Helping Kids Navigate Challenging Times
How do we talk with kids when the headlines feel scary and the future feels uncertain? From elections and protests to immigration crackdowns, ICE, and other issues they may hear about at school or on the news, young people are absorbing more than we think.
Join the League of Women Voters of Chicago for a virtual conversation with Seoyeon Sohn, M.A., M.P.P, who will share practical tools for talking with children about hard topics, answering tough questions honestly and helping them feel safe, heard and empowered.
This event is free and open to the public. Families, caregivers, educators and anyone who cares about kids are welcome.
About the Speaker
Seoyeon Sohn is blogger and a doctoral student at the University of Delaware who studies how playful learning supports young children’s development. Her work with the Partnership for Public Education connects her research to local schools and communities, advancing more equitable and accessible learning opportunities. Before her Ph.D., she studied public policy at the University of Chicago (MPP ’19) and human development and psychology at UCLA (M.A.), and she previously supported marginalized immigrant families as a community health worker for mental health services in LA County. Across her work, Seoyeon is committed to creating ethical, equitable learning environments that honor children’s rights in diverse communities. Seoyeon is also a member of the League of Women Voters of Chicago.
This event is part of our Chicago in Focus lecture series, which seeks to highlight and explore the most important issues facing Chicagoans today.
Past Chicago in Focus Programs
City Government Committee
This meeting will be held via Zoom. Contact league@lwvchicago.org for access info.
Environmental Action Committee
This meeting will be held via Zoom. Contact environment@lwvchicago.org for access info.
Committee on Diversity and Inclusion (CODI)
This meeting will be held via Zoom. Contact league@lwvchicago.org for access info.
Board Meeting
This meeting will be held via Zoom. Our Board meetings are open to all—contact league@lwvchicago.org for access info.
Elaine Weiss on Voting Rights
Join us to hear from noted activist and author Elaine Weiss, who will speak about her new book, Spell Freedom: The Underground Schools That Built the Civil Rights Movement, the story of four activists whose bold plan to restore voting rights to Black Americans laid the groundwork for the civil rights movement.
These activists ran a citizen schools project in the back of a small grocery store in rural Tennessee to help Black Americans pass the daunting Jim Crow-era voter registration literacy tests that were designed to disenfranchise them. By the time the Voting Rights Act was signed into law in 1965, the secretive undertaking had established more than nine hundred citizenship schools across the South, preparing tens of thousands of Black citizens to read and write, demand their rights—and vote.
Simultaneously, the schools nurtured a generation of activists—many of them women—who were trained in community organizing, political citizenship, and tactics of resistance and struggle.
This event is free and open to the public. Registration is required; seating is limited.
About the Speaker
Elaine Weiss is an award-winning journalist, author, and public speaker. In addition to Spell Freedom, she is the author of Fruits of Victory: The Woman’s Land Army of the Great War; and The Woman’s Hour: The Great Fight to Win the Vote. Elaine lives with her husband in Baltimore, Maryland. Find out more at ElaineWeiss.com.
This event is part of our Chicago in Focus lecture series, which seeks to highlight and explore the most important issues facing Chicagoans today.
Past Chicago in Focus Programs
Far Southwest Side Unit
This meeting will be held via Zoom. Contact league@lwvchicago.org for access info.
City Government Committee
This meeting will be held via Zoom. Contact league@lwvchicago.org for access info.
Environmental Action Committee
This meeting will be held via Zoom. Contact environment@lwvchicago.org for access info.
Committee on Diversity and Inclusion (CODI)
This meeting will be held via Zoom. Contact league@lwvchicago.org for access info.
Great Decisions Foreign Policy Discussion Group
Our Foreign Policy Discussion Group is back! Learn a little about some key foreign policy issues facing our country and get to know your fellow Leaguers.
Board Meeting
This meeting will be held via Zoom. Our Board meetings are open to all—contact league@lwvchicago.org for access info.
Loop Unit
This meeting will be held via Zoom. Contact league@lwvchicago.org for access info.
Far Southwest Side Unit
This meeting will be held via Zoom. Contact league@lwvchicago.org for access info.
League Holiday Party
Let's celebrate! Kick off the season at our holiday get-together for LWV Chicago members to eat, drink, and be merry. Join us to meet fellow Leaguers, toast all we've accomplished this year in defense of our democracy, and look ahead to 2026..
We look forward to seeing you again—or meeting you in person for the first time!
Thanks for yet another great year, Leaguers.
Dress code is casual. Please RSVP below to let us know how many to expect.
Committee on Diversity and Inclusion (CODI)
This meeting will be held via Zoom. Contact league@lwvchicago.org for access info.
Environmental Action Committee
This meeting will be held via Zoom. Contact environment@lwvchicago.org for access info.
Far Southwest Side Unit
This meeting will be held via Zoom. Contact league@lwvchicago.org for access info.
City Government Committee
This meeting will be held via Zoom. Contact league@lwvchicago.org for access info.
Loop Unit: Safeguarding Refugee Rights in Difficult Times
This meeting will be held via Zoom. Contact league@lwvchicago.org for access info.
IL Comptroller Candidate Forum
Illinoisans have a critical primary election ahead. Join our candidate forums for an opportunity to hear directly from the people who want to represent you and learn where they stand on the issues that matter most. All candidates registered for the 2026 Democratic primary in this race have been invited to attend. This event is free and open to the public.
This forum is hosted by Citizen Action/Illinois in partnership with other community organizations, including the League of Women Voters of Chicago.
IL Congressional District 8 Candidate Forum
Illinoisans have a critical primary election ahead. Join our candidate forums for an opportunity to hear directly from the people who want to represent you and learn where they stand on the issues that matter most. All candidates registered for the 2026 Democratic primary in this race have been invited to attend. This event is free and open to the public.
