Emailing - League of Women Voters of Orange County

The League of Women Voters Orange County echoes the following:

Yesterday, the League of Women Voters of the United States president Dr. Deborah Turner, CEO Virginia Kase, and the full board of directors issued the following statement in response to the violent demonstrations at the U.S. Capitol:

“This is a dark day in the history of the United States of America. Today’s activity on Capitol Hill should have been a procedural exercise to finalize the 2020 election. Instead, our nation's Capitol was attacked by domestic terrorists seeking to invalidate the will of the people." Cont. reading HERE

All are welcome! We salute our hard work in 2020 and welcome the opportunities in the new year. There's work to be done in 2021!

Log in to LWVOC & click here to register: Happy Hour—Goodbye 2020, Happy New Year 2021 - 1/14/2021

Diversity, Equity, Inclusion Committee
Happy New Year Democracy Warriors!
The LWVOC subscribes to the LWVUS Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) Policy. Therefore, the LWVOC is an organization fully committed to diversity, equity, and inclusion in principle and in practice. Diversity, equity, and inclusion are central to the organization’s current and future success in engaging all individuals, households, communities, and policy makers in creating a more perfect democracy. As a commitment to this policy the Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Sub-Committee was formed to support the LWVOC Board and Members DEI education and organizational policy implementation.

To begin we would like to have a working definition of DEI as defined by the LWVUS. Click on the link below for the definition, League policy, and DEI learning modules. Please stay tuned for additional resource information in the newsletter or LWVOC DEI webpage to increase your knowledge and understanding of DEI principles. The DEI committee welcomes new members!

Defining DEI: Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion

Passing of a League Icon

Betty Anne Staton – 1925 – 2020

Betty Anne Staton, an historic LWVOC leader, died December 27 at age 95. She had been an LWVOC member for 64 years.

“Betty Anne was an icon in the League of Women Voters,” said Joan Erwin, co-chair of the LWVOC History Committee. “Her leadership helped blaze the trail our LWVOC has followed to encourage good government and community service. We are grateful she chose to devote much of her life to the League.” Cont. reading HERE

There's work to be done in 2021. Help us plan for another exciting year.

Our upcoming virtual LWVOC Annual Planning Meeting will be

Saturday, JAN 23.

Please note the special circumstances for our JANUARY Hot Topics:

*We are partnering with LWV Seminole County which means our normal event date has been moved to later in the month, JAN 28th at 12:00 PM.

*When you register for this NO FEE event, it will be off site but we will have a record of our members who have RSVP'd.

Our topic is Healing Our Communities which given the racial, social and political divides that became more apparent than ever in 2020, is a topic that could not be of greater importance or more timely.

Our panelists are Dr. Thomas Bryer of UCF and Liz Joiner of the Village Square. Dr. Bryer has done extensive research in the areas of public participation and collaboration across segments of society, including government, nonprofit, private, faith-based, and voluntary sectors. Ms. Joiner is founder and CEO of the Village Square. The Village Square is a non-partisan public educational forum on matters of local, state and national importance. The organization believes in the power of dialogue and disagreement. It spearheads a variety of programming centered around civility and community-building (especially among political opposites)

Barbara Lanning, a generous contribution to the LWVOC Fund

Cheryl Railey, a generous contribution to the LWVOC Fund

Tax-deductible donations can also be made "In Honor" or "In Memory" of below:

DONATE to our efforts HERE

Get started on your 2021 resolutions! You'll need to have active membership to sign up for some of the above events.

Member Signup / Information

If your membership has lapsed, log in and RENEW your Membership

FREE membership for all students!!

And don't forget, men make up a sizeable % of our League. Encourage the men in your life to join us.

Newsletter Checklist:

Um, did someone not shut the door to 2020 on New Year's Eve?
Let's have some fun at next week's Zoom party on Jan 14th. Join us!
DEI...read about our new committee and find out what DEI means.
Farewell to League icon Betty Anne Staton