The League of Women Voters of Illinois Education Fund (LWVIL Education Fund) is a left-of-center voter advocacy organization. LWIVL Education Fund is associated with the left-of-center national League of Women Voters (LWV) and the League of Women Voters Education Fund (LWVEF). A group of activists founded LWV in Chicago in 1920 to support the women’s suffrage movement, then founded LWVEF to help with education and fundraising in 1957. ¹ LWVIL Education Fund was founded as a state chapter of LWVEF in 1979; it claims almost 4,000 members. ²

LWVIL Education Fund primarily supports League of Women Voters of Illinois’s (LWVIL) advocacy efforts through fundraising and voter education campaigns. LWVIL Education Fund has recently organized several initiatives around voter turnout, compiling a purportedly nonpartisan Illinois Voter Guide for the 2020 election and publishing voter resources on its website. ^{3 4}

LWVIL Education Fund provides substantial financial support for LWVIL advocacy, spending nearly $90,000 on a shared space and shared employees with LWVIL, nearly 60% of all LWVIL Education Fund’s 2017 expenses. ⁵ Audra Wilson works as executive director of LWVIL and the Education Fund. Wilson is also the CEO and president of the Sargent Shriver Center for Poverty Law, an advocacy organization that pushes left-of-center policy on issues of race and economic development. ⁶

LWVIL Education Fund Activity

Though League of Women Voters of Illinois, LWVIL Education Fund’s sister lobbying organization, has taken several left-of-center stances in the past. LWVIL Education Fund has only been publicly involved in a small number of voter initiatives. LWVIL Education Fund appears to support LWVIL financially, spending nearly $90,000 on a shared space and shared employees with LWVIL, accounting for nearly 60% of all LWVIL Education Fund’s 2017 expenses. ⁷ Of LWVIL Education Fund’s total 2017 expenses, only 14.8% went to covering its meetings and program expenses, with the remainder covering administrative costs associated with both LWVIL and the Education Fund. ⁸

Most of LWVIL’s advocacy work is handled by LWVIL, the 501(c)(4) advocacy arm of LWVIL Education Fund that the Fund helps to financially support. LWVIL has taken several controversial, left-of-center stances in the past, including abolishing the Electoral College, increasing tax rates, and adopting an environmentalist policy agenda. ^{9 10 11}

In 2017, LWVIL organized the “State of the State,” a policy event to connect women voters around the state of Illinois and raise funds for LWVIL. Most of LWVIL Education Fund’s public activity focuses on voter registration and turnout. In 2020, LWVIL Education Fund compiled a purportedly nonpartisan Illinois Voter Guide to provide voters with election information including candidate positions and referendum details. ¹² LWVIL Education Fund also published a range of voter resources, including tools to register to vote, view an Illinois ballot, and apply to vote by mail. ¹³

Leadership and Funding

In 2017, League of Women Voters of Illinois Education Fund received $72,164 in contributions. ¹⁴ In addition to charitable contributions, LWVIL Education Fund brought in nearly $25,000 in investment income and $41,630 in fees from its annual State of the State event, a conference on public affairs. ¹⁵ LWVIL Education Fund, and LWVIL, are led by executive director Audra Wilson. Wilson is also the CEO and president of the Sargent Shriver Center for Poverty Law, a left-of-center advocacy organization that pushes left-leaning economic and racial development programs. ¹⁶ Wilson has history of organizing for the Democratic Party, working as former President Barack Obama’s deputy press and policy director during his campaign for United States Senate. ¹⁷ Wilson also worked as deputy chief of staff for U.S. Rep. Robin Kelly (D-IL) in 2013. ¹⁸

1. Abbott, Virginia Clark (1949). The History of Woman Suffrage and the League of Women Voters in Cuyahoga County, 1911-1945. Cleveland, Ohio: League of Women Voters. p. 76.
2. “League Basics.” LWVIL. Accessed September 29, 2020. https://www.lwvil.org/league-basics.
3. “Illinois Voter Guide.” League of Women Voters of Illinois Education Fund. Accessed September 29, 2020. https://illinoisvoterguide.org/.
4. “Illinois Voter Guide.” League of Women Voters of Illinois Education Fund. Accessed September 29, 2020. https://illinoisvoterguide.org/.
5. “League of Women Voters of Illinois Education Fund.” Return of Organization Exempt from Income Tax, Form 990, 2017. Schedule R, Part VI.
6. Audra Wilson, Shriver Center for Poverty Law, https://www.povertylaw.org/people/audra-wilson/,Accessed August 20, 2020.
7. “League of Women Voters of Illinois Education Fund.” Return of Organization Exempt from Income Tax, Form990, 2017. Schedule R, Part VI.
8. “League of Women Voters of Illinois Education Fund.” Return of Organization Exempt from Income Tax, Form 990, 2017. Part IX
9. “Why We Should Abolish The Electoral College,” LWVIL. Accessed August 19,2020. https://www.lwvil.org/abolishing-the-electoral-college.html
10. “Constitutional Amendments.” LWVIL. Accessed August 19, 2020. https://www.lwvil.org/constitutionamendments.html.
11. “Issues: Hydraulic Fracturing (Fracking).” LWVIL. Accessed August 20, 2020. https://www.lwvil.org/fracking.html.
12. “Illinois Voter Guide.” League of Women Voters of Illinois Education Fund. Accessed September 29, 2020. https://illinoisvoterguide.org/.
13. “Illinois Voter Guide.” League of Women Voters of Illinois Education Fund. Accessed September 29, 2020. https://illinoisvoterguide.org/.
14. “League of Women Voters of Illinois Education Fund.” Return of Organization Exempt from Income Tax, Form 990, 2017. Part VIII, Line 1f.
15. “League of Women Voters of Illinois Education Fund.” Return of Organization Exempt from Income Tax,mForm 990. 2017. Part VIII, Line 2a.
16. “Audra Wilson.” Shriver Center for Poverty Law, Accessed August 20, 2020. https://www.povertylaw.org/people/audra-wilson/
17. Audra Wilson.” Shriver Center for Poverty Law, Accessed August 20, 2020. https://www.povertylaw.org/people/audra-wilson/
18. Audra Wilson.” Shriver Center for Poverty Law, Accessed August 20, 2020. https://www.povertylaw.org/people/audra-wilson/