Hello, I'm Zeke and welcome to the Zekely podcast. Let's talk Pennsylvania. Today on the show, we have a retired lawyer and technology company executive who has represented companies before the United States Congress and has been honored as one of Pennsylvania's most powerful and influential women by the National Diversity Council and as woman of the year by the Legal Intelligencer. And now she is serving as a member of the Radnor School Board. Thank you so much for being here, Jannie Lau.

I’m Zeke, a doctor, a Pennsylvanian and unapologetic supporter of Democratic values. You might have seen me on social media working my ass off for Democrats and meeting some pretty amazing people along the way - like President Barack Obama and Governor Josh Shapiro.

For years, I’ve knocked thousands of doors all over Pennsylvania and poured my heart and soul into supporting candidates and causes that make a difference—from local school board races to national elections. The personal is political, and I take every election in Pennsylvania personally.

Where the mainstream media has failed you, I will give you truth and independence. You’ll hear from Democratic leaders, candidates, and change-makers who are working to improve the health of the Commonwealth, and it won’t be boring as hell.

No matter where you are, I’ll meet you with hope and a plan to make your community better one day at a time. Welcome to the Zekely Podcast. Let’s talk Pennsylvania.

Thank you for having me.

Well, there's a lot to talk about, so let's get to

You have an amazing story from your childhood. And I only know this because I heard you speak while you were running for school board. Just about how much you value living in America. And it was very powerful. And I would just, I would love if you could just share a part of it, because I think it's important for people to hear your story.

And my family, both on my mother and father's side, they fled mainland China to Hong Kong and Taiwan in the aftermath of the Chinese Civil War when the communists took over. And Taiwan ultimately became a democracy. And Hong Kong, it was a British colony, but enjoyed a lot of the vestiges of British democracy, even as a colony. So I just knew.

And I really, when I was kid, like all I wanted to be when I grew up was to be an American. Like I didn't care, you know, whether I was a doctor, a lawyer, whatever, I just wanted to be an American. Cause I think even, you know, I understood at that age that by being an American, that made all of those other dreams more possible. And I really just believe like, you know, all of the words and the constitution and the bill of rights and the declaration of independence,

those are the things that make me cry because it just

to me that we had the power to even dream up of those concepts and then to found a nation based on those and put that piece of paper and put the people above any particular person. I just think those are just such powerful concepts. So I was lucky enough to come here.

Because I just believe so strongly in like that, you know, our nation, you know, shouldn't, should not perish from this earth. I just it's one of the most incredible things to

What is your greatest fear?

Well, it's already come true with the reelection of Donald Trump. So I think my greatest fear is that that our democracy is actually vulnerable under Trump

I know. I know. I know.

Under his first term, I was actually heartened by, you know, until January 6th, you know, that that our

structures in our systems were actually withstanding the assault quite well. And that

Yeah.

people recognize that, you know, kind of the Constitution still means something and that, you know, we would go to great lengths to protect it.

I mean this, to be honest, this is a large reason why I'm doing this podcast is because I'm trying to put my energy into promoting democratic policies, to have people like you on here and show all the work you're doing for school districts and to show that even local elections are sometimes even more important than other elections going on other times of the year.

So yeah, I'm also very scared, but I'm trying to do something to hold on to hope and to share knowledge with people in Pennsylvania. So I share that fear with you as

You and your daughter met Rafael Nadal, correct? So what was that like?

We did, we did.

incredible. It was just the privilege of a lifetime and everything you hear about him being a phenomenal human being above all else, in addition to being one of the greatest tennis players of all time. Absolutely true. I mean, all of us there, we all wanted a bit of his time and he was just so gracious. And I just can't imagine that he does that every single day. To anyone who asks him for a picture, a word.

Mm-hmm.

Yeah.

Mm-hmm.

It was

just incredible. You could just tell it was completely genuine.

That's awesome. I don't know much about tennis. The only thing know about tennis is there was, think, a Netflix special all about all these tennis stars. And it's just incredible the amount of pressure that they feel. Even at the top, at the highest level that they play, they still have so much built up inside them to perform year in and year out. So that must have been great. And your daughter, I'm sure it was amazing for her just to meet him. And I know that you've been traveling

Yes, I mean.

know all over the world for these tennis lessons for her because she's so passionate about it.

yeah, no, I mean, I think for her, since she's so young, she's only 13, you know, she really wasn't old enough, you know, to really watch Rafa in his prime. But certainly she's heard about him. And I think it really didn't become real for her until she met him in person, because she heard about him, you know, heard about the myth. You just don't think it's real until you see it in person. And she was blown away. know, my kids, I feel like young

Mm-hmm.

