Posted on August 10, 2020 at 11:46 AM by Denise Cartina
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Becky Simon – President, League of Women Voters of Naperville. Becky Simon, a long-time resident of Naperville, bridges Naperville’s past, present, and future. Becky founded the historic preservation organization, Naperville Preservation, Inc, (formerly Save Old Nichols Library) as a 501(c)3. She successfully led the effort to save this historic building from demolition. She maintains ties with the Naperville Historic Preservation Commission, Naper Settlement, Illinois State Historic Preservation Office, North Central College, and others. Old Nichols Library is now landmarked, thanks to Becky.
As president of the League of Women Voters of Naperville (LWVN), Becky works to empower voters and defend democracy collaborating with others including: AAUW, National Council of Jewish Women, NAACP, Girl Scouts, and Naper Pride.
Cognizant of the hard-won fight for the women’s vote, Becky continues to lead efforts on ratification of the Equal Rights Amendment (ERA); she successfully flipped a state senator on the ERA vote in 2018. ERA passed in Illinois with one vote to spare. With North Central College and Naper Settlement she identified Naperville’s earliest Suffragists and successfully advocated for a historic marker for Ellen Annette Martin as part of the National Votes for Women Trail.
With NAACP, Becky organized and led League efforts to acquire critically needed election E-Poll books for DuPage County. Becky continues to increase League visibility, raise awareness for the US Census, and for vote-by-mail.
Her latest collaboration is as a member of the Steering Committee, Art of Inclusion, a public art venture to honor inclusion and the growing diversity of Naperville."
Nominated by Susan Craighead