2025 Emily Farley Award Recipient
More than 10 years ago Peg came to Hannaford Hall for training on voter registration drives. In short order, we had not only a new League member, but one who quickly volunteered to lead voter registration activities.
Peg moved to Maine in 1980. She came to the League following a career in Information Technology, beginning as a programmer at Hannaford Brothers in Scarborough, ME and finishing as a Senior Project Management Specialist at Maine General Medical Center in Augusta. The League has truly benefited from the organizational and management skills she acquired along the way.
Enthusiastic, yet self-effacing, she inspired many members to get involved in registration drives. Voter registration, however, was not enough for Peg. She became a LWVPA board member, then the vice-president, then the co-president, and from 2019 to 2025 the president! Acknowledging her many accomplishments, LWVME awarded Peg the 2019 Ann Luther Excellence in Volunteerism Award.
Nine months after becoming LWVPA president, COVID hit. Peg ably steered LWVPA through that great unknown. When exhaustion hit all the Board members last year, she offered to hold the annual Board retreat at her home in Port Clyde. Best retreat ever!
Barbara, LWVPA Board member notes: Having worked on the LWVPA Board with Peg, I can attest to the immense store of personal qualities that made her such a good leader. Above all is her intense caring about people as individuals. Other noteworthy qualities include her openness to suggestions from others and her practical approach to problem solving.
Elaine, LWVPA membership committee chair, reminds us of the many hours Peg has spent inviting new members to join her for coffee to discuss ways of matching their interests and skills with the needs of the League. Elaine describes Peg’s leadership style as using an iron fist clothed in a soft velvet glove, sticking to her principles, pushing us forward with kindness.
Carol, the former PA Secretary, says, Peg has always been willing to do whatever was necessary to maintain and run the Portland Area League in a professional capacity—attending staff meetings, working with the forum committee, pursuing voter engagement at retirement communities -- the list goes on. She does it all with grace and kindness.
Kim, whom Peg recruited as a member and then Board member, says: She has been a tireless leader, with the State League and her local Board on all the priorities of the League. She is resilient, well-organized, a good communicator, and an active listener. A pleasure to work with.
Our thanks go out to you, Peg, for so many years of devoted service at the head of LWVPA!