Mm-hmm.

Mm-hmm.

Yeah.

Mm-hmm.

people these days, it's really hard to impress them. And it's really unusual to see them like genuinely starstruck. And she was starstruck. And that's what happened to one other person, like with one other person for my kids is when my son met Barack Obama. And all of a sudden my son, who was cool as a cucumber, completely nonchalant most of the time, as soon as Barack Obama stepped into like a huge ballroom at the far end of the room, all of a sudden my son lost it.

Yeah.

Yeah, that's awesome.

Mm-hmm.

yeah.

Mm-hmm.

Mm-hmm.

That's awesome.

So

it was, you know, it really just those two individuals that I can think of.

Those are great.

Those are great experiences.

All right. Next, we're to play a little game called Love Love in honor of a little bit of tennis. And I asked you before you would come on to think of four obscure things that you loved. OK. And I have four obscure things. And basically, we're just going to lobby back and forth. And hopefully we will agree on them. All right. So I'll go first to start off. So I love watching trailers for movies like I can go to. I can go to the Apple Web site.

and just watch 25 trailers and feel extremely fulfilled just from that. I don't need to even watch some of it, I love watching trailers. Do you love watching? Do you love watching trailers?

Wow.

So you definitely have to get to the theater early so you don't miss.

yeah, I love the trailers. They're sometimes the best. They're sometimes better than the movie. Yeah.

Right, right. Whereas

I think most people try to get there just like a little bit late so that they make sure that they miss the trailers. I think trailers that are of movies that are gonna be good are good. But I wouldn't necessarily, sometimes I'm like, why did they make this movie? This is terrible. I mean, it really depends on the movie that the trailer is for, right?

Mm-hmm.

Mm-hmm.

Okay, fine. So you don't love trailers that much.

Yeah. Gotcha.

I think once in a while I'll get really excited after I see it. But most of them I'm just like, did they make this?

Okay. You'll get excited. Understood. Yeah. Alright, what's something you love that's a little obscure?

So

goodness. And I guess this comes from my dad, because he loved these kinds of movies. So there's this nostalgia factor, because we watched all of them together. But it's kind of like early Arnold, Predator, Terminator, Commando, any of those. then Post-Rocky Stallone, not as as the Arnold, but any of those. First Blood, yeah.

Mm-hmm.

commando

That's a classic. That's a classic, Arlen.

Mm-hmm.

And then even like Top Gun, I know most people don't think of it as an action movie, but you know, that was like my dad's favorite movie. So I love Top Gun and I can watch that, you know, so many times. Nice.

It's classic.

Mm-hmm. All right. I'm on the same page with you on that one. All right.

All right, here's something else. I like undercooked bread. Like when it's a little doughy in the middle. No, you don't love that.

Boo! No. That

actually could be one of my least favorites. And I love all food. Like there's very little food I will not eat. But undercooked dough is like, is, I think it's actually, how can you even swallow it?

Really? I it.

No? Ugh, I love it.

Just like

a little bit, just a little doughy. I don't mean like a crust and dough. I mean like, you know, a good rind and then like a little doughy in the middle. But still that's too much for you, not good? Okay. Not a good thing? right. All right.

Yeah. Okay. Okay. Maybe. I don't know. just like raw dough is just like, I don't know how anyone could choke it down.

okay, the last one I really enjoy and I guess love the smell of gasoline. Like when you go to the gas station, you know, I wouldn't want to do it all the time. I'm not advocating for that. But like when you get out to fill up your car, says, I don't know, it just it feels like home a little. I don't know why. I don't have a gasoline leak in my house, but there's just something about the smell of gasoline I enjoy. Is that something you enjoy?

Er.

Right.

And you

feel the same way about glue? Is it like a similar?

No, no, no, no,

gasoline, it's just that gasoline smell. I don't know, just, maybe it just wakes you up a little bit. I don't know, maybe it's like a fear factor. Like, my gosh, there's gas somewhere and I feel alive. You know, does that do it for you?

Wow.

