Board Members

Before leaving employment to be a full time mother to her two sons, 
Amalia Rioja served as the Deputy General Counsel to Illinois State 
Comptroller Daniel W. Hynes.  In this position, she was the top legal 
advisor in the Chicago Office.  Previously, she worked as a member of 
the legal staff at the Mexican American Legal Defense and Education 
Fund, where she litigated civil rights cases.  She also serves on the 
board of directors of various organizations and was elected to serve as 
Alternate Delegate to the Democratic National Convention in 2000.

Honorable Barbara Brown currently serves as the Circuit Clerk of 
Randolph County.  She has represented the 12th Congressional District 
on the Illinois Democratic State Central Committee since 1990.  She 
served as Deputy Chair of the Democratic Party of Illinois from 1990-
1994 and currently serves as Vice-Chair of DPI.  From 1978-1994 she 
served as the Randolph County Democratic Chairwoman.  Brown was the 
Democratic candidate for the State Senate seat from the 58th District 
in 1996, and 1998.  She has managed numerous campaigns at the local 
level and, in 1992, served as the Downstate Coordinator for the 
Clinton/Gore campaign.  Barb Brown holds a doctorate in Political 
Science and was a faculty member in the Political Science department at 
SIUC for eighteen years. 

Barbara Osborne resides in Will County, IL, where she is serving her
second elected term as Precinct Committeeperson. She is the Education
Chair for the Du Page Township Democratic Organization and is a member
of the Bolingbrook Bridging the Achievement Gap initiative, which addresses
voids in local public school education with realistic, community based
solutions. She has also served as a CASA in the Will County Juvenile
Court system. Currently employed with Blue Cross/Blue Shield of
Illinois, she is responsible for championing and managing project teams
that improve corporate enterprise services. Barb’s political aspirations
include Public Policy and making a difference in Healthcare Reform,
along with improving economic equalities for the “working poor.” 

Billie Paige is a partner at Shea, Paige & Rogal, Inc., where she is 
responsible for lobbying activities and regulatory consultation with 
government agencies for a wide variety of clients.  She has worked with 
the firm since 1983.  In addition, she currently holds the positions of 
President and CEO of Continental Testing Services, Inc., a company that 
provides examination administration and consulting services.  She 
previously served as the Director of State Government Affairs for the 
Illinois Hospital Association and Assistant Director/Coordinator of 
Program Development for the Illinois Department of Registration and 
Education (now Professional Regulation).

Deborah Karton was elected Glenview Village Trustee in 2005. She is the
President/Owner of National Benefit Administrators, Inc., a company
which communicates and enrolls voluntary insurance programs. Her company
is distinguished from others by its close working relationship with
organized labor. She has worked in many political campaigns as field
worker, committee member, finance committee chairman and currently
serves as the Vice President of Political Action for Northfield
Democrats. She is currently serving on the Advisory Council for Jewish
Care Services, part of Palliative Care Center Hospice of the North
Shore. She hopes to someday serve in a political office to help improve
the lives of people in Illinois.

DeShana L. Forney is Associate Director for Governmental Relations for 
the University of Illinois. As Associate Director, Forney serves as the 
University’s liaison to members of the Illinois Congressional 
Delegation, the Illinois General Assembly, the Office of the Governor, 
agencies of the federal and state governments and major higher 
education associations. 

Before joining the University of Illinois, Forney was the Executive 
Director of the Illinois Housing Development Authority (IHDA) where she 
led the state’s efforts to finance the creation and preservation of 
affordable housing for low- and moderate-income residents in Illinois.  
As Executive Director for IHDA, Forney implemented the national award-
winning G-I Loan for Heroes program to assist Illinois veterans and 
active duty personnel to buy their own homes.  Illinois became the 
first state in the nation to offer its veterans and active service 
members a comprehensive homeownership package.  

After just one year as IHDA’s Executive Director, Forney received the 
2008 “Rising Star” Award from the Women in Public Finance organization 
for the leadership she has demonstrated as Illinois’ most senior 
affordable housing official and for making a long-term impact in the 
public finance field with her skill and intelligence.  More recently, 
Forney was named “2009 Woman of the Year” by the Coalition for United 
Community Action-ORTC’s for her leadership, dedication, and 
contribution to humanity, particularly to bringing housing resources to 
all minorities and African Americans. 

Forney also has served as Illinois’ Director of Public Safety, House 
Legislative Liaison for the Office of the Illinois Governor and on the 
Issues Development Staff for House Speaker Michael J. Madigan. 