This forum is hosted by Citizen Action/Illinois in partnership with other community organizations, including the League of Women Voters of Chicago.
Board Meeting
This meeting will be held via Zoom. Our Board meetings are open to all—contact league@lwvchicago.org for access info.
Committee on Diversity and Inclusion (CODI)
This meeting will be held via Zoom. Contact league@lwvchicago.org for access info.
Environmental Action Committee
This meeting will be held via Zoom. Contact environment@lwvchicago.org for access info.
City Government Committee
This meeting will be held via Zoom. Contact league@lwvchicago.org for access info.
IL Congressional District 7 Candidate Forum
Illinoisans have a critical primary election ahead. Join our candidate forums for an opportunity to hear directly from the people who want to represent you and learn where they stand on the issues that matter most. All candidates registered for the 2026 Democratic primary in this race have been invited to attend. This event is free and open to the public.
This forum is hosted by Citizen Action/Illinois in partnership with other community organizations, including the League of Women Voters of Chicago.
Fair Elections Southwest Side Town Hall
Join Alds. Matt Martin, Julia Ramirez, and Mike Rodriguez, State Rep. Theresa Mah, and grassroots organizations for a town hall on the Chicago Fair Elections Ordinance—a small-dollar matching program that’ll increase participation in local elections, empowering regular people to run for office.
Chicago is currently the largest US city without publicly financed elections. This town hall is an opportunity to learn about the ordinance and discuss what Fair Elections would mean for you and your community.
RSVP is highly recommended but not required. Program begins at noon.
North Side Unit
All are welcome to join this North Side Unit meeting. Contact league@lwvchicago.org with any questions.
LWV Lake Michigan Region Annual Meeting and Conference
Learn about protecting Lake Michigan and the Great Lakes in the face of data centers and other challenges during the LWV Lake Michigan Region's annual conference. Get details and register.
All LWV Chicago members are automatically members of LWV LMR.
Far Southwest Side Unit
This meeting will be held via Zoom. Contact league@lwvchicago.org for access info.
IL Congressional District 9 Candidate Forum
Illinoisans have a critical primary election ahead. Join our candidate forums for an opportunity to hear directly from the people who want to represent you and learn where they stand on the issues that matter most. All candidates registered for the 2026 Democratic primary in this race have been invited to attend. This event is free and open to the public.
This forum is hosted by Citizen Action/Illinois in partnership with other community organizations, including the League of Women Voters of Chicago.
NO KINGS Rally & March
Nationwide NO KINGS protests are returning Saturday, October 18. We're rallying to support the Bill of Rights, oppose federal overreach, and reject cuts to essential services. This is the time to SHOW UP—and bring your friends, family, and neighbors with you.
Mark your calendars to join us for the Chicago rally at noon in Grant Park. RSVP.
The League of Women Voters will meet up beforehand at 11:30 am just outside Butler Field at the fire hydrant on the northeast corner of Columbus and Jackson—see you there!
The League of Women Voters is a national partner of this NO KINGS day of action.
Loop Unit: Environmental Justice in Chicago
This meeting will be held via Zoom. Contact league@lwvchicago.org for access info.
Board Meeting
This meeting will be held via Zoom. Our Board meetings are open to all—contact league@lwvchicago.org for access info.
Committee on Diversity and Inclusion (CODI)
This meeting will be held via Zoom. Contact league@lwvchicago.org for access info.
Know Your Rights & Protest Safety
As communities prepare for the upcoming NO KINGS protests, join us for a free webinar to learn how to protect your rights, stay safe while exercising free speech, and be prepared for peaceful civic action.
Featured Speaker
Wesam Shahed is a first-generation Palestinian-American from Chicago, Illinois. He serves as the Senior Legislative Counsel at the Illinois Attorney General’s Office (he will not be speaking in his official capacity or on behalf of the AG Office for this event). Previously, he was a prosecutor and Policy Advisor with the Cook County State’s Attorney’s Office (CCSAO), the second-largest in the U.S. Named among the Arab American Foundation’s “30 Under 30,” Wesam recently gave a TEDx Talk on criminal justice reform, “Does Justice Always Require a Conviction?”
He also served as Finance Director for the first Muslim and Palestinian American elected to the Illinois House Legislature in 2023 and has held executive roles with the ACLU of Illinois, the Arab American Bar Association, the Muslim Bar Association, the Arab Business Professional Association, and the AB Korkor Mental Health Foundation.
Environmental Action Committee
This meeting will be held via Zoom. Contact environment@lwvchicago.org for access info.
IL Congressional District 2 Candidate Forum
Illinoisans have a critical primary election ahead. Join our candidate forums for an opportunity to hear directly from the people who want to represent you and learn where they stand on the issues that matter most. All candidates registered for the 2026 Democratic primary in this race have been invited to attend. This event is free and open to the public.
This forum is hosted by Citizen Action/Illinois in partnership with other community organizations, including the League of Women Voters of Chicago.
U.S. Senate Candidate Forum
Illinoisans have a critical primary election ahead. Join our candidate forums for an opportunity to hear directly from the people who want to represent you and learn where they stand on the issues that matter most. All candidates registered for the 2026 Democratic primary in this race have been invited to attend. This event is free and open to the public.
This forum is hosted by Citizen Action/Illinois in partnership with other community organizations, including the League of Women Voters of Chicago.
City Government Committee
This meeting will be held via Zoom. Contact league@lwvchicago.org for access info.
Far Southwest Side Unit
This meeting will be held via Zoom. Contact league@lwvchicago.org for access info.