Lu Blanchard, currently on the Leadership Team of the League of Women Voters, will talk about where we came from, where we are now, and where the path leads in defending democracy and women’s rights. The Universalist Church was the first denomination to ordain a woman – Rev. Olympia Brown – as a minister with full denominational authority, in 1863.

Lu joined the League in 2016, worked at Upstate Cerebral Palsy for 31 years and most recently worked, and now volunteers at Empowered Pathways doing mediation and community circles. She has 4 children, 7 grandchildren and 1 cat.