Posted at 9:03 p.m. on December 8. Last updated at 1:55 p.m. on December 9
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FRAMINGHAM – Wednesday night, December 8, the League of Women Voters, Framingham chapter elected a half dozen new officers and board members.
The Framingham Chapter of the League of Women Voters was reactivated in 2018 shortly after
Framingham voted to become a City.
In those four years the group has held many candidate forums, voter registration events and other educational events throughout the city on a variety of topics of interest to the community.
Elected the new president is Susan S. Craighead.
Craighead is a part of a family with three generations who are dedicated to the League of Women Voters. She is a member of the NAACP and an attorney who has been active in Framingham matters for many years, including having been the Vice Chair of the Framingham Zoning Board of Appeals.
“Having a mother who was a member of the League when I was growing up, I know how
important unbiased information is to the public and am excited to have an opportunity to work in such a capacity,” said Craighead.
“Now of all times, in the history of this country, it is critical that voters have a neutral source of information that is not tainted by social media or the bias of corporate controlled news sites. I am looking forward to working with other board members, League members and Framingham residents to expand our ability to inform our community,” said Craighead
Elected Vice President was Cynthia Blanc Preiss MacLean. She is the first-ever Mrs. Framingham, a women’s mentor and speaker. Among her many other civic engagements, she works with Widows to Windows, which has been donating groceries, money, grief mentorship, and other resources to widows facing hardship and neglect.
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Elected secretary was Natasha Rausch. She is a lead teacher at the Learning Center for the Deaf in Framingham. She is a supporter of Be the Match, a global leader in bone marrow transplantation.
Elected treasurer was Rich Shapiro, a mortgage banker in MetroWest for a number of years. He worked with Craighead to organize the first district debate when Framingham became a city and assisted other districts holding their own debates. Among his other civic activities, he referees basketball and women’s lacrosse.
The new membership chair for the Framingham chapter of the League of Women Voters is Nathaniel Joslin. He is a licensed mental health therapist at The Learning Center for the Deaf. He is a member of the City of Framingham Cultural Council and the Framingham/Natick Toastmasters.
Elected Voter Services Chair was Jake Binnall. He is a law student at Boston University with a background in public policy and political science. He ran for District 2 Councilor in Framingham in November, but did not succeed. He has served on the UMass Board of Trustees, and has been passionate about the political process and voter education since he was a pre-teen.
“All of us want to extend our thanks and appreciation to Stephanie and Jim for all of their hard work on behalf of the LWV,” said Craighead.
“We are dedicated to furthering the goals of the LWV, including voter education and engagement. We want to make the Framingham LWV ever more user friendly, including an online sign up for new members using the various electronic payment systems that are available,” said Craighead.
“Many younger people do not even use checks or credit cards. We are a diverse group of people and plan to focus on outreach to grow the Framingham League in its breadth and depth. Framingham is a diverse community. We need to revel in that. We need to work with the multitude of organizations- religious, business, civic, and even on the streets, to get people involved,” said newly-elected President Craighead, on behalf of the new officers.
“Framingham is a diverse community with people from various backgrounds, different lenses that they view things through and has multi-cultural richness that I would like to see reflected more strongly in our membership and programs as we move forward,” said Craighead.
Anyone interested in joining the league should email Nate Joslin at framinghamlwv@gmail.com
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MetroWest Medical Center