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Gov Pritzker makes more appointments to state commissions, boards but no Arabs

Gov. Pritzker Announces Eleven Appointments to Boards and Commissions. Building on a strong team of diverse experts in their fields, Governor JB Pritzker announced the following appointments in his administration

Gov. J.B. Pritzker continued to finally start filling vacant seats on the state’s many Boards and commissions but in his latest appointment list, there were, again, no Arab Americans, contradicting his promise to include more Arabs in his administration.

Click Here to read the story about Gov. Pritzker’s failure to live up to his promises to Arab Americans.

AMUSEMENT RIDE AND ATTRACTION SAFETY BOARD

Andrew Purvin will serve as a Member of the Amusement Ride and Attraction Safety Board.* Purvin is an Environmental Health and Safety (EHS) Specialist at Wise Plastics Technologies where he manages the safety program for two manufacturing facilities. He has over twenty years of safety management experience including management positions for Multipack Solutions, Sears Holdings, and American Colloid Company. He served as a paramedic for six years at two Six Flags amusement park locations. Purvin received a degree in Emergency Systems Management from Davenport University.

Joseph Gutman was appointed by Gov. Pritzker to serve as a Member of the University of Illinois Board of Trustees. Gutman was a Partner at BDT & Company from 2017 until retiring in January 2020 where he remains a consultant today.

ILLINOIS COMMUNITY COLLEGE BOARD

Dr. Sylvia Jenkins will serve as a Member of the Illinois Community College Board.* Jenkins has served as president of Moraine Valley Community College in Palos Hills, IL since 2012, one of the largest community colleges in Illinois. She previously served as Vice President, Academic Affairs; Dean, Academic Development & Learning Resources; Assistant Dean, Center for Teaching & Learning/Director of the Library; and Public Services Librarian at Moraine Valley; and Director, Library Services and Public Services Librarian at Virginia Union University in Richmond, Virginia. She serves on numerous boards, including the League for Innovation in the Community College, Community Colleges for International Development, the Chicago Regional College Program, and the South Metropolitan Higher Education Consortium Presidents’ Council. She is a member of the Illinois Green Economy Network President’s Steering Committee, the Illinois Council of Community College Presidents (chair 2020-21), the Cook County Workforce Innovation Board, and the Forest Preserve District of Cook County’s Conservation and Policy Council. Dr. Jenkins holds a Ph.D. in Education and Human Resource Studies with a specialization in Community College Leadership from Colorado State University, an MLS/Master of Library Science from State University of New York at Albany, and a B.S. in English Education from Grambling State University.

ILLINOIS TORTURE INQUIRY AND RELIEF COMMISSION

Susana Vasquez will serve as a Member of the Illinois Torture Inquiry and Relief Commission.* Vasquez is an Associate Vice President in the Office of Civic Engagement at the University of Chicago. She previously worked as the Vice President of IFF which is the largest nonprofit Community Development Finance Institution in the Midwest and as the Executive Director of Local Initiatives Support Corporation (LISC) Chicago. Vasquez received a Bachelor of Arts in History from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign and a Master of Arts in Public Administration from Harvard University.

PRISONER REVIEW BOARD

Matthew Coates will serve as a Member of the Prisoner Review Board.* Coates recently begun his role as the Director of Communications at Bloomington Public School District 87. In this role, he develops and maintains informational communication in support of the district’s programs. Prior to this position, he was a Restorative School Specialist at Project Oz, a Clinical Coordinator of Youth Services, and a Comprehensive Community based Crisis Counselor at the Children’s Home Association of Illinois. Coates is currently a member on several boards including: Project Oz, McLean County, Illinois Collaboration of Youth Policy Committee, and Breaking Chains Advancing Increase School of Arts. In 2021, he earned a certificate in Leadership with Mclean County Chamber of Commerce and is a graduate of Peoria County Citizen’s Leadership Academy. His robust educational experience began at Illinois Central College where he earned an associate degree in Liberal Arts & Sciences in 2008. He went on to earn his Bachelor of Science Degree in Communication at Illinois State University, graduating in 2011. Coates graduated top of his class at Bradley University, earning a master’s degree in Leadership in Nonprofit organizations.

Carmen Terrones will serve as a Member of the Prisoner Review Board.* Terrones is currently an Independent Consultant at Connecting Communities where she works to increase the potential of underserved communities by fostering empowerment and exposure to restorative justice principles and practices. Prior to this, Terrones served as a Senior Associate at Haywood Burns Institute in California, working primarily with their Juvenile Detention Alternative Initiative Portfolio. Her work for the justice system began in Illinois as Terrones worked for both and the Illinois Department of Juvenile Justice and the Cook County Juvenile Probation Department in several different capacities. Terrones serves her community as a board member for Restorative Justice Hubs, Corazón Community Services, Centrally Human, TecHive, the Institute on Public Safety and Social Justice- Adler University, and The Annie E. Casey Foundation Applied Leadership Network. She began her formal education in the field at Western Illinois University, where she graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in Law Enforcement and continued on at Walden University in Minneapolis, where she earned a master’s of psychology.

SECURE CHOICE SAVINGS BOARD

Erica Marquez Avitia will serve as a Member of the Secure Choice Savings Board.* Avitia is the Chief Operating Officer of Old Mission Capital LLC having oversight of the operational departments since 2013 and previously she served as Vice President at Goldman Sachs from 2004-2013. She currently serves as a member of Metropolitan Planning Council, Chief, and Angeles Investors. Avitia received her Bachelor of Science in Finance from DePaul University.

