Long-time Ames resident Judie Hoffman has been named the recipient of the first ever “Making Democracy Work” award from the League of Women Voters of Ames and Story County. Hoffman, who has been a League member for many years, said that she was shocked to win, but is very happy to receive the award.

“It came as a surprise and a nice honor,” Hoffman said.

The award is a way for the League to mark its 90th year in Story County, but it is also designed to celebrate a person or organization in Story County that has envisioned a way to improve their community and mobilize others around them to work to effect change locally. According to local league president Devita Harden, Hoffman meets that description perfectly.

“According to the individuals who nominated Judie, Judie exemplifies the spirit of this award,” Harden said. “She walks the talk of civic engagement, she has worked to educate and engage others in the policy process, she has spoken to various groups ranging from ISU Extension to faith groups to international groups.”

According to the information provided in her nomination packet, Hoffman holds a bachelor’s of arts degree from Knox College, and a master’s in arts degree from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. She worked as a substitute teacher in the Ames school district from 1978 to 1989, served on the Ames City Council from 1988 to 2003 and was Mayor pro tem in 1999-2000.

In 1986, Judie became the State Legislative Lobbyist for the League of Women Voters of Iowa before taking on other roles, including Legislative Lobbyist for Ecumenical Ministries of Iowa in 1992, the Red Cross of Iowa in 1995 and the Iowa Reading Association in 1996. Judie retired from these professional roles in 2010.

Hoffman has also served as president of the Sawyer Elementary PTO; served on the Ames Planning and Zoning Commission; on the Cy-Ride Board of Directors; on the Ames Economic Development Commission; and on the Ames Convention and Visitors’ Bureau. Along with those roles, she also found the time to be a key member of the Healthiest Ames committee, as well as several other local and statewide organizations.

Hoffman said participating in all those organizations has truly taught her what it takes to make democracy work in Iowa.

“A phrase that I’ve often used is democracy is not a spectator sport,” Hoffman said. “People need to be involved in their government, and that’s certainly something that I have done but I’ve also spent a lot of time encouraging other people to become involved in government whether it be on the local level or the state level, or nationally.”

Harden said she counts herself as one of those people that Hoffman has inspired.

“She’s shown me that democracy works best when the public is educated on public issues,” Harden said. “She took the time to explain how that impacts what happens in Des Moines, what happens at the Story County Board of Supervisors, how that impacts our daily living and the importance of citizens to be engaged in the policy process.”

According to Hoffman, seeing the seemingly newly acquired attention span that the country has found for state and national politics gives her hope that democracy will continue to function well into the future.

“These are difficult times for government in the United States, but I think that more and more people are taking an interest right now then they have in the past few years and that’s important,” Hoffman said.

Along with increased civic engagement, Hoffman said that she would also like to see political polarization decrease in the coming years because she believes it creates too many areas of the country where a lawmaker knows they can’t be defeated by the other party in an election cycle.

“They know their seat is a safe seat,” Hoffman said. “If you have enough senators or representatives on the national level, it’s harder to get people to work together.”

Hoffman said that even though she is no longer a lobbyist or an elected official, she still plans on staying involved.

“It’s always interesting to work on issues, whether they be big or little, but when you can make a difference it always makes it fun,” Hoffman said.

Hoffman will be honored during the April 11 Ames City Council meeting and she will officially receive the award during the LWV’s Annual Meeting, which will be on April 22, 2017, at the Gateway Holiday Inn, in Ames.