Beth Pellicciotti, LWVWA Nominations Committee

By Beth Pellicciotti, Nominations Committee, LWV of Washington and LWV of Spokane Area member

Why is the work of the board of directors of the League of Women Voters of Washington so important? 

That’s a timely question as League members throughout the state consider applying for six positions on the 12-member board before the Jan. 5, 2026, deadline.    

More information about service on the state board of directors—and about nominating another member to serve—is available here.    

While it’s well known that state League directors are laser focused on defending democracy with their support for advocacy and their education work, members of the state board have another function, one that doesn’t often garner as much attention.    

The fact is, beyond supporting advocacy and other education efforts, state board members also work to support the efforts of local Leagues, particularly around voter and civic education for young people and adults.    

In Washington, League membership now hovers around 2,800 individuals in 19 chapters, which are referred to in the organization as local Leagues. Each local League operates with its own leadership, some in the form of a president along with officers and other directors, some with co-presidents, and some with a leadership board with shared duties. The LWVWA also has groups of individual League members in so-called Units-at-Large, who, in time, state leadership hopes to develop into active locals Leagues.  

These local Leagues are connectors, organizations whose members understand first hand the people and groups in their own communities—and are committed to serving them.  

As connectors, local Leagues play a vital role in the defense of democracy by providing community members with civic engagement opportunities. Those opportunities include registering voters, teaching community members to provide feedback to elected officials about public policies, and hosting nonpartisan forums for candidates for public office. 

Recent research by the National Civic League states the importance of an active, civics-focused nonprofit organization—like the League of Women Voters—in one’s community. 

It’s vital, in fact, for democracy to work, according to researchers for the National Civic League.  

“What makes democracy work? Beyond voting and electoral processes, civic infrastructure encompasses a network of organizations that provide everyday people with opportunities to engage, lead, and act together,” the organization reported in Civic Opportunity in America and What the Data Reveal about Democracy's Hidden Infrastructure. 

Distributing civic education grants, designed to encourage innovative ways to support community civic engagement, is one specific way the state board supports local League work.  During the next two years, the LWVWA seeks to distribute $24,000 in civic education grants, with individual local Leagues receiving up to $2,000.   

Over recent years, LWVWA Civics Education grants have made possible a public forum on how presidential primaries differ from other primaries, have funded technology to extend League programs into rural communities, and covered the costs of distributing the League’s award-winning civics textbook, The State We’re In: Washington, to local schools. 

Other LWVWA Civics Education grants have supported local Leagues throughout the state. 

For example, a civics education grant makes it possible for the Snohomish League to distribute voter information widely to more than 130 locations, including libraries, schools, community centers, municipal offices, and businesses. The materials are produced by the League, Snohomish County Elections, and the Washington Office of the Secretary of State.  

Also using a grant, the Clallam League helped Sequim High School start its Mock Trial Team, where students learned about the right to a jury trial, the role of the judicial branch in relation to the other branches of government, and the components of a trial.  League members served as jurors. 

Meanwhile, also supported by civics education funding, the Spokane League has been busy and effective with youth in area high schools, sponsoring a Jeopardy-like Civics Bowl.  Local League members prepared more than 600 questions for the competition and local KSPS-PBS television staff developed the script and produced the broadcast. 

From its inception in 1920, the League has focused on empowering voters and speaking out on public policy.   

In addition to providing civics education grants, the LWVWA Board supports and guides local League members who conduct research and prepare studies on statewide public policies issues.  These studies provide the rationale for creating League positions on public policies. 

A recent study focused on the demise of local news and the impact of that demise on democracy.  From that study the LWVWA adopted a policy position, which it has been used to pursue legislative advocacy to help rebuild local news in Washington. 

Closer to home, a local League responded to that study and adopted policy position by assembling an observer corps of League members in rural areas.  Those observers attend local board and commission meetings and report on the meetings to the area’s one remaining newspaper. 

Michael Bowman, who serves as Civic Engagement Specialist in Rural Communities with the Washington Office of the Secretary of State, offered a perspective about the League’s impact in communities.   

“In my work, I get to be embedded in an organization for a little bit.  I get to recognize other communities’ organizations and see these organizations’ amazing work.  The League combines the knowledge and ability to dig deeper at the local level.”  

Bowman said state board service provides members of an organization like the League real value. “You get a vantage point, learning lots of different strategies used in local Leagues.”