Program: August 31 - Alexi Giannoulias, Democrat candidate for US Senate

Program: August 24 - Senator Bill Brady, Republican Candidate for Governor

Anticipating the economic downturn, the Brady family began retooling their company in 2006. At its peak, Brady Homes employed 34 employees. But facing the new economic reality, the company and staff had to be downsized through tough and painful, but necessary, decisions.

Bill has spent his life providing for his family – and those who depend on his family business. In addition, he has served as a State Representative and State Senator, sponsoring and supporting plans to limit campaign contributions, allow voters to recall public officials, and to bar state contractors from donating to campaigns. He has also been one of the earliest voices in the effort to clean up the corruption at the former Illinois Health Facilities Planning Board.

Bill and his wife Nancy are proud of their three children: Katie, a pediatric heart nurse at Children’s Memorial Hospital in Chicago; Will, a law student at DePaul University; and Duncan, a junior in high school.

Program: August 17 - Tom Tresser, Green Party Candidate for Cook County Board President

Tom Tresser is the Green Party candidate for Cook County Board President. He has been fighting local corruption and privatization for a number of years, most recently as co-founder of Protect Our Parks, which blocked the privatization of Lincoln Park, and then as a co-leader of No Games Chicago, which successfully fought the 2016 Olympic bid.

Tom Tresser is a consultant, producer, educator and trainer who helps individuals, companies and communities leverage and amplify creative assets in order to solve problems, create economic value and trigger civic engagement. Tom believes that creativity is America's most precious natural resource. It's renewable, unlimited and universally available. And, like a natural resource, creativity needs to be respected, conserved, stewarded and celebrated.

Tom has produced executive education programs for Fortune 500 companies, ideation sessions for advertising companies, and strategic planning sessions using elements of art, entertainment and cuisine. During the Internet boom Tom served as a marketing director and community affairs manager for OurHouse.com, an e-commerce start-up. As a member of the Mayor's Committee on the Digital Divide, Tom created the Community Technology Center Accelerator Program that is being administered by the Information Technology Resource Center.

A former Shakespearean actor and theater producer, Tom has acted in some 40 shows and produced over 100 plays, special events, festivals and community programs. Tom was Managing Director at Pegasus Players in Chicago from 1985 to 1990 and created the Chicago Young Playwrights Festival there, which is now in its 22nd season. Tom created Greater Chicago Citizens for the Arts in 1990 and recruited over 200 volunteers to work on civic efforts, including 65 artists who became Deputy Registrars who registered over 1,200 people to vote. For this work, the Independent Voters of Illinois-Independent Precinct Organization awarded Tom the 1991 Edwin Astrin Award for Special Service. He was Director of Cultural Development at Peoples Housing, in north Rogers Park, where he created a community arts program that blended the arts, education and micro-enterprise. He served as the lead organizer for the Chicago Park District’s effort to transform Douglas Park into a community cultural center.

Tom has lectured and around the country on the topic of "The Politics of Creativity" and conducted training sessions for artists on how to run for local office. Tom was elected to the Local School Council for the Abraham Lincoln Elementary School (Lincoln Park, Chicago) in April 2004. He teaches classes on the arts, creativity and civic engagement for DePaul University and Loyola University. He is currently serving as a marketing and strategic planning consultant for Collaboration Theater.

Tom will discuss “The Hidden (and Not So Hidden) Costs of Corruption in Cook County." 

Program: August 10 - Congressman Mark Kirk, Republican Candidate for US Senate

Mark Kirk represents the 10th Congressional District of Illinois located in the suburbs north of Chicago. Now in his fifth term, Congressman Kirk is s member of the powerful House Appropriations Committee and is co-chairman of the moderate GOP Tuesday Group and the bipartisan House US-China Working Group. Congressman Kirk works to advance a Suburban Agenda that is pro-defense, pro-personal responsibility, pro-environment, and pro-science. He wrote a number of provisions which became law, including funding for commuter rail, improving veteran's health care, ensuring military voting, and boosting aviation security. 

