Ann M. Luther Award for Excellence in Volunteerism Awarded to Penelope Hamblin
Our recipient this year was a walk-on at Convention in 2017. She came to Convention that year as a total newbie and has made herself an indispensable all-star in every way since.
Penelope Hamblin joined the Lobby Corp/Advocacy Committee right away after her first Convention in May 2017. She has served with distinction on the Advocacy Team ever since. Demonstrating professionalism, accountability, and dedication, she has become our resident policy expert on the Census, in the service of which she toured the state in 2020, raising awareness of the importance of Census participation and concerns about the quality of the count. She chaired the Voting Rights Subcommittee, and she has drafted and delivered well-researched testimony on many of our most important bills. When the Advocacy Team spun off a new project on Election Observation, Penelope was there to play a leadership role with both expertise and volunteer engagement. As we speak, she’s coordinating an observer corps for Portland’s Charter Commission election in a few weeks.
And it’s not only the big stuff. She has piled Voter Guides into her car and driven them around. She has volunteered to work at the polls to learn more about how elections really work. And Penelope is our expert copy editor, who has generously, meticulously, and unstintingly made us look good by her careful reading and correction of our most important and visible publications. Penelope “gets us.” She understands our nuances and our audience, she sets high standards, but she’s flexible and adaptive, too. And she’s lovely to work with. Board, staff, colleagues — everyone want Penelope on their team.
We saw instantly what an asset she was and invited her to join the State Board in 2019, where she served until 2020. But board work was not her thing; she wanted to be on the ground and left the board to engage more energetically with her local League, and she has served as Vice President of the Portland League since last year.
Penelope has the vision and strategic perspective to see the big picture; she has the intellect to master the policy material; she has the generosity to help everyone who works with her do better; she has the drive and dedication to throw herself into the work at all levels. She has the critical thinking to see problems emerging and address them with kindness and consideration before they erupt. In short, an ideal colleague. Penelope exemplifies service to the League of Women Voters of Maine, and by extension to the people of Maine.