Citizen participation is the crucial process through which private individuals and groups work to influence public decisions as part of the democratic process. Organizations ranging from national issue-oriented groups to local broad- based grass roots groups work to enhance citizen participation.

This “bottom up” activity may include advocacy, lobbying, protests, strikes, petition drives, ballot proposals, lawsuits and political campaigning. Citizen activism driven by real community needs and desires can be a powerful transformative force.

Our panelists, Roddy Wares, Lisa Wozniak, Branden Snyder and moderator Karen Bantel will help us understand how the organizations that they represent aid individuals in understanding ideas about citizenship, politics, government and the issues important to their communities and specific organizations.

Roddy Wares has been an active member of the League of Women Voters in the Ann Arbor area since 2016. She leads the committee that registered students in almost all of the Washtenaw County high schools as well as WCC for the past three years and also leads the LWVAAA effort to register seniors. Currently she is working with Voting Access for All Coalition. She has been registering voters in Washtenaw County for at least 30 years!

Lisa Wozniak’s career spans over two decades of environmental and conservation advocacy in the political arena. She is a nationally recognized expert in non-profit growth and management and a leader in Great Lakes protections. Lisa is a three-time graduate from the University of Michigan, with a Bachelor’s Degree and two ensuing Masters Degrees in Social Work and Education.

Before becoming Executive Director in 2006, Wozniak was a member of the Michigan LCV Board and today serves on the boards of the Friends of Rutherford Pool, the Huron River Watershed Council, and the National League of Conservation Voters Education Fund.

Born and raised on Detroit’s East Side, Branden Snyder, executive director of Detroit Action, has been involved in electoral and community organizing projects throughout the U.S. for 10 years. Previously, he was the Deputy Organizing Director in charge of Youth Voting for the Hillary for Michigan 2016 presidential campaign and Director of Organizing for Michigan United, a coalition of faith, labor & civic organizations in Detroit, Flint, Grand Rapids and Kalamazoo. He is a graduate of UM – Ann Arbor with a Master’s Degree in Public Policy from the UM Ford School of Public Policy and a Bachelor’s Degree in Political Science and Afro-American studies with a minor in Urban Community Studies.

Karen Bantel, Ph.D., was formerly a professor of business strategy and entrepreneurship at the University of Michigan and Wayne State University, and consulted in those areas for many years.

She has facilitated and moderated a number of OLLI offerings, including: Russia, The Retreat of Western Liberalism, A World in Disarray, Can Democracy Survive?, Vaccines Explained, and TED talks.

Pre-registration is required via the OLLI website or phone. A link to access the lecture will be e-mailed to you approximately one week prior to the event.