Kirk was born in Champaign and grew up in Chatham, Downers Grove and Kenilworth.  Representative Kirk graduated from New Trier High School (Winnetka) and attended Blackburn College (Carlinville) and the Universidad Nacional Autonoma de Mexico before earning a B.A. from Cornell. He holds a Masters Degree from the London School of Economics and a law degree from Georgetown.  Congressman Kirk began his career on the staff of his predecessor, Congressman John Porter. He later served in the World Bank, the State Department, the law firm of Baker & McKenzie, and the U.S. House International Relations Committee.

Kirk, who holds the rank of Commander, is a Naval Reserve intelligence officer and has served during conflicts with Afghanistan, Iraq, Haiti, and Bosnia. He recently became the first House member to serve in an imminent danger zone since 1942 when he deployed as a reservist to Afghanistan in December, 2008. He completed his second deployment to Afghanistan in January. Kirk was awarded the Navy and Marine Corps Commendation Medal for his Kosovo service in 1999.

Program: August 3 - Ed Burke, Chicago Alderman

Edward M. Burke, 66, the Dean of the Chicago City Council, has served as Alderman of Chicago’s 14th Ward for more than four decades. A recognized expert on city budget matters, Alderman Burke is the Chairman of the City Council Committee on Finance.
As Chairman of the City Council’s powerful Committee on Finance, Alderman Burke holds the city’s purse strings and is responsible for all legislative matters pertaining to the city’s finances, including municipal bonds, taxes and revenue matters. He also serves as a member of the Chicago Plan Commission.

Throughout his career in public life, Alderman Burke has been an avid student of Chicago history and is the co-author of three books, Inside the Wigwam: Chicago Presidential Conventions, 1860-1996; End of Watch: Chicago Police Killed in the Line of Duty, 1853-2006; and Glory & Government, Chicago’s City Hall at 100.

Alderman Burke is a partner in the law firm of Klafter & Burke and is involved in many civic and charitable organizations, including the One Hundred Club of Cook County, the Knights of Columbus and the Irish Fellowship Club of Chicago.

Program: July 27 - Father Michael Pfleger

Rev. Dr. Michael Louis Pfleger received his B.A. in Theology from Loyola University, his Master of Divinity from the University of St. Mary of the Lake and an honorary Doctor of Divinity from North Park Theological Seminary. He has also completed post-graduate studies at Mundelein College and the Catholic Theological Union.

Father Pfleger was ordained a priest of the Archdiocese of Chicago on May 14, 1975. In 1981, at the age of 31, he became the youngest full pastor in the diocese when he was appointed Pastor of Saint Sabina Church.

In 1981, Father Pfleger became the proud adoptive father of an eight-year-old son, Lamar. In 1992, he also became the adoptive father of Beronti. In 1997, he became a foster father to Jarvis Franklin, who was tragically killed as a result of gang crossfire, May 30, 1998.
Since 1968, Father Pfleger has lived and ministered in the African-American community on both the west and south sides of Chicago. He spent two summers working in a Native American community in Oklahoma, and did his seminary internship as a Chaplain at Cook County Jail and at Precious Blood Catholic Church, both in Chicago.

Father Pfleger has been recognized for his fight against alcohol and tobacco billboards, drugs and racism in People, Time, Ebony, Newsweek and Jet magazines; The New York Times, The Los Angeles Times, The Washington Post, U.S.A. Today, The Chicago Tribune, The Chicago Sun-Times, The Chicago Reader and numerous other papers and journals. He has also been profiled on the following television shows: "Day One" ABC; "60 Minutes" (CBS); BBC in Great Britain, the Larry King Show and Nightline.
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In the course of his extensive and active ministry, Father Pfleger has been recognized for his commitment to equality and passionate stance against injustice. Some of the awards and honors he has received include: "Keeper of the Dream", Rainbow/Push; Distinguished Service Award, Nation of Islam; "Thurgood Marshall Award", National Black Prosecutors Association; "Monsignor Egan Social Justice Award", DePaul University.
As a minister, Father Pfleger has sought to break down the walls of racism and denominationalism by building unity among all people founded on truth and based on Jesus’ command to love one another. This holy calling has led him to be parent, a preacher, a teacher, a lecturer and an activist. However, he believes his most important role is an errand boy for Jesus!

