Every two years, Convention brings the League together to chart its future, celebrate its successes, and recommit to our mission of empowering voters and defending democracy. Our theme this year was "Sustaining Collective Power" — how do we approach the current moment with grit and tenacity and sustain a hopeful future? We had terrific speakers and workshops that helped us get to know each other, build our skills and knowledge, and strengthen our local chapters. We set the course for the next two years by electing our officers and board members and by voting on our budget and program. Thank you to everyone who attended in-person and over Zoom!
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Click here to access the Convention workbook.
Recordings from the Keynote Address, and materials from the workshops, are available below.
KEYNOTE ADDRESS
WORKSHOPS
Vote16 and Intergenerational Organizing
With LaJuan Allen, Executive Director of Vote16USA | How can empowering young people strengthen democracy for all? This workshop explores the Vote16 movement to lower the voting age for local elections and how it intersects with powerful intergenerational organizing strategies. Join us for a dynamic conversation on building inclusive civic engagement, fostering youth leadership, and working across age lines to create lasting change.
Click here to access the materials: Powerpoint Slides | Recording
Relational Organizing and Voting Rights
With Evan Murray, LWVME Civic Engagement Director | We hear “talk to your friends and family” a lot — this workshop will help you create a plan for how to do this effectively and efficiently. In this time, you’ll create your own scripts, decide who you should reach out to, and set yourself goals for the number of people you’ll contact. Relational organizing is really a word for drawing on the strength of our personal networks to get information out and bring people in, and this year we need to draw on this strength to defeat voter suppression at the ballot.
Click here to access the materials: Powerpoint Slides | Recording
Local Government 101
With Deb Paredes, LWVME Organizer | The League has prepared a nonpartisan guide to working with Local Government. This educational session will first review the very basics of how Maine communities govern themselves. Participants will gain a better understanding of chartered versus unchartered communities, how cities and counties are governed, how statewide representation is set up, and more. After that, the details of how you can participate will be addressed: as a community volunteer, as a learner, and as a leader.
Click here to access the materials: Powerpoint Slides | Recording
Anatomy of an Advocacy Campaign
With Al Cleveland, LWVME Advocacy Director, and Youth Council fellows | This workshop will focus on the nuts and bolts of issue advocacy campaigns. We will learn how to run a legislative or electoral campaign through big idea visioning to policy enactment. This workshop will include all the visible and invisible steps in a campaign, including research, power mapping, coalition building, and more.
Click here to access the materials: Powerpoint Slides | Recording
Introducing our Keynote Speaker
Shay Stewart-Bouley
Shay Stewart-Bouley is the executive director of Community Change Inc., a Boston-based anti-racism organization that also works in Maine. Shay is also the creator of the award-winning site, Black Girl in Maine Media, where she blogs on matters of race and aging. Over the years, Shay’s work has been featured in a number of national publications and anthologies, including Yes Magazine and The Huffington Post. She also wrote for many years for the now-defunct Portland Phoenix as the “Diverse City” columnist. Shay is a former TedX speaker and former Portland Charter Commissioner. A Chicago native, Shay has called Maine home since 2002, and holds degrees from DePaul University and Antioch University New England.
Vote16 Workshop Leader
LaJuan Allen
LaJuan Allen is the Executive Director of Vote16USA and a nationally recognized leader in youth civic engagement and expanding youth voting rights. With a deep commitment to empowering young people in democracy, he has been at the forefront of efforts to lower the voting age and ensure youth voices are heard in the political process.