[Music]
women make up more than half the
population in America yet we are one
fifth of us representatives and senators
we are only one out of four state
legislators we are only six out of 50
governors and we are only 19% of Mayors
in America break that down to women of
color and people of color and it’s even
less are we cultivating the next
generation of women of color and people
of color to be in the room where it
happens to make sure that our voices are
heard and our perspectives and lived
experiences that we bring are
represented to make good policy and if
we’re not in the room where it happens
is it going to be good policy I think
Kim McMillan the Clarksville Tennessee
mayor summed it up best when speaking to
the New York Times about the recent
scandals of sexual harassment and if
you’ve been falling along even our own
Springfield Capitol is dealing with this
sexual harassment you need people at the
table who can explain to them what the
effect of their words are if there are
no women to explain why that is sexist
or why they can’t say that I don’t know
if you can ever get people to understand
that their words really do matter and
their actions really do matter if women
are not at the table or in the rooms
then decisions about our lives are being
made without us and to illustrate this
point and the perspective that I now
bring into my leadership role is to
share a little bit about myself
I’m from Granite City Illinois born and
raised this is my childhood home it’s a
town of about 30,000 people once home to
three still factories now sadly idling
at one my dad still to this day a union
painter proudly stripes our streets my
mother who worked for a non-profit for
over 20 years helping our youth and
after-school programs
but with the first state budget impasse
sadly lost her job as she was the first
to go because she did not have a college
degree but they were never better
always resilient always wanted their
children to have better opportunities
than they did so they sacrifice so that
their kids would have more and they
taught us how to treat people with
respect and how we want to be treated to
stay grounded in our faith and to make
sure that we always gave back to our
communities and to people for the
opportunities we received so I went on
to college the University of Illinois
first my family to graduate college and
from there I signed up for an internship
for a local judges race and it was there
where I actually saw where people ran
for office to effect change in their
community and that’s where I was first
exposed to actually that public service
could be a career however as I moved on
in my career at 25 working with Senate
President John Cullerton the Senate
Democrats to bring elections in 2010 and
victories in 2010 to 28 being Senator
Durbin’s campaign manager running a ten
million dollar budget and a state
statewide campaign to age 30 becoming
mayor Emmanuel’s
second female legislative director in
the history of Chicago I’m talking 1837
people and the first Latina to at 32
at 30 my time I got to go at 30 to being
the second female to hold this office at
City Clerk of Chicago the second female
and second Latina but as I moved along
in my career I noticed that less and
less women were in the room and women of
color were in the room at the table on
the political side and the government
side and I want to share one short story
to illustrate this further in 2014 I was
not only running senator Durbin’s
campaign but I was also in charge of
putting together the Democratic strategy
to get Democrats from the top of the
ticket to the bottom of the ticket
elected and I was super excited I was
building coalitions I was trying to herd
the cats I was building the plan and we
were ready we were prepared and the
sitter senator asked me to come along to
a meeting to talk about this plan and
strategy with the governor the Speaker
of the House and the Senate President I
remember being so excited to be part of
this meeting and walking in and taking
my place at the table and I’m ready and
I’m organized I’m prepared and noticing
again I’m the only woman at the table
and woman of color but watsonater Durbin
did for me at that moment with that he
gave me the space and opportunity to
become a leader he let me run that
meeting as an ally with him but I was
ready to step into that moment and seize
that opportunity and I did not
disappoint
I brought the perspectives of the girl
from Granite City in the Latina here in
Chicago to that room those perspectives
were the success of that plan and
because that we won in 2014 and I think
it’s often this story and these moments
that have helped get me to where I am
today and it’s the qualities about the
leadership that we must build and as I
go ahead and now this new position of
leadership I think about what is it as a
leader that I need to be well we as
leaders all in this room need to be
intentional we need to be intentional
about finding that diverse talent
because there are more a novelette CEA’s
out there that are ready
that are organized that are prepared and
just need that moment an opportunity
that Senator Durbin gave to me to lead
we are not unicorns and we have to meet
these these next Millennials out there
