About the League

League of Women Voters^®
of Sonoma County

What is our mission? How are we structured? What is our history? What do we do?

Our Mission. Local League History. Other Leagues. Our History.

Our Mission and Roles

The League of Women Voters is a nonpartisan political organization encouraging the informed and active participation of citizens in government. It influences public policy through education and advocacy. We never support or oppose any political party or candidate.
The League of Women Voters has two separate and distinct roles.

Voters Service/Citizen Education: we present unbiased nonpartisan information about elections, the voting process, and issues.

Action/Advocacy: we are also nonpartisan, but, after study, we use our positions to advocate for or against particular policies in the public interest.

To conduct our voter service and citizen education activities, we use funds from the League of Women Voters of California Education Fund, which is a 501(c)(3) corporation, a nonprofit educational organization. The League of Women Voters, a membership organization, conducts action and advocacy and is a nonprofit 501(c)(4) corporation.
Our Vision, Beliefs, and Intentions guide our activities.

The League of Women Voters of Sonoma County

The League of Women Voters of Sonoma County began as the League of Women Voters of Santa Rosa in 1951 with the creation of a pre-organization committee. The provisional League's first studies were of the structure of the United Nations and of the structure of Santa Rosa Government. In 1953 the Santa Rosa League was officially recognized.
Although the Santa Rosa League studied and acted on county-wide issues from as early as 1957, only in 1978 did it emerge as the League of Women Voters of Sonoma County.
The local League has had a continuing interest in environmental and conservation issues from as early as 1957.

Other League Organizations

Our members are also members of:

League of Women Voters of the Bay Area,
League of Women Voters of California, and
"League of Women Voters of the United States"<http://www.lwv.org/">.

See other Leagues in California and other state Leagues and local League websites.

History of the League of Women Voters

Read a short history of the League of Women Voters.

Comments, suggestions, questions? Contact our webmaster. Last revised: July 9, 2008 16:55 PDT.