Lotika Pai will serve as a Member of the Secure Choice Savings Board.* Pai is currently the Chief Financial Officer for Women’s Business Development Center (WBDC) in Chicago where she had also served as Managing Director, Access to Capital. Previously she was the Co-Founder and CEO of POWWFUL LLC, Founder of Q-it Tech LLC, and an investment banker for Barclays Capital. Lotika was honored with the 2021 Entrepreneurial Impact Award by the National Association of Women Business Owner Chicago and serves on the Advisory Board of the First Women’s Bank in Chicago. Pai received a Bachelor of Engineering from the National Institute of Engineering in India and a Master of Business Administration from the Booth School of Business at the University of Chicago.

SOUTHERN ILLINOIS UNIVERSITY BOARD OF TRUSTEES

Sara Salger will serve as a Member of the Southern Illinois University Board of Trustees.* Salger is a Managing Partner at The Gori Law Firm in Edwardsville, IL where she has practiced since 2008. Prior to becoming Managing Partner she served as an Associate and Partner. She previously worked as a Law Intern in the Missouri State Public Defender System and a Law Clerk at a private practice firm. Sara is a member and 2nd Vice President of the Illinois Trial Lawyer’s Association and a member of the American Association for Justice, American Bar Association, Illinois State Bar Association, and Missouri State Bar Association. She has received a Super Lawyers Rising Star Award every year since 2015, named to Top 40 Under 40 by the National Trial Lawyers, was the recipient of the Illinois Trial Lawyers 2019 President’s Award, and named the 2022 Partners for Pets Rescuer of the Year. Salger received Bachelor of Arts in Business Administration from Southern Illinois University at Edwardsville and her Juris Doctorate from Saint Louis University.

STATE MINING BOARD

Michael Martin will serve as a Member of the State Mining Board.* Martin is a farmer and a retired United Mine Workers of America Coal Miner certified in both underground and surface mining. He served 37 years working as a Repairman and Mechanic including at the Springfield Coal Company and Freeman United Crown Mines 2 and 3. He previously served on the Illinois Miner’s Examining Board from 2013-2022.

TEACHERS’ RETIREMENT SYSTEM BOARD OF TRUSTEES

Michael Goetz will serve as a Member of the Teachers’ Retirement System Board of Trustees.* Goetz was previously the Executive Director of the Laborers’ Home Development Corporation, the Midwest Region Tri-Funds Coordinator for LIUNA, and the Executive Director of the Railroad Cooperation and Education Trust. He has served as the Chair on the Illinois State Board of Investments and as a member of the Illinois Finance Authority. Currently he is a member of the Illinois Housing Council 310 and Laborers Local 773. Goetz received a Bachelor of Science in Political Science from Eastern Illinois University.

UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS BOARD OF TRUSTEES

Joseph Gutman will serve as a Member of the University of Illinois Board of Trustees.* Gutman was a Partner at BDT & Company from 2017 until retiring in January 2020 where he remains a consultant today. He previously was a Managing Director, member of the Executive team, and head of the Business Development team at GCM Grosvenor from 2004 to 2016. Joseph began his business career at Goldman Sachs where he worked for 22 years becoming a partner in 1996 and was Co-Head of the Chicago office and Midwest business from 1996-2002. He serves on the Board of Make a Better Place Foundation and the Dean’s Business Council of the University of Illinois College of Business. Gutman was appointed by President Obama to the Council of the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum, serving from 2011-2016 and currently sits on the Museum’s Strategic Advancement Committee. Gutman was a Board and Executive Board member of the Birthright Israel Foundation, a longstanding member of the Board of the Lurie Children’s Hospital of Chicago, and the Alumni Advisory Board of the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University. Gutman received a Bachelor of Science in Accountancy from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign and a Master of Business Administration from the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University.

* Appointments pending confirmation by the Illinois Senate.

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rayhanania

Op-Ed writer, author, radio host, podcaster at The Arab Daily News

RAY HANANIA — Op-Ed writer, author, radio host, podcaster

Ray Hanania is an award winning political and humor columnist who analyzes American and Middle East politics, and life in general. He is an author of several books.

Hanania covered Chicago Politics and Chicago City Hall from 1976 through 1992 at the Daily Southtown and the Chicago Sun-Times. He began writing in 1975 publishing The Middle Eastern Voice newspaper in Chicago (1975-1977). He later published “The National Arab American Times” newspaper (2004-2007).

Hanania writes weekly columns on Middle East and American Arab issues as Special US Correspondent for the Arab News ArabNews.com, at TheArabDailyNews.com, and at SuburbanChicagoland.com. He has published weekly columns in the Jerusalem Post newspaper, YNetNews.com, Newsday, the Orlando Sentinel, Houston Chronical, and Arlington Heights Daily Herald.

Hanania is the recipient of four (4) Chicago Headline Club “Peter Lisagor Awards” for Column writing. In November 2006, he was named “Best Ethnic American Columnist” by the New American Media. In 2009, Hanania received the prestigious Sigma Delta Chi Award for Writing from the Society of Professional Journalists. He is the recipient of the MT Mehdi Courage in Journalism Award. He was honored for his writing skills with two (2) Chicago Stick-o-Type awards from the Chicago Newspaper Guild. In 1990, Hanania was nominated by the Chicago Sun-Times editors for a Pulitzer Prize for his four-part series on the Palestinian Intifada.

His writings have also been honored by two national Awards from ADC for his writing, and from the National Arab American Journalists Association.

Hanania is the US Special Correspondent for the Arab News Newspaper, covering Middle East and Arab American issues. He writes for the Southwest News newspaper group writing on mainstream American issues.

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