Lakewood League Of Women Voters 100th Anniversary 100 Pillar - League of Women Voters Greater Cleveland

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Lakewood League Of Women Voters
100th Anniversary 100 Pillars Spotlight: Cindy Strebig

What is it about Cindy Strebig that makes her a pillar of the League of Women Voters after joining just five years ago? Born in North Ridgeville to a truck driving father and a part-time accountant mom, Cindy was the first in her family to graduate from college with a Masters degree in Physical Education from Ohio University. A self described activist, Cindy works with the board of the Cleveland Stonewall Democrats, is on the Board of the Lakewood Family YMCA, a member of the Cuyahoga Democratic Women’s Caucus, GRR, the Lakewood Democratic Club, Block Captain on Baxterly Avenue, a member of the Cuyahoga County Central Committee and an Executive Committee Member. As if that isn’t enough, she is running for Lakewood City Council to represent Ward 3.

Cindy joined the League of Women Voters after seeing the Belmont-Paul Women’s Equality National Monument in Washington, D.C. with her wife, Kate. “There on the wall was a timeline from the suffragist movement to the League of Women Voters. The light bulb went on. I thought, Here are my people! The voting activists transformed and are still here. As soon as I got home I looked them up and found that there is a chapter right here in Lakewood.” Since joining Cindy has served on virtually every committee. Three years ago she founded the Mary Warren Impact Scholarship program which has since awarded nineteen $1,000 scholarships to Lakewood High School seniors. “I am so excited that we are able to help educate at the high school level. Teaching the importance of voting is critical to the success of our democracy. The education can start with younger children too. At the Lakewood Arts Festival, we have a faux voting booth where kids can vote for their favorite princess, super-hero, sport, and ice cream flavor. Even if they don’t quite understand the importance of it, at least we start to show them what it’s all about. One person, one vote. Everyone gets one vote. Sometimes the vote goes your way and sometimes it does not. We accept the result and move on.”

“The League does intensive studies on the issues to take informed positions and I’m glad to see that we’re moving in the direction of some activism. The League is educating the public with the Facts About Ohio’s Issue 1, what it is and is not. It does not affect parental consent or have anything to do with gender affirming care. This is disinformation intended to stir fear and anger. We literally just had a public forum on this at the library. The lies spread by the opposition to confuse and create mistrust have to be recognized, pointed out, and disregarded as the garbage that it is.”

When asked about some of the strongest influences in her life, Cindy credits her mother. “My Mom taught me that you can’t let anybody tell you who you are. It’s OK to question the rules, and the motives. No one is better than you and we all have to work together and live together, so let’s do that!”

“The Lakewood Chapter of the League of Women Voters is talking about doing a Women in Politics Forum with the young people in the high school AP government class so that young women can see themselves in politics, know that there is a path for their success, and that they can thrive and survive in this business. Somebody recently came up to me at the Arts Fest and said, ‘You know, I’ve never missed an election.’ That really impressed me, and I want to challenge the young women at the high school to do that too, never miss an election, and tell me about it at the Art Fest in 20 years. I think that when these young women start to vote, and they’re paying attention, and they never miss an election, that they are going to change the world.”

Carol Thum is a writer and active member of the Lakewood Chapter of the League of Women Voters.

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