we have to help them find the door of
opportunity when they don’t even know a
door exists and then we have to bring
them along and power them and let their
voice matter at the table and to the
Millennial leaders here today my
generation we also need to cultivate our
talent we need to make sure that we are
preparing ourselves and organized and
ready when those moments come and we
need to seize them and we need to
continue to hustle for these
opportunities as well and we have to
stop texting and start talking and
having dialogues and discussions with
people that we want to be and make them
notice us and help them get us ready and
I love a good protest but we also have
to participate we have to get inside the
room because when we get inside those
room that’s where the magic happens
that’s when we are making policies that
will positively impact our communities
and here in Chicago in the last few
years we have really made progress and
finding and cultivating leaders that
reflect our communities and just I think
in Chicago the work we’ve done here can
be a national model and a state in
something for our state and other cities
to look to in the last few years we now
have our first black female Cook County
State’s Attorney the only female of
color at a hundred and two counties in
Illinois we now have an asian-american
US Senator in DC representing our state
and we now have a Latino leading city
colleges who is focusing our youth on
college to careers and we now have a
black female leading rural business
Chicago focusing on getting global
corporations to move to Chicago and can
anyone dispute that these institutions
are stronger now because we have leaders
that have lived experiences and know and
understand that the people they serve
because they once were the people that
they now serve that is what’s going to
make this country stronger that’s what’s
going to unite this country and so we
must ask what’s at stake if we don’t do
this if we aren’t being intentional
about finding these leaders out there
and cultivating them empowering them and
giving them their leadership roles then
in the next 30 years we’re going to
still have the same fight we do Frings
income equality and we’re gonna still
have the same fight 30 years now on
sexual harassment and 30 years from now
we’re gonna still be fighting for access
to affordable childcare many barriers
that women and women of color face to
get to the top of the leader so I ask
you today to ask yourself what you’re
doing to cultivate the next talent and
that’s what’s at stake thank you
you
women make up more than half the
population in America yet we are one
fifth of us representatives and senators
we are only one out of four state
legislators we are only six out of 50
governors and we are only 19% of Mayors
in America break that down to women of
color and people of color and it’s even
less are we cultivating the next
generation of women of color and people
of color to be in the room where it
happens to make sure that our voices are
heard and our perspectives and lived
experiences that we bring are
represented to make good policy and if
we’re not in the room where it happens
is it going to be good policy I think
Kim McMillan the Clarksville Tennessee
mayor summed it up best when speaking to
the New York Times about the recent
scandals of sexual harassment and if
you’ve been falling along even our own
Springfield Capitol is dealing with this
sexual harassment you need people at the
table who can explain to them what the
effect of their words are if there are
no women to explain why that is sexist
or why they can’t say that I don’t know
if you can ever get people to understand
that their words really do matter and
their actions really do matter if women
are not at the table or in the rooms
then decisions about our lives are being
made without us and to illustrate this
point and the perspective that I now
bring into my leadership role is to
share a little bit about myself
I’m from Granite City Illinois born and
raised this is my childhood home it’s a
town of about 30,000 people once home to
three still factories now sadly idling
at one my dad still to this day a union
painter proudly stripes our streets my
mother who worked for a non-profit for
over 20 years helping our youth and
after-school programs
but with the first state budget impasse
sadly lost her job as she was the first
to go because she did not have a college
degree but they were never better
always resilient always wanted their
children to have better opportunities
than they did so they sacrifice so that
their kids would have more and they
taught us how to treat people with
respect and how we want to be treated to
stay grounded in our faith and to make
sure that we always gave back to our
communities and to people for the
opportunities we received so I went on
to college the University of Illinois
first my family to graduate college and
from there I signed up for an internship
for a local judges race and it was there
where I actually saw where people ran
for office to effect change in their
community and that’s where I was first
exposed to actually that public service
could be a career however as I moved on