Program: July 20 - Lynn Osmond, Hon. AIA, President/CEO, Chicago Architecture Foundation

Lynn Osmond assumed the position of President and CEO of the Chicago Architecture Foundation (CAF) in November of 1996. Believing that a public educated and engaged in architecture and design helps all of us make better decisions about the places in which we live, Ms. Osmond has overseen the development of CAF into a premier Chicago cultural institution. In accord with Ms. Osmond’s vision, CAF has developed a comprehensive program of tours, exhibitions, lectures, special events, and adult and youth education programs.

Under Ms. Osmond’s leadership, CAF experienced an outstanding 300% growth, has been consistently ranked in the list of top ten Chicago cultural institutions, has grown its audience to more than half a million visitors, and manages a budget of $11 million. CAF’s docent program has thrived under the guidance of Ms. Osmond, becoming internationally recognized as the leading program of its kind in the world. Today, more than 470 docents volunteer their time to lead over 8000 tours annually.

In 2005, Ms. Osmond was recognized as an Honorary Member of the American Institute of Architects. In 2002 she was awarded the Paul Berger Arts Entrepreneurship Award presented by Columbia College, and in 2009 she received the Chicago Woman Achievement Award from the Chicago Alliance for Women. During Ms. Osmond’s tenure, CAF has received numerous awards including the Chicago Community Trust’s James Brown Community Service Award for the Most Outstanding Chicago Community Organization in 1998.
 

 

July 13 - John McCord, Executive Director of Alliance Francaise

Jack McCord has been the Executive Director of the Alliance Française de Chicago since 2003. The Alliance is part of a worldwide network of some 1,100 institutions, with over 100 chapters in the US. The Chicago organization is the second largest in the country and the second oldest, dating from 1898. Prior to joining the Alliance he was a Director of the Master of Business Program at the University of Illinois at Chicago, after a 15-year career in retail and advertising.

He holds a bachelor’s degree from Indiana University-Bloomington and graduate business degrees from the University of Illinois and the Ecole de Management de Normandie, France.

Mr. McCord is active in Fourth Presbyterian Church, the Chicago-Paris Sister Cities Committee, the Federation of Alliances Francaises USA and as an Indiana University alumni recruiter. He was named a Chevalier de l’Ordre National du Mérite by the President of France in 2007.

 

Congratulations to the 106th President of Rotary/One, David L Durham At the Tuesday, July 6th luncheon Ray Klinginsmith, Rotary International President and Robert C. Knuepfer, Jr. Governor for RI District 6450 and a member of Rotary/One officiated over the installation of David Durham as the President for 2010-2011.  Please Click Here for More Photos. Angelo Loumbas, President 2009-2010, passed the Club Sash of Past Presidents and the President's lapel pin to David.  Angelo was presented with a gift from the club for his leadership. David Durham, Ray Klinginsmith and Robert Knuepfer David Durham and District Governor Elect, David Templin Ray Klinginsmith, President of Rotary International

Robert C. Knuepfer, Jr. installed as Governor for RI District 6450 Rotary/One member Robb was installed on Sunday, June 27th at the Adler Planetarium.  Barry Axler, President-Nominee of Rotary/One served as chair of the installation.  Two hundred and fifty Rotarians and Friends of Rotary attended the event on a wonderful day in Chicago.  Rotarians and their families had the opportunity to visit the museum and see the shows at the Adler. A special thank you to Dr. James Czerwionka, now Past District Governor, for his wonderful leadership in the 2009-2010 Rotary year.  Governor's Installation Pictures. NBC 5 Broadcasts Announcement of Governor Installation. To keep track of Robb and the District please visit RI District 6450 Web.