Eleanor Roosevelt Leadership Award

Clark County Democratic Women’s Issues Network

WIN’s Eleanor Roosevelt Leadership Award is presented periodically to Ohio women noteworthy for leadership that advances the common good in the areas of social justice and human rights, promotes the interests of women, builds progressive community, and – as Eleanor did with her “My Day” newspaper column –challenges “complacent Democrats, timid liberals, and apathetic Americans to accept the responsibilities of living in a democracy.”

Thank you for joining us in honoring

Nan Whaley

with our inaugural
Eleanor Roosevelt Leadership Award

Thursday July 7th at 7pm

We were so inspired by

Nan Whaley.

There is no other Ohio woman we know of who better embodies the leadership qualities of Eleanor Roosevelt than former Dayton Mayor and current Candidate for Governor, Nan Whaley.

She attracted our attention early on, for her work on housing, regional economic development, preschool education, and in fighting the opiod epidemic. She has been our hero at least since 2019, when she guided her city through a series of crises:

In May, when the Klan threatened violence, announcing a rally at Dayton’s Courthouse Square, not two years after the chaos in Charlottesville, she rallied her citizens to embrace inclusivity.

The NY Times ran a headline: “Hate Comes to Dayton, and Dayton Unites Against It.” Two days later, on Memorial Day, E4 tornadoes struck. In the aftermath, the Dayton Daily News praised her leadership; University of Dayton filmmakers documented it.

Then, on August 4th, the late-night mass shooting in the Oregon District took place. Ten people, including the shooter and two from Springfield, died. She went to the scene and stood in a crowd of media that night and for days following;

she reached out to her traumatized community, telling them it was OK to go to a counselor, as she herself had just done; and when then-President Trump finally recognized that the shooting took place in Dayton -- not Toledo --

she met him at the airport, but also spoke truth to power, telling national reporters that his rhetoric had not been helpful.

In all of these crises, Nan has worked for and uplifted people as Eleanor did during the Depression. And we know that, as the first woman Ohio Governor, she will work as Eleanor did, for the rights of all of us.

We look forward to hearing her say, as she did after the Klan rally, “This ugly chapter is over, but it means we have to get back to the real work – making sure that no matter what you look like, where you come from, or who you love, that you can have a great life . . . .”