Marjy Gilbert
Contact Marjy:
mgilbert@lwvil.org
Director
Marjy Gilbert has served on LWV of Illinois’ Board of Directors since June 2025.
The League of Women Voters has been an integral part of Marjy Gilbert's life for decades. She joined LWV of Chicago in 1976 during her last year attending the Loyola University of Chicago School of Law. When she moved from Chicago to various suburbs, she immediately joined the local League, maintaining a continual membership with the LWV. She joined the Homewood Flossmoor League, then later the Glenview League where she became a board member. While living in Glenview she also joined the Glenview-Golf Gardeners, eventually becoming President of that organization. She then moved to south suburban Palos Park where she had grown up, and joined the Palos-Orland Area League, eventually serving on the board.
In 2018 Ms. Gilbert returned to Chicago and re-joined the Chicago League. After retiring soon thereafter, she participated in the daytime Loop Unit, one of the neighborhood units that are part of the Chicago League. After the daytime and evening Loop Units combined, she became one of the leaders of the Loop Unit. She continues to serve as one of the Loop Unit leaders as well as being a member of the Chicago League's City Government Committee. She has served on the LWV of Chicago Board since 2024 in addition to now serving on the LWV of Illinois Board.
She has chaired many study groups including one for the Cook County League which studied the opaque structure of Cook County government before President Preckwinkle's reforms. She has chaired consensus meetings for the Palos Park League (e.g., LWVIL pension study) and the Chicago League (LWVUS Federal Judiciary Study). She has also participated in many consensus meetings run by LWVCHI, e.g., Ranked Choice Voting & Bring Chicago Home, as well as the LWVIL Criminal Justice Reform Consensus meeting.
For 34 years she worked for the Office of Chief Counsel of the IRS, litigating complex federal tax cases as a Special Trial Attorney as well as handling transactional work. Her broad experience in dealing with complex issues, persuading others with facts and law, and service to the ideals of our country while working for our government, informs her service to the League.
Her passion, and the reason League is so important to her, is protecting and preserving our democracy, be it as a federal civil servant or as a private citizen. Marjy believes preserving democracy cannot be done alone, but takes partnership and working with others to educate and inspire.
Although Marjy's primary residence is in Chicago, she lives part time in Kankakee where she has resumed her hobby of gardening.