Kay J. Maxwell is Executive Director of the World Affairs Forum, located in Stamford, CT.  She served as the 16th president of the League of Women Voters of the United States (LWVUS) and chair of the League of Women Voters Education Fund (LWVEF) from 2002-2006. 

During her 30 years of service with the League of Women Voters, Ms. Maxwell has held numerous leadership posts at different levels within the national organization.  Her first exposure to the national League was as a lobby corps member in the early 1980s.  Ms. Maxwell returned to a national post as budget chair for the League from 1996-1998.  In 1998, Ms. Maxwell was elected to serve a two-year term on the League’s national board as first vice president.  During that time, she conducted training of women leaders in Bosnia and was the Oversight Trustee for several League international programs. 

Ms. Maxwell’s international community service led her to become an active participant in the U.S. Department of State’s International Speakers and CitizensConnect Programs.  Since 1999, Ms. Maxwell has traveled to Israel, the West Bank, Rwanda, Kuwait, Jamaica, Korea, Mongolia and Thailand to conduct civic participation training sessions for women political, NGO and business leaders.

Professionally, Ms. Maxwell’s international expertise elevated her to serve as the vice president for Program Administration and Corporate Development at the International Executive Service Corps (IESC), an international economic development organization.  Ms. Maxwell worked for the Connecticut-based IESC from 1993-2003, broadening her portfolio from programmatic work in the Newly Independent States, Asia, Africa and the Near East to the administration of programs worldwide.

Active in the Connecticut state League (LWVCT) since the mid-1980s, Ms. Maxwell served as the field service vice president from 1985 to 1989 and ascended to the presidency of the Connecticut League in 1989, serving in this capacity until 1993.

Ms. Maxwell’s leadership in the League and her commitment to strengthening democracy worldwide has earned her several honors, including the first “Citizen of the Year” award from the Connecticut Secretary of the State in 1993, the 1999 BRAVA Award for Career and Volunteer Accomplishments from the YWCA of Greenwich, Connecticut and the “Woman Who Makes a Difference” award from the International Women’s Forum in 2003.

Ms. Maxwell was a member the American Bar Association’s Blue Ribbon Commission on the American Jury and served on the CT Compensation Commission for Elected Sate Officers and Judges.  She is Vice President of the Connecticut Women’s Forum, and is a member of the International Women’s Forum, the Women’s Foreign Policy Group, and the Congressional District 4 Advisory Council of the Connecticut Permanent Commission on the Status of Women.  Throughout the 1990s, Ms. Maxwell was an active member of the World Affairs Forum, serving on and chairing its Board.  Ms. Maxwell is currently vice-chair of the Planned Parenthood of Connecticut Board and previously served on the Board of the Women’s Campaign School at Yale University.

Ms. Maxwell attended Smith College and earned a B.A. in International Relations from the University of Pennsylvania.  She is married to Steve Maxwell and has one son, John.

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