Yeah, no, I feel little bit panic

because it reminds me that I'm standing on top of like a huge gas tank that maybe

Yeah, well, it should

Right, right. That's a good tie in, yes.

On top of all of your amazing accomplishments, as I said before, you were elected as a school board member in Radnor , township in What made you want to run for school board?

been asked many, many times before, and I think this is typical for women, right? I think research shows that women have to be asked some insane number of times, like 21 times

they'll say yes to running for office. yeah, yeah, men are much more quick to say yes.

Really? wow. I did not know that.

But once I retired, I really, you know, I lost my kind of like most potent excuse.

And I basically thought, you know what, just, you know, ultimately my sense of obligation and duty and my love for this country.

Mm-hmm.

kind

of overwhelmed all of my misgivings. but I do feel like I'm performing a service and know, I would any other job, I wanna do it well,

Yeah.

I mean, it's a huge civic duty. Like you said, it's a huge civic duty. But we need good people to do it because when people who don't enjoy it and don't care, then we have a lot of problems. So I'm really grateful that I don't live in your district, but I'm grateful that you were doing good things for the Radnor township.

Thank you.

Moving on, what's a family activity you all enjoy together? Because I think it's pretty hard to get everyone on the same page. So is there one thing your entire family say, we're good to go, we're all going to have a good time?

Yeah.

Yeah. Almost all of

family vacations are to national parks. I just think that's one of the most incredible features of our country is that we have this phenomenal, extensive national park system. So we try to hit all the big ones together. You know, our most recent one was Yosemite, which was incredible. But I have to say we had kind of a harrowing experience because we decided to do one of the most popular hikes, which was

great.

Mm-hmm.

nice, that's awesome.

pretty arduous, like, you you're scaling, like, you know, and hiking for quite a while, it's pretty strenuous. And to avoid the crowds, we decided to, and usually people go up one side of the mountain, come down the other. And to avoid the crowds, we decided to do it the opposite way, which is what the travel, you know, travel guide had suggested. And so we went up the back way and it just so happened. So, you know, lots of

Mm-hmm.

Mm-hmm.

Okay.

die in

parks, you know.

every year, right? It's, I think, in the hundreds. So, yeah. You know, and I

How many people die here in national parks? my god.

read about that and once in a while you'll see a sign, you know, they'll say like, stay off, you know, this ledge or don't go off the trail, you know. But apparently, so we were going up this trail and it was quite narrow. And then we saw this group of people coming down the mountain and we're trying to go up.

Mm-hmm.

And so we had to move off to the side to let them like pass us. And, you know, it was basically like eight kind of medic looking people and they were wheeling, you know, what looked like a body. was completely wrapped up. couldn't see anything. It was wrapped in like a tarp and plastic, but, you know, they had put it on a plank, like a makeshift plank with like two wheels. And, you know, there were four people on each side kind of like guiding it down the mountain, which was, you know, really.

My kids, who, you know, this is like two years ago, they were like, you know, 15 and 11 at the time. They were just completely, you know, like we just, we just all became so quiet. It was like so somber and, you know, you had to like greet the people, right? Because they were passing, you know, we just, we just, you know, and then we were just kind of quiet the rest of the way, you know, it just was so sobering. was like, we're here for a nice family hike. And you're kind of reminded by, you know, how

Yeah.

That took a left

turn. Yeah. I mean, you could make the case that whoever, you know, passed away might've been a little bit older and, you know, they had a very nice view before they passed away. So we could take that away from that experience for you. I would say my kids do not enjoy hiking all that much, but we all do enjoy escape rooms. So we all do escape rooms together. So we...

Yes. Yeah.

Yes.

Mr. Fudge.

That's something we all like to do. So we hit every escape room in like the Montgomery County area. And I don't think there's any, we're waiting for them to update all of them because we've done all of them. Yeah.

Yeah.

Wow, that's incredible.

And were you like me? Did you do your own escape rooms when you were a kid?

I didn't.

feel like it weren't, I don't know if escape rooms are a fairly new thing. I mean, I never did them when I was a kid, but all of a sudden we saw them kind of popping up in the King of Prussia area and we started exploring and then they just kind of exploded, especially during like, you know, the post COVID era. It seemed like there people that wanted to get out and do things again.

Right.

Are there any bodily functions you don't enjoy? Yeah, I can tell you I hate sneezing. I hate sneezing. makes me feel so vulnerable in a way that I just can't control myself. I don't mind blowing my nose. feel like it's, you don't, why do you need to sneeze? You can literally blow your own nose if you need to. Why?

functions.

