on the ballot, both major parties ran candidates, with 94 (out of 116) contested races. By contrast, a decade ago, only half of the legislative races were even contested when the gerrymander preordained most results.
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The increase in contested races helped drive record voter participation in Wisconsin, even as turnout nationwide dipped in 2024 compared to 2020.
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The legislative results closely tracked statewide patterns, as they should, in contrast to the skewed results under the gerrymander.
This trend is likely to continue in future elections. |  | |
As a service to voters, the League facilitates candidate forums when requested by a community organization. Forum participants are typically candidates for municipal offices in Milwaukee County, such as local school boards, trustees, village presidents, or mayors. This makes February and March the busy season for the candidate forum team. We would love to have more volunteers to be a part of this quintessential example of local democracy!
The Candidate Forum team responds to requests for candidate forums, coordinates the forum agreements between the community sponsors, candidates, and LWVMC, and then organizes the volunteers needed to conduct the forum. Team roles are moderator, timer, question sorter, greeter, and coordinator. Training provided. If you're interested in learning more, please contact Peggy Creer at p.creer@lwvmilwaukee.org.
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Reproductive Rights in Wisconsin in Jeopardy
After the 2022 U.S. Supreme Court decision overturning Roe v. Wade, abortions were discontinued in Wisconsin due to an 1849 law that criminalized abortion. A year later, a Dane County judge ruled that this law applied to feticide, not abortion, and abortions were restarted. This ruling was challenged by Sheboygan County District Attorney Urmanski, and Attorney General Kaul asked the Wisconsin Supreme Court to hear the case. Additionally, Planned Parenthood of Wisconsin petitioned the Court to declare abortion a constitutional right. The Court agreed to hear both of these cases.
On November 10, the court heard arguments in Kaul v. Urmanski. Urmanski’s attorney argued that the 1849 statute is still enforceable as the legislature never repealed it. Kaul’s attorney said there was an implied repeal of this law because later statutes regulating abortion, such as the 2015 law prohibiting abortions after 20 weeks, would supersede the 1849 law.
In questioning, Justice Jill Karofsky provided several scenarios resulting in pregnancy, including sexual assault and incest, and Urmanski’s attorney said the 1849 law would still apply. Justice Brian Hagedorn noted that although the judiciary has prevented the 1849 law’s enforcement, later laws do not negate it, and the judiciary does not write laws.
Later this term, the court will hear arguments in the second case, Planned Parenthood v. Urmanski. A decision in these two cases could take a few weeks or until the end of the court’s session in June 2025. However, a positive outcome is still subject to being overturned, just as Roe v. Wade was.
Real protection will require a constitutional amendment. A proposal must be passed by most members in both houses as a joint resolution and then in identical form by the next legislature session. Because the Wisconsin legislature operates on a biennial (two-year) session, and most current legislators resist reproductive rights legislation, this process alone can take more than four to six years. After this, the legislature submits the proposed amendment for ratification by a majority of the electorate in a statewide referendum election.
This process requires persistence and long-term collaboration with like-minded groups. If you want to make reproductive rights a reality for Wisconsinites, contact Gail Sklodowska at g.sklowdowska@lwvmilwaukee.org.
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LWVMC Board Member Elizabeth Harris-Hodge (right) with Dr. Shawna Whitehead-Starks, Founder of It Takes A Village
| Liz Harris-Hodge Awarded for Community Service
LWVMC board member C. Elizabeth Harris-Hodge was recently one of 22 recognized at the It Takes A Village Foundation Community Leaders Award Gala. Her name was submitted because of her genuine and compassionate dedication to improving the lives of others in our community. The Black Tie event was a fundraiser to support the Foundation's Re-entry Program for felons. The program inspires and encourages individuals to re-enter the community with job readiness skills, educational opportunities, and housing. It has assisted over 1,500 felons since its establishment in June 2020.
