Congratulations to the 2022 Powering Democracy Award Winners

This year, the Pennsylvania League and the Greater Pittsburgh League won three awards collectively at the national Convention in June. We're so proud of these Leagues and their incredible work:

LWV Greater Pittsburgh Area:

LWVGPH won the "Innovating our Power" award for their innovations during the pandemic. Voter outreach has always been a major component of the efforts by LWV of Greater Pittsburgh to Make Democracy Work by engaging with marginalized groups of voters. Because the coronavirus pandemic prevented them from implementing usual person-to-person contacts, the League had to revamp their voter outreach to reach a maximum number of potential voters. One way was by completely redesigning the LWVPGH website with greatly enhanced online material which became a resource of unique printable materials for individuals and non-partisan agencies in the community. Besides housing these printable resources, the new website connected online users with comprehensive voter, election, and government information. The Voter Services Committee reorganized their efforts by creating nine subcommittees, each of which targeted a specific component of League outreach: Social Media, Poll Workers, Rides to the Polls, Naturalization Ceremonies, Food Pantries, Senior Subsidized Housing, Religious Institutions, Civic Education in Schools and Community, and Colleges and Universities. Each subcommittee developed new avenues for reaching their unique constituents. These avenues included partnering with The Greater Pittsburgh Community Food Bank, Carnegie Public Libraries, Allegheny County Library Association, the local Junior League, local HUD office, senior housing managers and management companies, local university representatives, and staff and students in high schools with underserved populations. LWVPGH also collaborated with resilient community partners including the Black Political Empowerment Project, Voter Empowerment Education & Enrichment Movement, Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Casa San Jose, and the Jewish Community Center of Greater Pittsburgh.

LWV Pennsylvania:

LWVPA won two awards: "Innovating our Power" and "Increasing Power Through Partnerships."

Innovating our Power: The past 5 years have seen significant changes for LWVPA’s institutional capacity. Organizational changes like frequent board and staff turnover and major world events like the Covid-19 pandemic have changed the way the state League works and operates. In the past 2 years, LWVPA adapted to these obstacles by implementing system changes which allow better communication, collaboration, and advocacy for PA citizens. The state League changed its board composition to include statewide, virtually run committees made up of members and supporters. Four of these committees, voter services, social policy, environmental policy, and government policy, have made major strides in statewide advocacy, civic education, and voter outreach. LWVPA’s organizational ability to quickly adapt to the changes of the past five years has overall provided a better service for Pennsylvania voters and furthered the League’s historic mission to empower voters and defend democracy.

Increasing Power Through Partnerships: LWVPA is committed to rectifying the historical racism present in our organization, expanding and diversifying our state network, and creating a culture of diversity, equity, and inclusion. In December 2020, League leaders created the LWVPA Equity Initiative to strategically implement these commitments. The Equity Initiative supports LWVPA local Leagues and members in building inclusive practices, diverse partnerships and taking collective action to further diversity, equity, and inclusion. Monthly Equity Initiative events examine the topics of race and bias and the unique mission of the League. A statewide Equity team, composed of local leaders from across the state, works to create action plans to build a more intersectional and welcoming organization. The equity team, under the direction of director Jennifer Hanf, worked to form a strong network of partnerships across the state to build our mission. This year, we welcomed an exciting group of partners: our statewide, off-board Equity Steering Committee. Committee members represent diverse perspectives and different experiences from across Pennsylvania, and their expertise enhanced our progress in our goal of implementing our DEI Policy statewide. LWVPA also recently created the “Building Equity is Local” small grant program. Through this innovative project, we awarded 9 local Leagues with grants between $500 and $1,000 to support their local DEI initiatives. These grants are a recognition of our collective League commitment to implementing DEI in our work.

Congratulations to our Leagues!