Yeah.

Right.

Yeah, especially with COVID, right? Now we have, you know, and then have you ever seen like the graphics, like the picture of like how just how far the particles go when someone sneezes?

Is there something like you just don't enjoy? Yeah, I just...

Yes.

Yeah.

Yeah. One of my biggest fears is sneezing while I'm driving. Like when I'm driving and I have to sneeze, I, what am I gonna do? I'm driving on 76, I have to sneeze. I don't want it, today's not the day. I don't want it to be the day I go.

And then,

you ever tried to stifle a sneeze and it actually hurts your body? Yeah.

Yeah, yeah, it feels like

I'm like blowing an aneurysm and then I just if I can suppress it I know like you're coming around later and it's gonna be an even worse time. just, all right, we're on the same page.

Yeah, yeah. So

yeah, well, I don't enjoy sweating. And I play a lot of tennis and you know, it's just not fun in the summer. But I will say somehow my daughter won the genetic lottery and she has very little sweat glands. She doesn't sweat at all. The only thing she sweats is like from the bottom of her feet.

Yeah.

that's awesome. I would not mind that.

Mm-hmm.

Well, that's a good place to do it. I'm on the same

All right, let's do some trivia. All right, let's do some Nova Sports trivia. I am terrible at sports. Okay, I admittedly do not follow any sports, but maybe you'll know some of these and I looked up some Nova Trivias. Here we go. What is the nickname given to the rivalry between Villanova and St. Joseph's? I'll give you its multiple choice. Okay, so court war, blood war, holy war, or cold war.

my.

Holy war, I would guess. Yeah.

Yeah, holy war. Yep, you got it. That is true.

Were they like 13 or something like 10 or something like?

So

here's the option, eight, six, four, or one. That is true, that is true. Yes, and I don't, can you, this is how much I don't know about sports. What does that mean? Because I did not look that up. What does, I know it's not planting something, so what does a seed mean? I just don't know a lot about sports. I just don't.

Eight. I just knew that it was pretty low. Yeah.

Right. So, you

know, it was actually similar to tennis. So you know how tournaments work, right? So, like, for example, the NCAA basketball tournament in March, March Madness is a single elimination tournament. So, you know, if you lose one game, you go home, right? So you start in 64 teams, actually now it's 68 with playing games.

Okay.

sure.

Okay. Okay.

Okay.

Hmm.

You

start with 64 teams and they each play each other until, you know, in each round you have the number of teams that are left. We don't want to just like kind of randomly have them, you know, play each other. You try to have like the strongest teams play the weakest teams first, right? So the number one seed should play like one of the 16 seeds in the first round and the new plays the 15. So.

Okay.

Okay.

Okay.

So the lower

the seed, the better you are.

No, yeah, exactly. the number one seed is that. Yeah, correct. So there's four number one seeds. Yeah. And the way they determine what seed you are is that there's actually a committee and they look at your regular season record and they look at your win loss, the quality of your opponents, whether you beat them or not. And they kind of assign you a seed. And you want to be higher because then it kind of guarantees you weaker opponents in the beginning. And you have this path.

So like the number one is of the top and like the higher than them. Okay.

Mm-hmm.

Hmm.

to the final.

So it's

not really, there's some subjective components to the seeding. It's not totally objective.

Correct.

It's like people, it's not a computer, it's people sitting and deciding. So there's controversy some years, but it's pretty impressive for an eight seed to win the whole thing.

Okay.

That's great.

You just taught me more about basketball than anyone ever has. So thank you so very much for that. The official nickname for all Villanova athletic teams is the Supernovas, the Wildcats, the Mainliners, or the Patriots. Wildcats, you got it.

sick.

Wildcats.

J. Wright

You got it, well that's Nova trivia.

Thank you

When was the last time you cried?

Huh.

you know, it's funny. So I'm not a sentimental person, but for some reason I always cry when I read or hear the Gettysburg Address.

Mm-hmm.

I would not have guessed that.

I just think it's so moving.

Mm-hmm.

And I don't know, I think I was watching, I was watching A Few Good Men. And there's that scene where they visit the Lincoln Memorial and I don't even think they showed the Gettysburg Address, but it just made me think of it. I just think those words, like they're so moving. So yeah, that's like, I... yeah, yeah, definitely.

yeah, that's a classic. Yeah.