in my career at 25 working with Senate
President John Cullerton the Senate
Democrats to bring elections in 2010 and
victories in 2010 to 28 being Senator
Durbin’s campaign manager running a ten
million dollar budget and a state
statewide campaign to age 30 becoming
mayor Emmanuel’s
second female legislative director in
the history of Chicago I’m talking 1837
people and the first Latina to at 32
at 30 my time I got to go at 30 to being
the second female to hold this office at
City Clerk of Chicago the second female
and second Latina but as I moved along
in my career I noticed that less and
less women were in the room and women of
color were in the room at the table on
the political side and the government
side and I want to share one short story
to illustrate this further in 2014 I was
not only running senator Durbin’s
campaign but I was also in charge of
putting together the Democratic strategy
to get Democrats from the top of the
ticket to the bottom of the ticket
elected and I was super excited I was
building coalitions I was trying to herd
the cats I was building the plan and we
were ready we were prepared and the
sitter senator asked me to come along to
a meeting to talk about this plan and
strategy with the governor the Speaker
of the House and the Senate President I
remember being so excited to be part of
this meeting and walking in and taking
my place at the table and I’m ready and
I’m organized I’m prepared and noticing
again I’m the only woman at the table
and woman of color but watsonater Durbin
did for me at that moment with that he
gave me the space and opportunity to
become a leader he let me run that
meeting as an ally with him but I was
ready to step into that moment and seize
that opportunity and I did not
disappoint
I brought the perspectives of the girl
from Granite City in the Latina here in
Chicago to that room those perspectives
were the success of that plan and
because that we won in 2014 and I think
it’s often this story and these moments
that have helped get me to where I am
today and it’s the qualities about the
leadership that we must build and as I
go ahead and now this new position of
leadership I think about what is it as a
leader that I need to be well we as
leaders all in this room need to be
intentional we need to be intentional
about finding that diverse talent
because there are more a novelette CEA’s
out there that are ready
that are organized that are prepared and
just need that moment an opportunity
that Senator Durbin gave to me to lead
we are not unicorns and we have to meet
these these next Millennials out there
we have to help them find the door of
opportunity when they don’t even know a
door exists and then we have to bring
them along and power them and let their
voice matter at the table and to the
Millennial leaders here today my
generation we also need to cultivate our
talent we need to make sure that we are
preparing ourselves and organized and
ready when those moments come and we
need to seize them and we need to
continue to hustle for these
opportunities as well and we have to
stop texting and start talking and
having dialogues and discussions with
people that we want to be and make them
notice us and help them get us ready and
I love a good protest but we also have
to participate we have to get inside the
room because when we get inside those
room that’s where the magic happens
that’s when we are making policies that
will positively impact our communities
and here in Chicago in the last few
years we have really made progress and
finding and cultivating leaders that
reflect our communities and just I think
in Chicago the work we’ve done here can
be a national model and a state in
something for our state and other cities
to look to in the last few years we now
have our first black female Cook County
State’s Attorney the only female of
color at a hundred and two counties in
Illinois we now have an asian-american
US Senator in DC representing our state
and we now have a Latino leading city
colleges who is focusing our youth on
college to careers and we now have a
black female leading rural business
Chicago focusing on getting global
corporations to move to Chicago and can
anyone dispute that these institutions
are stronger now because we have leaders
that have lived experiences and know and
understand that the people they serve
because they once were the people that
they now serve that is what’s going to
make this country stronger that’s what’s
going to unite this country and so we
must ask what’s at stake if we don’t do
this if we aren’t being intentional
about finding these leaders out there
and cultivating them empowering them and
giving them their leadership roles then
in the next 30 years we’re going to
still have the same fight we do Frings
income equality and we’re gonna still
have the same fight 30 years now on
sexual harassment and 30 years from now
we’re gonna still be fighting for access
to affordable childcare many barriers
that women and women of color face to
get to the top of the leader so I ask
you today to ask yourself what you’re
doing to cultivate the next talent and
that’s what’s at stake thank you
you
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