Inside the League of Women Voters’ Pasadena Area playbook

For more than a century, the League of Women Voters has stood for one simple idea: democracy works best when citizens are informed and engaged. In Pasadena, that mission is carried out today by a corps of volunteer leaders who run the League of Women Voters Pasadena Area (LWV-PA), a nonpartisan nonprofit serving 13 local communities.

We met most of them at their standing room only, Sunday, August 30, Ice Cream Social at Maxwell House, hosted by Fosselman’s Ice Cream.

At the top sits the League’s elected leadership. President Amy Majeske (President@lwv-pa.org) guides the organization’s overall direction, while Secretary Kelsey Green (Secretary@lwv-pa.org) and Treasurer Katherine Gavzy (Treasurer@lwv-pa.org) keep the League’s records and finances in order. Gavzy also chairs the Finance/Budget Committee, which prepares the annual budget and reports quarterly to the Board.

Much of LWV-PA’s public-facing work flows through Advocacy, chaired by Karen Roberson (Advocacy@lwv-pa.org), which mobilizes members to support League positions and meets annually with legislators. Several committees operate under Advocacy’s umbrella. The Observer Corps, led by Robbie Davis (ObserverCorps@lwv-pa.org), sends volunteers to City Council, school board, and planning meetings to report back on local government. The Immigration committee, co-chaired by Katherine Gavzy and Susan DuClos (Immigration@lwv-pa.org), keeps members informed on immigration policy alongside state and national League interest groups. Natural Resources, chaired by Cynthia Cannady (Naturalresources@lwv-pa.org), builds education and advocacy programs on climate change and water issues.

Two Social Justice subcommittees round out the advocacy portfolio. Housing and Unhoused, chaired by Jamie Scott (SocialJusticeHousing@lwv-pa.org), works with local organizations and government agencies to shape housing and rental policy and expand services for people without housing. Policing Practices, chaired by Kris Ockerhauser (SocialJusticePolicePractices@lwv-pa.org), reviews police policy alongside civilian oversight bodies and analyzes data to promote accountability.

Perhaps no committee is more central to the League’s name than Voter Services, chaired by Martha Zavala (VoterServices@lwv-pa.org). The committee trains unbiased speakers for candidate forums and classroom presentations, distributes voter information with an emphasis on underrepresented communities, partners with local high schools and junior colleges, and drives Get Out the Vote efforts across the region.

“Elections are coming, and that means not just national elections, but all of the cities and school districts in our area electing city council members and school board members,” Zavala said. “People turn to the League as a trusted, impartial source to moderate and manage candidate forums. This is grassroots democracy at work. It’s what we do, what we do well, and we love doing it. This year we’re organizing and running candidate forums for several city councils and school districts across the area, including the Pasadena Unified School District and the Altadena Library District, and there will certainly be more. We urge anybody who’d like to see this in action to get involved, because this is what people really care about, and they trust the League.”

Keeping members and the public informed is the job of Communications, chaired by Dorothy Keane (Communications@lwv-pa.org), which maintains media relations, the League’s website, and its Voter newsletter. The Development Committee, chaired by Marilynne Wilander (Development@lwv-pa.org), leads fundraising alongside the Board, while the Events Committee, chaired by Jean Buennagel (Events@lwv-pa.org), organizes membership meetings and public forums. Membership, chaired by Colleen Donovan (Membership@lwv-pa.org), manages the rolls and tracks trends to grow the League’s ranks.

“Membership work has a lot of really positive things to show, especially as we approach the midterm elections. It shows that we really care about what’s happening and that our leaders are listening to us,” Donovan said at the Ice Cream Social gathering.

“We just started something called Coffee and Conversations, an informal way for members to get together and talk about what they’re interested in. We’re also partnering with the Greater Los Angeles League of Women Voters on a voter information event about a month before the election, with speakers and a table from the Registrar-Recorder’s office there to answer questions, including how ballots are tracked and counted, so voters know their ballot will be received and counted.”

The last day to register to vote for the November 3, 2026 general election in Los Angeles County (and statewide in California) is October 19, 2026 — that’s the standard 15-days-before-Election-Day cutoff for regular voter registration.

If you miss that date, California still allows same-day conditional voter registration in person at your county elections office or any polling place through Election Day itself, so registering late isn’t a total dead end — just less convenient than doing it by October 19.

Rounding out the organization are the Special Interest Groups, informal discussion gatherings led by George Null (Interestgroups@lwv-pa.org), and Study Committees, which examine current issues for membership education and can be reached through the League office (office@lwv-pa.org).

All of this work is carried out by volunteers under LWV-PA’s status as a 501(c)(3) nonprofit. The League’s office is located at 65 S. Grand Avenue, Pasadena, CA 91105-1602, and can be reached at (626) 798-0965 or office@lwv-pa.org. More information is available at their website.