Action Groups & Committees

VOTER SERVICES TEAM

Our Voter Services Team produces the Voter Guide, encourages Voter Registration at community events, deploys volunteer poll monitors through Election & Voter Protection, and conducts Voter Education and Outreach & Candidate Forums. These activities focus solely on educating the community about civic engagement. Learn more about voting here.

Join the Voter Services Team

ADVOCACY TEAMS

Our issue-based advocacy teams represent the program for the year; each team works on a specific issue from our annual program. Our current advocacy teams are Voter Protection, Public Education, National Popular Vote Interstate Compact, Reproductive Rights, and Social Justice.

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Taking Action with the League

Volunteering for a LWV group is a great way to become familiar with how the League operates and to learn about its involvement in local, state, and national issues. Participation will expand your knowledge of all levels of government and further develop your communication, leadership, and project management skills.

Get in touch with the League!

Meet our Action Team Leaders

Laura Williamson

Voter Services Co-chair

Heidi Davis

Voter Services Co-chair

Amy Keith

Voter Services Co-chair

Sarah Peacock

National Popular Vote, Chair

Lindsay Polega

Reproductive Rights Co-Chair

Stephanie Sembler

Reproductive Rights Co-chair

Sue Castleman

Education Co-Chair, Finance Chair

Joni Jonas

Education Co-Chair

Carla Vila

Social Justice Co-Chair

Robin Davidov

Social Justice Co-Chair

Amy Weintraub

Membership Chair, Bylaws Chair, League Leadership Program Co-Chair

Jean Johnston

League Leadership Program Co-Chair

Nicole Jones

Parent Advocacy League Chair

Kristen Ehrlich

Communications Chair

Vacant

Fundraising Chair

Susan Dickson

Communications and Administrative Specialist

Voter Services Co-chair

Laura Williamson

Laura Williamson joined the LWVSPA in 2023 after moving to St Pete Beach in 2019. Her interest in fair elections and voting rights prompted her to become a poll worker in 2022. With the League’s Voter Services Committee she has organized events and tabled to register and inform voters. League involvement also prompted Laura to canvas for Amendment 4.

Laura is a native of Pennsylvania, a graduate of Bucknell University and the Wharton School, and she spent her career in Philadelphia while traveling in her spare time in search of natural beauty. As a licensed CPA, Laura worked in public accounting and then for a Philadelphia-based wealth manager, where she started out managing the books and grew her role over the course of 25 years to managing the company as its Chief Operating Officer. She has broad governance experience in a corporate setting and with organizations focused on underserved populations. Currently she serves on the board of a St Pete Beach municipal pension fund and on the board of two Philadelphia nonprofits. She is a pilates enthusiast and shares a joy for travel and cooking with her husband.

Voter Services Co-chair

Heidi Davis

Voter Services Co-chair

Amy Keith

Amy Keith joined LWVSPA in 2018 and has served on the Board since 2020. She has led LWVSPA’s Election Protection poll monitoring program since the 2018 midterms and led Election Protection statewide for the League of Women Voters of Florida in 2021-2022. She also co-authored LWVSPA’s Engage St Pete Civic Health Study in 2019-2020.

Amy has over 20 years of experience in nonprofit management and is currently the Executive Director for Common Cause Florida, where she leads the Florida Election Protection Coalition and spearheads Common Cause’s work towards a more inclusive, accountable democracy.

Before relocating back to the U.S. permanently in 2017, Amy spent 18 years working in international humanitarian response and refugee rights for nongovernmental organizations including the International Rescue Committee and the Danish Refugee Council, among others. During her first few years in Florida, she served as the Grants Director for the Suncoast Hospice Foundation/Empath Health. Originally from New Jersey, she holds an MPA from Columbia University and a BA in Philosophy from Bates College.

Amy lives in the Euclid St. Paul neighborhood of St. Pete with her husband and their very talkative cat.5

National Popular Vote, Chair

Sarah Peacock

Sarah Peacock was born and raised right here in St. Pete. She has gained most of her advocacy experience as lead parent organizer for the Pinellas chapter of Families for Strong Public Schools.