Yeah.

Yeah.

that always gets you, that's like a go-to for you. Okay.

Definitely. funny

Yeah.

Mm-hmm.

Ugh, yeah. Yeah.

Yeah, I still cried. I still cried. know, after

knocking all those doors and doing all those fundraisers, I mean, I was not prepared for that loss.

you did so much. You went

above and beyond, just like you're still doing now.

Yeah, I'm trying. But the last time I cried, actually, I was watching one of my kids and their play at school and it was the SpongeBob play and they were the lead. And I was just so proud. I was just so proud of my kid. It was just so nice to see them. Yeah, it was great. So it was a Sunday, Monday and Tuesday. And I cried in everyone was like, I cried the most on the first day and a little less on the second and the least on the third. But I was still very cathartic for me.

Uh-huh.

that's amazing. Incredible.

Right, okay. Completely

understandable.

Yeah, very

cathartic.

gonna play a game called How Do You Gen Z? I don't know how good you are with Gen Z lingo, So I just have some phrases and I just want to know if you know what I'm saying and you can tell me as you know. Okay, so.

I'll try.

So if someone said that dad has some serious Rizz what does Rizz mean?

It means like, like a cool factor. It's, you know, right? He's cool.

Yeah, like yeah, it's

like it's like a charisma. was I was told it's like they took out the Rizz in charisma. So yeah There you go. Yeah, so Rizz is they've got charisma, okay So if you hear someone say, he's got that Rizz where she has that Rizz or they have that Rizz It means they have charisma The information I got was highly sus

See, you taught me something. Got it.

Right. Got it.

suspect.

suspect. that's not a

that's a yeah, my my fifth grader uses that term all the time. It's hilarious. He was caught in 4k last night by his parents. 4k.

like red handed.

It's caught beyond a reasonable doubt, which yeah, caught red-handed, you know. yeah, caught in 4k. And my outfit has some serious drip. Which right now it doesn't, but sometimes it does.

Yeah, all right. I've not heard that, but I just guessed.

Right. When your outfit is just like awesome. It looks great.

Yeah, you have good style, basically.

And the last one I have is the way my boss talked to me during our meeting was so out of pocket.

out of pocket, like inappropriate?

out of pocket,

just like crazy wild or extreme, know, just so out of pocket. So yeah, there's some Gen Z lingo for you. I love it. I just think it's funny.

Okay, alright.

Your consulting job that you had dealt a lot with entry of women into higher levels of business So, you you said earlier that sometimes you have to ask women 21 times to get into a leadership position

Thank

What are other barriers you see for women getting into higher level positions and jobs and how are you helping them overcome those barriers?

Well, lot of times, the problem isn't with them. The problem is with the perception of them, usually by male decision makers. Like before I was promoted to general counsel at my company, I thought I had a great reputation. And I remember kind of seeing a slide deck that kind of, you know,

Right, the structure, yeah.

Mm-hmm.

you know, because every year they go through succession planning and they consider all the potential candidates and this was before I was promoted. And the description of me was all very positive. It was like, extremely hard worker, you know, extremely diligent, you know, but it was nothing like none of the kind of like soft qualities, you know, like you said, like Rizz, you know, like

didn't have any of the things that you would look for in a leader, like charisma, the ability to motivate. It was all about like, I'm a really good worker bee. And it actually took me kind of really forcing the issue. A lot of times you almost have to hit them over the head with it. And I remember there was this one assignment that actually was kind of a harrowing situation. I had to go to this foreign country.

Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.

Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.

and where we were like basically being intimidated by the government. And quite honestly, like none of my male peers were willing to go. Like they were like, uh-uh, like we might get detained, we might something really bad, but like literally the fate of our company kind of rested on our ability to navigate our way through the situation. And I remember I volunteered to go to go handle this crisis situation. My husband was not happy. He thought he wasn't gonna see me ever again.

wow.

Hmm.

Yeah.

But I remember coming back and then all of a sudden people thought of me differently. I wasn't just the worker bee. It was like, my God, she was the only person willing to go into the lion's den and handle things.

Mm-hmm.

Yeah, no guts, no glory.

