Virtual Lunch With League

"Unlocking Justice"

Todd Fries, Executive Director

Northern California Innocence Project

Thursday, May 16, 2024

12 noon-1 p.m. via Zoom

Join us for a riveting discussion on the power of innocence advocacy with the Northern California Innocence Project (NCIP). Discover how NCIP tirelessly fights to overturn wrongful convictions and set the innocent free. Through a combination of real-life cases and legal insights, learn about the complexities behind wrongful convictions and the impactful work being done to restore hope and truth in our legal system.

Our speaker, Todd Fries, began working for the Northern California Innocence Project in 2007 as a clinical law student and returned to NCIP in 2010 as a research fellow. Over the course of his tenure at NCIP, he has held almost every position within the organization, from research attorney to operations manager to associate director to his current job as executive director. He earned a B.A. from UCLA and graduated cum laude from Santa Clara University School of Law with a certificate in public interest and social justice. He is the co-author of the groundbreaking study "Material Indifference: How Courts Are Impeding Fair Disclosure in Criminal Cases."

REGISTER now for this webinar and ask questions you would like our speaker to address in their talk. This event is free and open to the public so please pass along this invitation to others.

Ann Ravel is opening speaker

at June 8 Annual Meeting

"Is American Democracy Backsliding?"

Join us for our Annual Meeting via Zoom on Saturday, June 8, 10 a.m.-12 noon. Our opening speaker is Ann Ravel, past Chair of the Federal Election Commission and past Chair of the California Fair Political Practices Commission. Her presentation on "Is American Democracy Backsliding?" will be seen through the perspective of Mexico's electoral system and constitutional laws, attacks on America's electoral processes and election administrators, and the impact of dark money in elections.

Following her talk, we will move to the business agenda which includes approval of the 2024-2025 budget and program priorities, and election of officers, board members and the 2025 Nominating Committee. League members will also be encouraged to share their suggestions for the League in the coming fiscal year.

Sign up to attend HERE.

Happy Hour & Connections

Tuesday, May 21, 4-6 p.m.

Lamella Tavern, 1109 Lincoln Ave., San Jose

Come meet new members and enjoy talking with others about our League at this no-host Happy Hour. Parking is available on the street or in parking lots behind the buildings. Bring a guest!

To help us plan, we ask you to register your intention to come. If you bring a guest, please note that in the comment area or register that person directly.  

If you missed our popular morning Coffee & Connections gatherings, we hope you can join us at our first afternoon "Connections" event. See you there!

Meet Board Member

Linda Marquez

Linda did not have a plan for her retirement when she closed out a 27- year career in the semiconductor industry in 2022, except she knew she wanted to follow the example of her parents and become a community volunteer. Because her mom was active in LWV in Santa Rosa, Linda made joining the League her first priority.

Shocked by the January 6th insurrection, Linda’s concern for voter rights and participation took on heightened importance. “We need to do all we can to help voters make an informed voting decision and to be enthusiastic about voting,” she said. 

Linda jumped in immediately to help with the Voter’s Edge (now VOTE411) online resource for voters and agreed to serve on the Board of Directors as secretary. She has expanded her community activities to include serving on the trail patrol and the Expenditure Plan Oversight Committee of the Santa Clara Valley Open Space Authority and as an alum mentor to engineering students at San Jose State University (SJSU). It all makes for a busy schedule, but busy is something Linda is used to.

She and her husband Jose both attended SJSU at night while working full time jobs and raising their son. Linda earned a B.S. in chemical engineering and qualified for a scholarship that allowed her to enroll in the full-time U.C. Berkeley doctoral program in chemistry without upsetting the family finances. After receiving her Ph.D., Linda did a two-year post-doctoral fellowship at Lawrence Livermore Labs and then went on to work as an engineer at some of Silicon Valley’s flagship semiconductor companies – LAM Research, Intel and Mattson Technology.

Twenty patents, one million international airline miles and increasing high pressure executive roles later, Linda was ready to move onto her next life chapter. Now the travel she does is to fun destinations like watching the eclipse in Texas or enjoying the New Orleans Jazz Festival, and her leadership skills are used to organize large family gatherings (she is the middle of five and her husband is the oldest of seven children) and help her son prepare for his wedding. Still, she is looking forward to spending more hours on League activities during this election year.

“I had high expectations when I joined the League and it didn’t disappoint,” she said. “But I am appalled when I see 50% voter turnout and know we can do so much more to reach more voters and persuade them of the importance of their vote.” She hopes to be a part of a high energy voter engagement team at many community events and locations this summer and fall. 

Ballot propositions and measures coming this fall

We don’t yet know how many propositions and measures will make it to the November ballot, but it looks like a minimum of 12 state-level propositions plus potential local and Bay Area measures. 

Voters want and need to have good information about these propositions and measures as they consider their voting decisions, and that is why the League's Pros & Cons presentations are so popular. 

To meet the demand for Pros & Cons events, we need more League volunteers trained to present unbiased, nonpartisan information to groups that are eager to hear about them! Martha Beattie is actively recruiting new members to the Pros & Cons team.

This is a win-win situation! It gives you a chance to provide a valuable League service to voters while also learning more about propositions and measures that will help you make your own personal voting decisions. Contact Martha at martha.beattie@lwvsjsc.org or call her at 408-813-3842 for more information.

LWV Bay Area Biennial Convention is June 14

The biennial convention of LWV Bay Area will be held via Zoom on Friday, June 14, 11:30 a.m.-2 p.m. The agenda will include LWV Bay Area business, elections, housing policy concurrence, updates on the Regional Government and Planning Study, as well as guest expert speakers tackling the regional issues of housing, transportation, and community safety with breakouts. More detail will be available May 9. Register HERE if you would like to attend.