Linda Lynch named recipient of  Annable Kitzhaber Education and Advocacy Award

Longtime Eugene resident Linda Lynch is the recipient of this year’s Annabel Kitzhaber Education and Advocacy Award presented by the League of Women Voters of Lane County. The award is meant to recognize an outstanding citizen for their significant, effective, and long-term leadership in making local and state government more understandable and accessible to the average citizen.

In the early 1960’s, Linda moved with her parents to Eugene where she subsequently met her spouse, Phil – who taught elementary classes for the Eugene School District 4J – and raised four children. She joined the League of Women Voters as a young mother and volunteered to lead many local and state studies that laid out policy issues in ways that were easy for voters to understand. 

After earning her Master’s degree in Planning, Public Policy, and Management from University of Oregon, she went on to spend more than a decade working for the City of Eugene as its director of governmental affairs. She wielded masterful negotiation skills to create “United Front,” a consortium of local government leaders for Lane County, Springfield, Lane Transit District, and the school districts, that aligned on a federal agenda to leverage the strengths and connections of Oregon’s Senators and Congressional Representatives. Working together, United Front was able to secure investments in infrastructure, wetland preservation, and a host of improvements to the Eugene airport. 

As a “lifetime” – 50 years plus! – member of the local chapter of the League of Women Voters, Linda Lynch has inspired hundreds of others with her keen mind for strategy and no-nonsense approach to getting things done. She has influenced policy at the local and state level for decades and our democracy is certainly better for it. 

Lynch will be celebrated during a private reception Friday, March 27.