Phyllis Demko is a director on the NC State Board of the League of Women Voters. She has also served on the board of the Wake County League of Women Voters. Her work for the League and other political organizations has been focused on redistricting reform, which she believes is the key to preserving our democracy. Her career was in university law, human resources, and teaching. Phyllis has a PhD and JD from UNC Chapel Hill, and is a member of the NC State Bar (retired).

The Reverend Dr. T. Anthony Spearman has pastored three Zion communions: the St. Phillip African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church in Greensboro, NC, Clinton Tabernacle, Hickory and Moore's Chapel, Salisbury. Spearman is married to Janice Spearman and the have three adult children, six grandchildren and one great grandchild. He is the President of the State Conference of Branches of the North Carolina NAACP and the Immediate Past President of the North Carolina Council of Churches. Spearman is presently a member of the Guilford County Board of Elections and served as a member of the Hickory Public Schools board from 2011 until he was relocated to Greensboro in 2014. He is presently the Executive Director of Balancing Relationships Instilling Dignity, Growth and Empathy (B.R.I.D.G.E), a non profit that intentionally serves the marginalized. Spearman has been involved in community activism for the past 51 years and as a former campus minister has rallied college students together over a number of just causes; was among the Greensboro Pulpit Forum members who advocated for KMart employees in Greensboro in 1995-1996; marched with Smithfield Workers in order to improve their working conditions; been a constant participant with the Historic Thousands on Jones Street Peoples' Assembly Coalition over the past ten years; is recognized as a staunch advocate for the LGBTQ community (a consultant with Faith in Action and Equality NC); was one of 25 plaintiffs who fought hard against the School Opportunities Program or Voucher Lawsuit; was One of the first organizational plaintiffs in the Voter Suppression Lawsuit against Governor McCrory and the State of NC and was one of the first seventeen persons arrested during the Forward Together Moral Monday Movement. Dr. Spearman is a staunch voting rights advocate. In addition to the NC NAACP’s continued fight to keep photo Voter ID out of the State of North Carolina, he works with countless groups across the country, including the Transformative Justice Coalition which equips young people. Spearman believes that courage and fearlessness are the foundation to acts of civil disobedience.

Sailor Jones joined Southern Coalition for Social Justice (SCSJ) in 2021 as the organization’s Communications Director. Prior to joining SCSJ, Sailor was Democracy North Carolina’s Campaigns Director. A native of rural eastern North Carolina, Sailor graduated from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill with a B.A. in Anthropology, earned a J.D. cum laude from North Carolina Central University’s School of Law, and is a member of the North Carolina State Bar.

During Sailor’s decade-long career working in social justice, he is proud to have worked in various roles with North Carolina-based organizations such as Equality NC, the League of Women Voters of NC, NARAL Pro-Choice NC, NC AIDS Action Network, and North Carolina NAACP. Honors include the ACLU of NC’s Sharon Thompson Award for Courageous Pursuit of Equal Rights for LGBTQ North Carolinians, Blueprint NC’s Trailblazer Award, and Qnotes Carolinas Statewide LGBT Leader of the Year Award. 

As a native North Carolinian, Tyler Daye gained a passion for redistricting reform after learning about the gerrymandered voting districts he would be voting in when he first became eligible to vote. Tyler graduated from UNCG with a bachelor’s degree in political science and sociology. Since then, he has worked with Democracy NC and the League of Women Voters of NC on redistricting reform initiative. He has also participated in the Southern Coalition for Social Justice's CROWD (Community Redistricting Organizations Working for Democracy) Academy program. He previously served as the Project Management Assistant for Fair Districts NC, a coalition of organizations, led by the League of Women Voters of NC, working to end gerrymandering in the state. Now, he is a Redistricting Specialist for Common Cause NC and is focused on educating citizens and getting them engaged for this year’s redistricting.

Note: Streaming may be available. Go to lwvcv.org for updates. 

Save the Date: Judge Robert Orr, former NC Supreme Court Justice, will speak at another LWV of Catawba Valley "Learn About Lines" event on September 13.