Zia embodies change through service

Barbara Zia believes that a life without passion is not worth living.

She believes it so strongly that she wants that statement engraved on her tombstone.

"We have to be passionate about something in life," the 65-year-old says. "And for me, it's making positive change in the world."

Zia's passion has driven her decisions, from joining the Peace Corps to becoming a teacher and running for president of the League of Women Voters of South Carolina.

And it is with the league that Zia has found a team of people who can help her make the positive change she craves.

"I'm just one voice, but being part of an organization like the league makes my voice stronger; there's a synergistic effect, the whole is greater than the sum of its parts," the Mount Pleasant resident says. "There's a power in people coming together and working for a common good."

From the Midwest to Iran

Zia was born Barbara Ann Corey in St. Louis. She and her younger brother shared "an idyllic, Midwestern childhood."

Her father owned a construction company, and her mother kept the books. Both parents were involved in community affairs, and politics was a common topic of conversation at the dinner table.

"They set a very positive example of community service," Zia said.

When it was time for college, Zia chose Duchesne in Omaha, Neb., a seven-hour drive when her parents took her, or an all-night ride on a milk train. She majored in history.

While in college, she heard a broadcast that would alter her life.

"I can remember the day when I heard President (John F.) Kennedy on the radio announcing the Peace Corps program, and thinking, 'That's something that I want to do.' "

She applied, and to her surprise and pleasure was accepted. After graduation, she headed to Iran to teach English.

Zia said the experience was constructive.

"It was a very formative experience. I joined thinking that I would help other people, but I realized that the greatest benefit of the Peace Corps is to the Americans who participate in it, because of the experience of other cultures and people."

While in Iran, Zia met the man she would marry. Fereydoon "Bob" Zia was her language instructor. The couple will celebrate their 42nd wedding anniversary this June.

Texas to Switzerland

After Iran, Zia and her husband moved to Austin, Texas, for his education. Still wanting to make the world a better place, Zia took a job as a teacher.

"I think that's why I was a teacher, because I see the potential in every person for improvement."

She worked first with young children and later with high school, college, grad school and hearing-impaired students. Most recently, she conducted educational research. Her career as an educator would span 25 years.

Zia also spent time as a student, earning a master's degree in special education and a Ph.D. in developmental and educational psychology.

She moved many times during her adult life, most often because of her husband's job as a business executive. The farthest place the pair called home was Lucerne, Switzerland. The cities they stayed in the longest were Memphis, Tenn.. and Hingham, Mass., a suburb of Boston.

They spent a short time in Atlanta, where in 1972 Zia gave birth to a son, Karim. He now lives in Washington, D.C., with his wife and their two children.

In Massachusetts in 1984, Zia became involved with the League of Women Voters, a nonpartisan political organization founded in 1920 by suffrage leaders. Its mission is to encourage informed and active participation in government, work to increase understanding of major public policy issues, and influence public policy through education and advocacy, according to its Web site.

"I was always involved in community affairs -- certainly raising my child I was always involved in school affairs, local government predominantly -- but I think it was when I joined the league that I expanded that from a local level to the state and the national level, really learning how state government works and how national government works," Zia said.

South Carolina

Joining the Peace Corps was the first of two experiences that most changed the course of Zia's life, she said.

The second was moving to South Carolina and becoming very involved in her community and state.

When both of them retired, Zia and her husband finally were able to choose a city where they wanted to live.

"We came here by choice," she said. "The other moves were all professionally related. So we picked a place that we knew and loved."

Zia said she loves the quality of life and the people here. She appreciates Mount Pleasant's proximity to Charleston and the beach, where she often walks. And the town is on the East Coast, where Zia wanted to live to be close to her son and his family.

Immediately upon moving to the Lowcountry in 2000, Zia looked up the local league.

"I have found that you can gage the civic health of a community by whether or not it has an active League of Women Voters," she said.

She joined "to learn more about my community, about the issues and also to meet like-minded people, people who shared my interest and concern for making democracy work and good government. And the league is nonpartisan. ... It's a wonderful place where people from all political backgrounds can come together -- Republicans, Democrats, Greens, Libertarians -- and find common ground on issues that reflect their values."

League leadership

After being a member of the League of Women Voters of the Charleston Area for about three years, she became its president. She held the seat for four years.

The local league has about 100 members, 90 percent of whom are female. The national organization became coed in 1974.

In 2007, Zia became president of the League of Women Voters of South Carolina. She was re-elected to another two-year term in 2009.

Zia is responsible for carrying out the mission of the league and the action agenda set by members at the state convention, held every two years.

At the most recent convention, members chose four priority issues for the state league's advocacy work: public education, natural resources, criminal justice and tax reform. They also decided to undertake two studies, one on water-supply issues and the other on the structure and governance of school districts in the state.

Advocacy is one main function of the league, Zia said. The other, perhaps better-known, function is citizen education and service to voters.

Zia said. "2010 is going to be another big election year in South Carolina. The state league and local leagues are going to be involved in registering voters, informing voters about the issues through candidates' debates, preparing voter guides on candidates and where they stand on issues, and explaining constitutional amendments to voters."

Zia travels to Columbia about once a week for state league board meetings, committee meetings on the various priority issues, other league events, or to meet with state and federal legislators.

Mostly she works from a wood-paneled office in the front of her Ravens Run home.

Zia will tell you her work with the league is part time. Her husband will say otherwise.

When asked why people should become involved in politics Zia said, "In order to maintain our democratic system of government, it requires individual citizen involvement. Otherwise, we become a country run by special interests. And we face a lot of challenges in that regard because there is so much money now in government.

"It takes so much money to, say, run for office, and we see in South Carolina money being given by the payday lending industry, the school voucher supporters, and this impact diminishes the voice of individual citizens."

Reach Kristen Hankla at 937-5548 or khankla@postandcourier.com.