Elizabeth always says that social justice activism is in her DNA due to her grandmother’s and parents’ fight for civil and human rights. As a teenager she was active with the late Father James Groppi, traveling to National NAACP conventions, serving as president of the Madison WI Youth Council Branch, State Youth Council, and Midwest Region Secretary. As an educator, anti-domestic violence advocate, and Baptist minister, she has been the president of numerous organizations, including: United Neighborhood Centers of Dane County; Alumnae Chapter of Delta Sigma Theta; Charter Member of UW - Madison Delta Sigma Theta Zeta Xi Chapter; President of the Milwaukee Inner City Arts Council and the Milwaukee Chapter of Jack and Jill. She is in her second term as a board member of LWVMC, spearheaded the first silent auction, and is Co-Chair of the DEI committee.
Outside of the League, Elizabeth is the Worship leader and Mission President at Mount Moriah Missionary Baptist Church and the First Vice President of the Women’s Auxiliary of the Wisconsin General Baptist State Convention. Her motto is: “If I can just help somebody as I travel along life's way, my living shall not be in vain.”
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THE MILWAUKEE COUNTY ETHICS BOARD
By: Elizabeth Lentini
The LWVMC is one of six Milwaukee County organizations, along with the NAACP, the Milwaukee Bar Association, the Wisconsin Policy Forum, the Interfaith Council of Greater Milwaukee, and the Greater Milwaukee Committee, entitled to nominate members to serve as volunteer community members on the Milwaukee County Ethics Board. Each organization is entitled to nominate two members, with the final decision made by the County Executive.
The Ethics Board is responsible for enforcing the Milwaukee County Ethics Code. It does this by promoting ethical behavior, investigating complaints, maintaining records of Milwaukee County employees' (including elected officials) economic interests, and issuing opinions. The Board is regularly approached to provide advice before the receipt of a gift or entertainment or other activity which could possibly violate the Code of Ethics, and issues advisory opinions from time to time to provide general guidance.
The Ethics Board meets at least quarterly, and Board members serve up to two consecutive six-year terms. The current LWVMC member representative on the Ethics Board is Elizabeth Lentini, who is in the second year of her first six-year term. She is a retired lawyer with experience maintaining and enforcing codes of ethics. She enjoys the opportunity to use her past experience to represent the League through service on the Board. Feel free to ask Elizabeth questions about the Ethics Board or LWVMC’s involvement. elizabethlentini@gmail.com For more information on the Ethics Board, see https://county.milwaukee.gov/EN/Ethics-Board/About-the-Ethics-Board.
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A Grant Writers Committee started in June. The goal is to attract members with grant writing experience who can take on the challenge of writing a grant with the infrastructure support of LWVMC. To date, Lilith Fowler has written a grant application for the Dorothy Inbusch Foundation. If awarded, this grant will match up to $1000 donated to the spring appeal after the first $5,000. Gail Sklodowska wrote a grant application to the Women’s Fund, which, if awarded, will benefit advocacy efforts for reproductive rights. Contact Mary Voelker m.voelker@lwvmilwaukee.org for information about the Committee.
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Invest in Wisconsin’s Infrastructure
For the second time, the League of Women Voters of Wisconsin (LWVWI) is teaming up with the American Society of Civil Engineers-Wisconsin Section (ASCE-WI) to explain the findings of the ASCE-WI 2024 Report Card for Wisconsin's Infrastructure.
The series of nine webinars held online from October 2024 to March 2025 cover 17 infrastructure areas. Learn about the state of Wisconsin's infrastructure and ideas for investments to ensure a strong foundation for our state's future.
Webinar dates and registration here.
|  In Memory of Rev. Sue Lindberg
Long-time League member Sue Lindberg, who had a passion for social justice causes, died September 15, 2024, in Milwaukee. Her husband Richard, also a LWV member, said Sue joined the League of Women Voters when they lived in Palo Alto 50 years ago. He recalled Sue, who served as board secretary, hosting meetings in their home and giving their then two-year-old daughter a bagel to keep her busy during the meetings. They later moved to Milwaukee, where "Pastor Sue" was a minister at area Lutheran Churches, most recently at Lake Park Lutheran, where a memorial service was held on Dec. 28. Family obituary here.
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