Sarah is a lifelong community advocate of social justice. She is passionate about building community in support of equitable access to robust and fully funded public education. She believes that a well-educated and informed electorate is the foundation of a stable democracy.

In an effort to ensure the equal voices of that informed electorate, Sarah also serves as the Pinellas co-chair for Floridians for National
Popular Vote.

When she isn’t at School Board meetings or in Tallahassee, she enjoys reading, golf, Pilates, and excellent food.

Reproductive Rights Co-Chair

Lindsay Polega

Lindsay quickly fell in love with St. Pete, after her move to the city in 2017. Her 9-5 work is in complex civil litigation, and she spends much of her free time dedicating her legal services to pro bono causes. She volunteers regularly with immigration and asylum assistance organizations assisting immigrants seeking asylum status and assisting children who have been placed into U.S.-based refugee resettlement centers to be reunified with family members residing in the U.S. While in law school, Lindsay was the proud recipient of the William Blews Pro Bono Service Award for her extensive volunteer work with the Community Law Program in St. Petersburg, FL and with the Global Brigades, legal division, in rural Honduras.

Over the past two years, she has immersed herself in the field of reproductive rights activism, working tirelessly to promote awareness, education, and legislative advocacy. She has collaborated with local organizations, worked with grassroots campaigns, and lead educational events in the community related to the YesOn4 campaign. She is a lead volunteer attorney at the Jane Network, a network of attorneys dedicated to advancing reproductive freedom in Florida through pro bono legal representation. Without volunteers, the minors involved in these cases are assigned court appointed attorneys, who may or may not be the best suited to advocate for their cause, and often do not have the time or resources these sensitive cases require. More importantly, with the 6-week ban now in effect, these cases require urgent attention.

When her legal hat comes off, Lindsay enjoys spending time by the water, nearly all types of exercise (minus a run), traveling, reading, and snuggling with her 3 XXL pooches. She is often covered in fur, sand, or sweat, but she cleans up well. She is excited to serve as Co-Chair to the Reproductive Rights committee.

Reproductive Rights Co-chair

Stephanie Sembler

Stephanie graduated from the University of Florida with a degree in Animal Science in 2010. She spent a decade working in veterinary medicine, gaining hands-on experience in animal care, client management, and practice operations. Concurrently, she diligently built a successful real estate portfolio, demonstrating her entrepreneurial spirit and investment acumen.

As a St. Pete native, Stephanie brings a deep-rooted commitment to community service and advocacy to the League of Women voter’s board. In addition to reproductive rights work, she continues to volunteer with animal advocacy groups and loves taking her dog Pumba out in the community to enjoy all St. Pete has to offer.

Education Co-Chair, Finance Chair

Sue Castleman

Sue Castleman is retired from Pinellas County Schools where she was the Visual Arts Supervisor and managed a $1.3 million annual budget for the district. She also served as President and Treasurer of the Florida Art Education Association. Currently, Sue is on the Morean Arts Center Board of Trustees, serves on the Arts for a Complete Education Committee for St. Petersburg Arts Alliance, and is a Pinellas County Poll Worker. She has served on the League of Women Voters of St. Petersburg’s membership committee and is ready to serve as treasurer.

Education Co-Chair

Joni Jonas

Joni was a professional educator for thirty-five years with Pinellas County Schools. Her experience ranged from a classroom teacher (twelve years) to school and district level administrator (twenty-three years). During her career, she was responsible for creating and expanding career technical programs, both at the secondary and post-secondary level. In addition, she provided professional development training, wrote and managed state and federal grants, as well as grants from private sources. Included in her duties was managing teachers and staff; hiring/firing as well as conducting yearly evaluation of staff.

Joni became a member of the St. Petersburg league three years ago. She served as secretary for one year and serves as co-chair of the LWVSP Education Commitee, and as is amember of the state Education Committee

Presently, Joni is happily retired, enjoying her new grandchild, traveling when possible and sharing time with friends.

