CALENDAR
March 4, 2025- Light for Democracy Vigil, Via Zoom 8:30-9:30 PM
March 11, 2025, Movie: Rule Breakers, AMC Wayne 14 67 Willowbrook Blvd., Wayne NJ, 7PM
March 12, 2025- Reparations Consensus, Virtual, 7:30 PM
April 7, 2025, Judiciary Program, 7 PM Via Zoom
PRESIDENTS’ MESSAGE
As promised, there are a large number of activities planned for this Spring.
A late-breaking virtual event is the LWVUS Light for Democracy Vigil this Tuesday evening starting at 8:30 PM. We are co-sponsoring a local program with the Morris Area LWV and the Greater Princeton Area LWV to join the USLWV Vigil national program. This Tuesday marks the President’s Address to Congress. Instead of tuning in, We the People, a coalition of 20 groups including the League of Women Voters are hosting in-person and virtual nonpartisan community gatherings at state capitols, city halls, town halls, and public spaces across the country to bring people together in reflection, action, and solidarity. The League is trying to build community in a positive way that presents a pro-democracy counter-narrative to the president's State of the Union. Our own youth leader, Poorva Gopal will be a speaker. Please consider joining us to mobilize for the health of our democracy, the future of our nation, and the well-being of all its people. The link for this virtual event is
On March 12, we will hold meetings related to two consensus issues, “Reparations” We will review material about the issues, hold a discussion and prepare responses to prepared consensus questions. Members of a committee of our members will each present one issue related to Reparations. Amy Ipp is on the state LWV committee that prepared the study. Since this is a members only consensus item, we will email the link to our members.
We will also reach consensus on issues related to the Federal Judiciary, based on a mandate from LWVUS at its last convention. We will have a joint meeting with the Montclair League of Women Voters on April 7th at 7PM to learn more about the issues. A member of the Montclair League is on the LWVUS committee that studied this issue. We will send a Zoom link for this.
We hope you can join us for a night at the movies to see Rule Breakers In a nation where educating girls is seen as rebellion, a visionary woman dares to teach young minds to dream. When their innovation draws global attention, their success sparks hope—and opposition. As threats loom and sacrifices are made, their courage and unity ignite a movement that could forever transform the world. Please join the League of Women
Voters of the Montclair Area and Livingston for Women’s History Month Movie Night Tuesday March 11 at 7:00 pm at AMC Wayne 14, 67 Willowbrook Blvd Wayne NJ. Ticket prices Senior(60+) 11.49 Adult 12.49 (to be paid to Kathy Keegan at the theater). Please contact Kathy Keegan to register by March 5th at kathykeegan.lwv@gmail.com. Our member Parul Khemka suggested this film and our wonderful social committee partner at the Montclair League put together this outing. We hope you can join us! If anyone wants
to carpool let us know. Respond to Kathy Keegan on the email listed above by March 5.
Our own Nishna Makala was featured in an article in the West Essex Tribune for being named a Karabelle Pizzigati fellow at the University of Maryland where she is a freshman planning to major in computer science and public policy. This is a prestigious fellowship program dedicated to advancing children’s advocacy through public policy and research. She will be developing policy driven solutions to advocate for data privacy and ensuring the ethical use of artificial intelligence, safeguarding children from data misuse and exploitation in online spaces. We are so proud of Nishna and we always knew she would go far and achieve great success.
Membership
Thanks you to those of you who have rejoined our League. We welcome new members Carol Korzeniowski, Amy Dalsimer and Rita Yohalem.
We are now officially using the ChapterSpot membership platform. Let us know if you have any issues with this.
Voter Service
We are taking the lead in organizing the LWV of NJ Legislative Interview process for District 27. Two members of the Montclair LWV who are in our district, Jodi Godfrey and Jennette Williams are also part of this committee which includes our members Amy Ipp, Robin Weiss, Judith Friedman, Laurie Kahn, Andy Babij and Joan Balash. Local Leagues are asked to meet with their state legislators to build relationships and better understand how we can work together on legislative priorities in 2025.We have set up interviews with our
Assemblywomen Alixon Collazos -Gill and Rosy Bagolie and State Senator John McKeon over the next month. We have participated in this process in the past and it has proven to be useful in getting to know our legislators and their governing priorities.
On February 28, 2025, members Judith Friedman, Amy Ipp, Laurie Babij, Andy Babij, Laurie Kahn and Robin Weiss attended the annual Social Justice Symposium at Caldwell University We were asked to participate, as we did last year, and had a table to register and educate voters. The event featured a luncheon with keynote speaker, correspondent Alecia Reid, breakout sessions covering topics including intersectionality, discerning misinformation from reputable information, skills addressing bias and microaggressions in K-12 and college
classrooms, and education on anti-racism, health disparity, climate change, antisemitism, LGBTQ+ advocacy. It was also a wonderful networking event and we made many contacts. We were fortunate to be placed at a table next to Pat Suplee who founded and spearheaded the Energizing Young Voters project to bring civic awareness to young people. Pat is a dynamo who energized us by sharing her knowledge and enthusiasm for
the importance of bringing civic knowledge to the youth of New Jersey and beyond. She has developed material that we will use in our work with Livingston High School students.
From LWVNJ
The League of Women Voters of New Jersey is proud to join the Million Voters Project, a statewide nonpartisan coalition that will engage 1 million New Jersey voters ahead of the 2025 Gubernatorial General Election. The League is taking action to ensure that voters of color, new citizens, women, and working-class communities have a say in the electoral process. Direct voter contact is crucial. Volunteer to help us reach our goal! We need supporters to canvass, textbank, and talk to voters about the upcoming elections and to understand the issues about which they are most concerned. Contact Leonard Davis, LWVNJ Community Organizer at ldavis@lwvnj.org to learn more about volunteering today.
Million Voters Project - Activist Training
Deep Canvassing: Wednesday, March 12, 6:00pm - 7:30pm
Join the League of Women Voters of New Jersey and the Million Voters Project to learn how to take voter outreach to the next level with the most impactful form of voter outreach - canvassing. To learn how you can get involved in the campaign and sharpen your canvassing skills, visit lwvnj.org/training to register.
Comments