I really had to remind a lot of women, it's like, you know what? These stereotypes persist about women that we're timid, that we can't take charge, we're not.

authoritative, you know, that we can't handle being the one in charge. And, you know, you can't and I think a lot of women kind of take it for granted. It's like, well, people don't think that way anymore. Right. Like, but I do think like sometimes, yeah, no, like people, they might not realize it. Right. But, you know, those those stereotypes, you know, persist. And a lot of times we kind of have to go out of our way to kind of play against type,

right, well, I love that you are advancing women's careers. I love that you did that for your own company. So thank you for doing that. You ran for the school board as a Democrat. You are a Democrat. Why do you choose to represent the Democratic Party, even in a school board setting?

.

Sure.

I mean, basically, out of the two major parties in the US, because I think ultimately I'm a pragmatist, right? So maybe there might be other parties whose policies and views more closely align with mine, but I kind of recognize that in order to actually put those ideas to work, we first have to get elected. And it's almost impossible to get elected without running as Democrat or Republican. But I truly just believe

you know, ultimately that, you know, government can be and should be a force for good. Not to say that we need more of it, you know, necessarily, but I just feel like there are certain things and people always say, well, why can't we just give the charity and do our part that way? was like, well, even the largest charitable organizations have limited scope and power, right? Like to really enact sweeping, like, you know, lasting change.

Right.

you do need the full levers of the government. And so there are certain things that you can't accomplish just on your own as a private citizen.

Right. Yeah.

ultimately, I just feel like we're all better off if we look out for each other. And I feel like that kind of underlying core principle animates the Democratic Party and our platform and our policies, that we're here to look out for each other and take care of one another.

Mm-hmm.

and that some of us aren't as privileged or lucky, not because there's something wrong with us or less than

Mm-hmm.

to others, not because we're lazier or less deserving, right? It's because of things that are usually out of our own control and that the government can hopefully fix and rectify those things that are holding some of us back. Whereas I feel like the Republican Party has a tendency

Mm-hmm.

Right.

to thank everyone in it for themselves, like kind of individual liberty above all. if you don't do as well as me, it's probably because you don't work as hard as me and I'm deserving of everything that I get and people who are less fortunate deserve whatever they get. And I just disagree basically with that

Yeah.

Yeah.

of mindset.

Yeah, I'm in your camp. I agree.

All right, we're gonna play a game called Super Intendent. Okay, the school board you serve on gets to hire the superintendent who has a lot of responsibilities for the school district. So we're gonna play a game where I'm going to pretend to be running for that position and you're gonna tell me if my ideas are super or not. All right, so here's my first idea. I plan on hiring principals who are friends of mine.

Okay.

Correct.

Okay.

So they will be loyal to me and my agenda, which includes ending DEI programs and banning books. That's one of my ideas. Is that super for Radnor School District? No, not super. Okay, fine. You're not gonna hire me for that. All right, here's my next idea, okay? I'm going to lead discussions and make plans for the maintenance and management of district buildings to make sure they are up to date and safe for students and staff. Super, great.

It's the opposite of super opposite. Yeah.

Super. Super.

Okay, here's my next idea. I'm going to plan mandatory annual educational summits for my senior staff in exotic locations and have all travel expenses covered by the school district. Not super, no, okay, not gonna get the job. All right, I'm going to cut funding for music and art programs and pour money into the highest achieving sports teams in the district.

Not super, no.

No, no, no, sorry.

No, not super. Okay, sorry, not gonna work. Okay.

I'm going to visit with school administrators and students on a regular basis so I can give more resources to what is working well or sunset programs that haven't produced good outcomes. Super. All right, well, there you go. That is the superintendent game. Great. So that's probably your process, I'm sure. Although I'm sure probably the superintendents you interview are not that outlandish, but still, I'm sure there are people who would do that.

Super. Super.

Yeah, I

mean, there would be more disagreement than you would think. Yeah, amongst fellow school board members, yeah.

I'm not surprised. I'm sure that there is.

There are school board elections coming up this year. So you might have some new colleagues to work with. What type of person are you looking for to work with on your school board with you?

You know, I think, well, hopefully fellow Democrats. And I understand that our

Yes, yes, understood.

you know, we should have a big tent in order to thrive and, you know, and, you know, and be effective. But I do think that being a Democrat means that you stand for certain things and that you believe in certain things.

Mm-hmm.

Mm-hmm.

