The League of Women Voters of Evanston held its annual meeting on May 13, 2026 at the Evanston Public Library. The evening began with a welcome, a box dinner, and energetic conversation. Member Elizabeth Kinney then introduced this year’s LWVE scholarship winner, Eleanor Ghogomu, a senior at Evanston Township High School. You can
learn more about the winner elsewhere in this issue.
LWVE Co-President Lisa Seegers conducted the formal business meeting.
- Budget. Treasurer Mary Kelly explained that the LWVE budget is a financial plan showing how we expect to raise and spend money during a fiscal year. She reported that we are ending 2025-2026 right on target thanks to two major fundraisers, our Thanksgiving appeal and the Community Dinner.
Judy Elsass presented the proposed budget for 2026-2027, and it was unanimously approved. Judy noted that our local League receives only 20% of the amount members pay through LWVUS dues; the rest goes to the National and State Leagues. Direct donations are therefore critical to our League and can be made through the LWVE website.
- Local Program. Liz Bryant, who chaired our Local Program Planning discussion this year, presented overviews of the three Local Program projects proposed for 2026-2027, all continued from 2025-2026. All three were adopted.
- The Environmental Justice group will continue its focus on the Church Street Transfer Station and will work with other community organizations to support relocation or other actions to resolve issues related to the station.
- The Envision Evanston group will continue efforts to monitor, evaluate, and report on the Envision Evanston 2045 initiative with a focus this year on revisions to the Zoning Code.
- The Climate Change group will continue its work to support the Evanston Climate Action and Resilience Plan (CARP) and the Skokie Sustainability Plan.
- Lisa noted that League members at all levels, including here in Evanston, have expressed concerns regarding immigration issues. A position on immigration will be discussed at the LWV National Convention in June. Depending on the outcome, we may follow up locally in the coming year.
- Local Positions. Minor edits to our Local Positions document were approved. The Board has discussed creating a working group to review the Local Positions more broadly, and interested members were encouraged to contact Liz Bryant or one of the co-presidents (To contact either co-president, email president@LWVE.org.)
- Lisa noted that the meeting packet contained reports by our Local Government/Observer Corps and the Voter Services group. Those present gave a round of applause for all the important work done by these core committees.
- Elections. Next, Lisa thanked Jennifer O’Neil, Nominating Committee chair, and committee members Gail Weisberg and Mary Jane Chainsky for their efforts. Because our Bylaws set term lengths at two years, only some positions are open; for others, members elected last year will continue to serve in 2026-2027. The full slate was approved. The Executive Committee and Board of Directors for 2026-2027 are shown in the right-hand side panel with term expiration dates in parentheses. (Interested in serving on next year’s Nominating Committee or learning more about it? Contact the co-presidents at president@LWVE.org.)
- Bylaws. No changes to the Bylaws were recommended this year, so the Bylaws adopted on April 3, 2025 will remain in effect.
Co-President Georgia Vlahos then announced that:
- Many members’ memberships expire soon. You can renew through the LWVE website or by following instructions in renewal email messages from the National League.
- LWVE committees, including those working on our Local Program, need participants. Attendees were invited to sign up using the form in the Meeting Packet or to email info@LWVE.org.
- All members are welcome to attend Board meetings.
- Three Board members—Mary Kelly, Judy Hoffman, and Joan Lakebrink—are stepping down this year. Georgia thanked them for the many years of service they have dedicated to our organization, and those present gave them an enthusiastic round of applause.
Georgia then thanked the LWVE office staff—Office Coordinator Judy Elsass along with Fern Anderson and Valerie Veneziano—for all they do to support League efforts, and she expressed gratitude to all the other members who volunteered during the past year.