Social Justice Co-Chair

Carla Vila

Social Justice Co-Chair

Robin Davidov

Membership Chair, Bylaws Chair, League Leadership Program Co-Chair

Amy Weintraub

Amy Weintraub is a seasoned, award-winning organizer, who has worked most of her adult life identifying, educating, and activating citizens toward social justice. She is the Reproductive Rights Program Director at Progress Florida. She is the former chair of the League of Women Voters of Florida’s Reproductive Health and Justice Team and serves as the Membership Chair of the St. Pete League. She is a leader with the statewide Floridians for Reproductive Freedom coalition.

Prior to moving to Florida in 2015, Amy lived in her home state of West Virginia where she led efforts within organizations such as WV FREE (West Virginia Focus: Reproductive Education and Equality), Covenant House of WV, and Planned Parenthood. Amy lives in St. Petersburg with three felines and her spouse, Marc, with whom she’s raised two children, now young adults.

League Leadership Program Co-Chair

Jean Johnston

Jean joined the LWVSPA in 2022 and although relatively new to the League, she is excited about working through the League to help better our
community.

She is deeply rooted in her community, having lived in Seminole over 45 years, moving here after graduating from Florida State in Criminology and Counseling.

Her early career centered around human services, while earning her master’s in public administration, working as a direct service counselor, directing Girls Clubs of Pinellas County and grant writing for the Private Industry Council.

Jean has been married 45 years and is the proud mother of two adult children. While raising her children, she was extremely active in her children’s school. During this time, she opened her own small business. She is proud to be a part of a local family owned/operated business which is about to celebrate their 50th anniversary of service to the area.

On becoming an empty nester Jean leaned into her passions by becoming active in supporting women’s rights especially reproductive health and voters rights. For over 6 years, she has volunteered with Bread and Roses Women’s Health Center as a volunteer escort. Her involvement strengthened as she witnessed first-hand the horrific experience women must endure from protesters to access basic health care services. This experience resulted in her becoming involved with a group that worked tirelessly with the Clearwater city council to establish a safety buffer zone around the clinic to help patients access services as safely and stress free as possible. She also volunteers at Peace Cafe in Clearwater, a program that provides meals for the homeless, and with Voteriders, a national program that focuses on assisting folks in obtaining an official ID
required to vote.

She has been an election poll worker for years, and she also helped secure the needed signatures for the 2024 Abortion Initiative, now called Amendment 4.

Jean has a passion for travel. She enjoys the beach, yoga and reading. She is a strong opponent of banning books. She is proud to identify as a feminist and community activist.

A saying she holds near to her heart is:
Strong women,
May we know them,
May we be them,
May we raise them.

Parent Advocacy League Chair

Nicole Jones

Communications Chair

Kristen Ehrlich

Kristen cut her teeth in consulting in Boston at Ernst and Young in their mergers and acquisitions transaction tax practice working with private equity and corporate clients. She leveraged that experience into private law practice at a boutique business law firm followed by working in-house for a corporate client. She also gives back to her community by providing legal pro bono services to various non-profits.

Currently she is the President of Connect Pinellas, Inc., a Florida not-for-profit, that focuses on advancing access to viable transportation options that are reliable and safe, as well as increasing pedestrian and bicycle safety, in Pinellas County. Additionally, she is a committee member of Connect Pinellas’ Bicycle Pedestrian Advisory Committee.

Kristen serves as the Communications lead for the St. Petersburg Area League of Women Voters and has a passion for making voting more accessible for all citizens. She also volunteers on the League’s Voter Services Team. In her free time, she enjoys gardening, pottery, and biking.

Fundraising Chair

Vacant

Communications and Administrative Specialist

Susan Dickson

Susan is a lifelong Pinellas County resident. Before signing on with the League, she worked as a librarian in the St. Petersburg Public Library System. She enjoys cycling, drumming, and time with her husband and two small children.