Where
Westford Regency Inn and Conference Center219 Littleton Road
Westford, MA 01886
Google Maps Directions
Contact
League of Women Voters of Massachusetts857-452-1715
lwvma@lwvma.org
Convention 2019
Join delegates and members from across the state at the 2019 LWVMA Convention on Friday and Saturday, June 7 and 8, at the Westford Inn and Conference Center. Help us celebrate our history and begin planning the next hundred years!
Come for both days, just one day, or for specific events--many registration options are available!
Noted environmentalist Bill McKibben will be the keynote speaker at the Friday night banquet. McKibben is an author, environmentalist, and activist. He is a co-founder and senior advisor at 350.org, an international climate campaign that works in 188 countries around the world. He is the Schumann Distinguished Scholar in Environmental Studies at Middlebury College and a former staff writer for the New Yorker who continues to write numerous magazine articles.
Evelyn Brooks Higginbotham will be the featured speaker at the Saturday lunch. Higginbotham is the Victor S. Thomas Professor of History and of African and African American Studies and the chair of the Department of History at Harvard University. She is the National President of the Association for the Study of African American Life and History. She is the recipient of numerous awards and honors for her historical writings. Most notably, she received the 2014 National Humanities Medal from President Barack Obama at the White House in 2015 for “illuminating the African American journey.”
Convention Highlights (in process):
Friday, June 7 (11:30 a.m. to 10 p.m.)
- Luncheon Buffet and Welcome
- Panel Discussion: Election Technology: Promise and Perils
- Local League Showcase
- Speaker: Virginia Kase, CEO LWVUS
- Plenary I
- Cocktail Reception/Board Candidates Meet and Greet
- Banquet with Keynote Speaker Bill McKibben
- Breakfast
- Local League Showcase II
- LWVMA Year-end Update
- Panel Discussion: New Faces on Beacon Hill
- Lunch with Featured Speaker Evelyn Brooks Higginbotham
- Plenary II
Convention Registration
May 30, 2019 is the registration deadline. We encourage you to register by clicking the "Register Now" button, but if you cannot register online, please print and mail this form. If you register online, you can pay by credit card.
Rooms for Friday night are available at the Westford Regency for $129/night (plus tax). This is a special rate for the League of Women Voters of Massachusetts, and it is available until May 8, 2019. To receive our special rate, you must call 978-692-8200 and ask for the League of Women Voters of Massachusetts Convention rate. You will not receive our special rate if you try to book directly on the hotel's website or third party website.
Announcements
Pre-Convention Workbook
The pre-convention workbook is now available for download here.
Refund Policy
Refunds for Convention registration fees only are available from LWVMA if requested by May 10. LWVMA is not responsible for refunds of hotel room reservation fees; to determine if you are eligible for a hotel room refund, you must contact the hotel directly.
We hope every League will send delegates to Convention. The bylaws specify the number of delegates based on each League's Feb. 1 2019, membership total.The local League delegate count information sheet is available here. Please use this form to register your delegates. Please return the form to the office by May 10. All LWV members are welcome to attend Convention, but only delegates. an vote.
Once again the LWVMA board is allowing “delegate sharing” among Leagues. If one League is not using all its delegate slots, a member of a different local League may represent that League, providing the League with the available slots agrees. If your League is willing to share some of its delegate slots, or if your League has more attendees than slots and a member would like to represent another League as a delegate, please contact Brynne Gorman. Tell her the name of your League, whether you need delegate slots (number) or whether you are willing to share delegate slots (number). Brynne will put the Leagues in contact with one another.
Local League Showcase
During the Local League Showcase, each of our Leagues will give a one-minute presentation of an event or initiative from the past two years. This is a great way to share your good ideas.
Local League Donations to LWVMA
Traditionally, local Leagues make donations to LWVMA at Convention. Please consider making a donation, perhaps in honor or in memory of a special person in your League. During budget preparation, your board and budget committee should discuss the possibility of donating to the state League. At Convention, Leagues that have contributed will be listed on a poster, so please let the LWVMA office know by May 20 if your League will be making a gift.
A reminder for local League leaders: Please inform your members who do not use email of the dates of Convention and availability of the pre-Convention materials.
Related Documents
Click here to download a local League gift form.
Click here to download the local League delegate information sheet.
Click here to download a delegate sign-up sheet.
Click here to download a Convention flyer.
Click here to download a caucus room reservation form.
Click here to download the Pre-Convention Workbook