And I want to see candidates be knowledgeable and be able to articulate why they are a Democrat before we kind of, you know, certainly before we endorse them and before we kind of like give them the privilege of that nomination, especially in Radnor Township where currently we hold all nine seats on the school board. So I think above all, you know, I want someone who's kind of knowledgeable and kind of

have a passion for public education, kind of like as a minimum. Believe it or not, that hasn't always been the case. I just feel like if you're running for school board, you should believe in public education and you should want to fund it and you should want it to be strong and to

and not just in our own school

but everywhere in our Commonwealth and in our country. And then finally, I think usually,

it's a lot easier if they kind of understand the role of a school board director, right? So it's not to, you know, dole out favors to all of your friends once you're elected, right? It's not to be like a personal, like, hey, if your friends have an issue, you know, related to school, hey, can, you know, name drop you and get preferential treatment. Like, you don't want any of those people.

Yeah, right.

Mm-hmm. Yeah.

Mm-hmm.

And a lot of

people mistakenly think that's totally okay. It's not okay. In fact, I want people to understand, school board directors sit at the very top. So our job is just to monitor and oversee. It's not to do any of the day-to-day. That's why you hire a superintendent, and then the superintendent hires all of the rest of the professionals who actually know what they're doing.

Mm-hmm.

we're really kind of like...

You

you know, a mouthpiece for, you know, our constituents, right? We're supposed to be reasonable people who live in the district as well and who probably also send our kids to these schools. And then we bring to bear all of our life experiences and our professional skills and qualifications. But it's just to supervise and to kind of like, you know, dictate the general overall strategic direction of the school district and to set

goals and the initiatives. It's not to like get in the weeds and get involved and interfere, which I think is a common mistake for a lot of first time school board members. above all, think I want people to understand that role. Otherwise, you become more of a problem and you're actually not helping because we have plenty of like education professionals who if we just got out of their way,

Gotcha.

Hmm

could really do a good job.

Well, if you're listening to this and live in Radnor Township and you would like to work with Jannie Lau, please contact your local Democratic committee. Two more questions for you. What gives you hope?

So, you know, because we talked about our greatest fear of our democracy not being able to withstand, you know, these assaults on it. So I don't know if you were following what happened in

Mm-hmm.

Yeah.

Mm-hmm.

Korea where their president declared martial law and, you know, the people revolted and they basically impeached him and threw him out of office for

I, yes, yeah, that's incredible.

Mm-hmm.

Yeah.

Attempting to do that, only succeeded.

They were like lifting their politicians over the fences, over the barriers to get into parliament to basically shut it down. Yeah, that was crazy.

Yeah, yeah. Correct, correct. And so,

you know, I think he imposed martial law for all of like six hours or something. So that's my greatest hope that if something like that were to come to pass in our own country, that we would have the courage to do the same. You know, you know, because I see it happen.

Mm-hmm, yeah.

Yeah, I hope so too, yeah.

you know, in places where quite frankly, you know, their constitutional safeguards probably aren't as strong as ours, you know, and they were willing to do it. I mean, you see it in Russia, right? Navalny, right? I mean, just like acts of courage everywhere. And I just hope that we, you know, if it came to that for us, you know, hopefully, you know, we answer the call too.

Mm-hmm.

Yeah. Yeah.

Yeah, I hope so too. And my last question for you is what plans do you have to get yourself through these next few years?

So I, you know, I

about, you know, service on school board, all of that, honestly, just in like, in furtherance of like my own self care. So honestly, right after the election, I imposed like a media blackout on myself, because I knew I wouldn't be able to handle it. I mean, obviously, news still gets through, but I didn't seek it out like I normally would. I think that was really important.

Mm-hmm, mm-hmm, yes.

Right.

just

to give myself space to heal and rejuvenate. So I think I'm gonna continue to do that. Like I used to be a complete political news junkie, podcast, like constantly, you know, like just newspaper. I would read every single article in the New York Times, like just, and I just, I don't do that anymore. Like I just can't handle that anymore. So I'm gonna try to do that. And I'm sure eventually I'll ease my way back into like full media consumption.

Mm-hmm.

Yeah. Yeah.

Mm-hmm.

But for now, I'm happy with just pulling back a little bit and seeing what I can handle and hopefully, the important news will still get through.

healthy.

Yeah, well, Jannie, thank you so much for joining me here on the Zekely podcast. This was wonderful. Stay hopeful, get involved, and until next time, let's keep building a stronger Pennsylvania together.

Thank you, Zeke.