Advisory Council
| CAROL RONEN |
Honorable Carol Ronen represents the 9th Legislative District in the
Illinois State Senate. Prior to becoming state senator, she served in
the Illinois House of Representative since 1992. In 1996 she was
appointed the first Chair of the House Committee on Children and
Youth. She is the Democratic State Central Committeewoman for the 9th
Congressional District. Carol is a very active member of the Jewish
community, sitting on the Governing Council of the American Jewish
Congress, Midwest Region and belonging to the Chicago Chapter of
Hadassah and the Government Affairs Committee of the Jewish Federation
of Chicago. She is a founder and member of the executive board of
Women’s Voices. Women’s Votes. |
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| CAROLYN BROWN HODGE |
Carolyn Brown Hodge is the Director of Rural Affairs for Lieutenant
Governor Pat Quinn. She was formerly Community Liaison for Secretary
of State Jesse White in fifteen East-Central Illinois Counties. Carolyn
has a long history with the Democratic party; serving as the President
of the Illinois Democratic Women from 1997 until June, 2003; as a
member of the Illinois Electoral College in 1996 and 2000, and as a
speaker at forums on behalf of Democratic politicians. She has a long
and impressive history as a devoted activist in organizations aimed at
promoting the social and cultural life of communities throughout East-
Central Illinois. Additionally, she has done fundraising for several
community organizations; including: the Edgar County Historical
Society, the Kiwanis Early Risers, the United Way of Paris, and the
Paris YMCA. |
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| DAWN CLARK NETSCH |
Honorable Dawn Clark Netsch is currently a professor emeritus at the
Northwestern University School of Law, where she graduated magna cum
laude in 1952 and has been a member of the faculty since 1966. In 1994
she won a four way primary to become the first female Democratic
candidate for the Governor of Illinois. Prior to that election, she
was the first woman to be elected to a State Constitutional Executive
Office in Illinois when she won the position of Comptroller in 1990.
She was an elected delegate to the 1970 Illinois Constitutional
Convention and state senator from 1973 to 1991 representing the 4th
Legislative District. While in the Senate, she chaired the Senate
Revenue Committee and co-chaired the Illinois Economic and Fiscal
Commission. She also served on the Appropriations, Executive,
Education, and Judiciary Committees.
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| JACKIE GALLAGHER |
Jackie Gallagher was appointed chairman of the Illinois Labor Relations
Board in November 2003. She was the legislative and political action
consultant for the Chicago Teachers Union from November 2001 through
October 2003. Prior to that position, she was the union’s
communications director beginning in January 1991. A co-founder of
Women’s Voices-Women’s Votes, she has served on WV’s executive board
since 1994. Jackie was a consultant to Speaker Michael Madigan from
1981 to 91. She was finance director for the 1986 Stevenson for
Governor campaign and a fund-raiser for the Paul Simon for Senate race
in 1984. She has been active in independent Democratic politics since
the JFK campaign of 1960 and is a longtime advocate for women in
politics. |
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| JAN SCHAKOWSKY |
Honorable Jan Schakowsky was elected to represent Illinois’ 9th
Congressional District in the United States House of Representatives in
1998. Prior to her position there, she represented Illinois’ 18th
District in the Illinois General Assembly where she chaired the Labor
and Commerce Committee and served on the Human Service Appropriations,
Health Care, and the Electric Deregulation Committee, as well as the
Democratic Floor Leader and as Secretary of the Conference of Women
Legislators. Schakowsky is on the Midwest Governing Council of the
Jewish Congress and is a member of the Labor Union UNITE! group. |
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| LINDA HAWKER |
Then-Senate President Philip J Rock appointed Linda Hawker to serve as
the first woman Secretary to the Illinois State Senate. She served in
that position for the 85th through 87th General Assemblies and, with
the recent election, is currently at that position once again. She is
a Springfield native who has worked in State government since 1971 when
she worked for the Senate Democrat Leadership Staff and subsequently
was employed as a Public Affairs Associate at Sangamon State University
(now the University of Illinois at Springfield). Linda was also
instrumental in the creation and development of the Illinois Women in
Government organization. |
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| LINDA RAE SHER |
Linda Rae Sher is an active member of the Jewish community, working in
both philanthropic and political organizations. She is a co-founder of
the Democratic Senatorial Women’s Council and serves as a director of
the DCCC’s Women Lead. In 1980 she established the Joint Action
Committee for Political Affairs (JACPAC), and she now serves as
Director of Special Projects and President of the JAC Education
Foundation. In addition, Ms. Sher has been a member of the Executive
Committee and National Council of the American Israel Public Affairs
Committee. She has served on the finance committees of many
Congressional campaigns, and she works with a variety of organizations
including the Government Affairs Committee of the Chicago Jewish
Federation and the National Commission of the Anti-Defamation League. |
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| MARGARET A. HOULIHAN SMITH |
Margaret Houlihan currently serves Director of Intergovernmental
Relations for United Airlines. Previously she served as Deputy Chief
of Staff for Intergovernmental Affairs in the office of Governor Rod
Blagojevich. Prior to her appointment by the Governor, she served as
the Chicago Director for United States Senator Richard J. Durbin, where
her duties included managing Chicago Staff operations, serving as a
liaison to federal Regional Administrators and District Directors, and
coordinating with Washington, D.C. staff on all Chicago area issues.
Prior to her position in Senator Durbin’s office, she worked as the
Political Director/Deputy Campaign Manager for Senator Durbin, the
Chief Deputy Recorder for Cook County Recorder of Deeds Jesse White,
and Aide to Speaker Michael J. Madigan. |
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| SHARON CORRIGAN |
After serving for several years as a legislative director for
then-Comptroller Dawn Clark Netsch and then for AFSCME, Sharon Corrigan
currently is working as a full-time mom raising her two daughters, Molly
and Brigid, and being a homemaker. She was a founding member of IWIL
and worked for the first four years as a member of the Delegate
Selection Committee and the Program Committee. She stays involved in
political
activities and works closely with the program committee that plans the
curriculum and programming for IWIL delegates. Her daughters are
frequent visitors to IWIL functions -- perhaps to one day be delegates
themselves! |
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