The Emily Farley award celebrates a current League member who most fully embodies the traits demonstrated by Emily Farley, finance chair and fund raiser for of the LWV Portland Area for many years, as well as a dedicated board member and Board President. These traits include:
- Exceptional leadership ability
- High standards of performance
- Devoted service to the League, including:
- An ability to increase community respect for the LWV
- A deep commitment to the purposes and processes of the League
This year's recipient of the Emily Farley award, Barbara Kaufman, is the personification of these traits. Under her leadership, the long-dormant Portland Area League was re-awakened in 2014. Karla Wight, a former Emily Farley awardee, reflecting on the "rebirth efforts" recalls:
It was the strangest way of creating a group that I've ever seen--a patchwork approach--but it worked!
Karla explains that a decision to invite Mike Brennan to speak at a League event shortly after he was elected mayor might have been pivotal; it attracted a large crowd, many of whom got hooked and kept coming back to help create a more formal structure--including Barbara.
Polly Ward and Loraine Glowczak, among the early recruits, recall that when a small group of members met in Karla's living room in 2013 to discuss the possibility of officially "waking up" the PA League, volunteers to serve as Secretary/Treasurer and VP of the Board came readily. However, when the position of President was put on the table there was a long silence...until Barbara, who apparently had less tolerance for silence than others, volunteered to take on the leadership challenge.
Although Barbara came to the PA League without prior League experience, she brought with her leadership and community development skills honed during her long career as an educator. As she took over the reins of the PA League, she was also actively building community service programs in Maine public school systems through the Kids Consortium program.
Barbara's vision for the "new" PA League, coupled with her ability to draw volunteers into undertaking the work needed to follow the vision, has contributed to growth in membership, expansion of League activities, increased recognition of the LWVPA in the community, and to this 6th Annual Meeting. Thanks to Barbara's efforts and ability to mentor others, the PA League has established a structure and a set of processes that will carry us well into the future. Those who have had the pleasure of working with Barbara describe her as...
always welcoming; possessing a magic spark; able to grease the skids--people want to help her accomplish things; deals with others where they are and doesn't force people to come to her terms; a juggler able to handle many tasks at once; someone who shares--doesn't hog--leadership.
Peg Balano notes Barbara's ability to lead with humility and grace, to mentor others, and to build cohesive teams able to work together toward the common goals of the League. Peg's first contact with the League was a call to Barbara to volunteer for voter registration drives. Before she knew what had happened, Peg was the coordinator of voter registration for the PA, then a PA Board member, then a LWVME Board member, and now a Co-President of the PA League. Peg points out that all along the way, she was mentored and encouraged by Barbara. She notes that "she has the best way with people and a bag of tricks to help solve any quandary."