Forney holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Political Science from Howard 
University in Washington, DC and a Masters of Arts degree in Political 
Studies from University of Illinois-Springfield.  She is a Board Member 
of the Illinois Women's Institute for Leadership, a member of Delta 
Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc., a member of Pi Sigma Alpha Honor Society 
and is also involved with numerous other civic and church organizations.

Gail H. Morse is a tax attorney with a national state and local tax 
practice.  She is a Partner with Jenner and Block, resident in the 
Firm’s Chicago office and Chair of the State and Local Tax Practice 
Group.  Gail is a member of the Firm’s Diversity and Pro Bono 
committees, and the Women’s Forum Steering committee.  She is a 
Director for the Women’s Bar Association of Illinois (“WBAI”) and Chair 
of WILPOWER, the WBAI PAC.  Gail is Commissioner Mike Quigley’s 
representative to the Cook County Commission on Women’s Issues, sits on 
Rep. Rahm Emanuel’s Gay and Lesbian advisory group and is a member of 
the Personal Pac Board of Directors.  She serves as the Vice President 
of the Women's Treatment Center Board of Directors, Chicago’s premier 
residential substance abuse treatment facility for women; and the Board 
of Vital Bridges, an agency providing housing, nutrition and case 
management for those impacted by HIV/AIDS.  She is an active fundraiser 
for philanthropic endeavors as well as local and national democratic 
candidates and office holders. 

Born May 8, 1963, in Lake Forest, IL; B.A. in Urban Studies from
Princeton; M.A. in Public Policy from Harvard's John F. Kennedy School
of Government; former budget director, WI Department of Industry, Labor
and Human Relations and former strategic planner, Chicago Public
Schools; married (husband, Leo Smith) with three children.

Her Committee Assignments in the General Assembly are:  Human Services;
Appropriations II; Public Health; Education (Vice-Chairperson);
Environment (Vice-Chairperson); Committee of the Whole; Subcommittee on
Amendments (Sub-Chairperson); Deficit Reduction; Subcomm.Medicaid
&Provider Rate Ref; Subcommittee on Special Issues.

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.

Marcia Boone was elected the Secretary-Treasurer of the Illinois 
Federation of Teachers at the union’s 2010 Convention in October. A 
veteran union member and longtime activist, she has advocated for the 
rights of working men and women for two decades.

Boone has been employed as an accounting specialist at Southwestern 
Illinois College in Belleville, Illinois for 25 years. As a union 
leader, she has put a special emphasis on working to promote the 
interests of paraprofessional and school-related personnel (PSRP) 
members of the IFT, who work as clerical employees, teacher aides, 
security personnel, janitorial staff, food service workers and other 
non-teaching employees in schools, community colleges and universities. 
Boone has served as an IFT local leader for 14 years, most recently as 
president of the Southwestern Illinois Federation of Teachers (SWIFT), 
Local 6600. At the state level, she served as vice president on the IFT 
Executive Board from 2003 until her election as secretary-treasurer. 
While on the board, Boone chaired the IFT Operations and Constitutions 
Committees, as well as the union’s PSRP Constituency Council. In that 
role, she was responsible for planning and overseeing the union’s 
annual statewide PSRP Conference. Boone also serves on the IFT 
Executive Board Executive Committee.

Boone is also actively involved with the Southwest Area Labor Council 
(SWAC) and has served as its president since 2007. SWAC represents the 
interests of IFT unions in Southern Illinois. At the national level, 
she has been active in the American Federation of Teachers, where she 
has been a member of AFT’s PSRP Program and Policy Council since 2009. 
Boone’s professional expertise and union leadership experience earned 
her an appointment in 2008 to the Teachers Retirement System (TRS) 
Board of Trustees, which oversees the managment of the public pension 
fund. Boone is the first IFT representative on the TRS board. 

She is the mother of three children and has three grandchildren.

Nancy Kohn, President of Nancy Kohn Consulting, is an established 
political fundraiser in Chicago. Her firm is a Chicago-based, full 
service political fundraising and strategy firm, working with 
Democratic and progressive elected officials and organizations at the 
federal, state and local level to maximize their fundraising potential. 
Prior to launching her consulting firm in 2003, Nancy served as Finance 
Director for Senator Dick Durbin.   Nancy began her career working on 
Capital Hill for three years as a legislative assistant. Following that 
experience she moved to Chicago and served as Assistant Midwest 
Director of American Jewish Congress and Executive Director of the 
Illinois Pro-Choice Alliance. She has a B.Phil from Miami University 
and a M.Sc. from London School of Economics and Political Science. She 
is an alumni of the Wexner Heritage Program and currently a trustee of 
the Jewish Women’s Foundation.