About the Status of Girls in Illinois Project

Women & Girls CAN was the lead agency for the Status of Girls in Illinois report. We coordinated the project, led the steering committee, served as fiscal sponsor, coordinated communications between all the partner groups and consultants, analyzed the data, and collaborated to write the report.

Status of Girls in Illinois 2009 Leadership

In a strong move of solidarity, leaders within Chicago’s most established and reputable organizations serving girls and young women joined forces in November 2008 to commission a new report focused on the status of girls in Illinois. While past reports have shown that effective gender-specific programming can be transformative in the lives of young women, the Status of Girls in Illinois report goes one step further.

This data collection was completed by Loyola University Chicago’s Center for Urban Research and Learning (CURL), an innovative, collaborative, university-community research center. CURL seeks to promote equality and to improve people’s lives in communities throughout the Chicago metropolitan region. More information about Loyola CURL can be found at www.luc.edu/curl

Steering Committee Members

Tracy Fischman, AccountaAbility Minnesota, former Chicago consultant
Mariame Kaba, Director of Project NIA, Rogers Park Young Women’s Action Team, former program officer at Steans Family Foundation
Aparna Sharma, Program Officer, Chicago Foundation for Women
Amy Skeen, Executive Director, Girls in the Game
Melissa Spatz, Executive Director, Women & Girls Collective Action Network.
Michelle VanNatta, Dominican University

Report Advisory Committee

Mary Scott Boria, Associated Colleges of the Midwest
Lora Branch, Chicago Department of Public Health
Lara Brooks, Broadway Youth Center
Tawanna Brown, Family Matters
Beth Catlett, DePaul University
Tiffany Chiang, NorthShore University Healthsystem Foundation
Kat Choi, Korean American Resource & Cultural Center
Alice Cottingham, Consultant
Janine Denomme, Center on Halsted
Laurie Fuller, Northeastern Illinois University
Jennifer Gabrenya, Family Shelter Service of DuPage County
Judy Gall, Alternatives Inc.
Judy Gold, Former Chair, Commission on Status of Women in Illinois
Carolyn Grisko, Carolyn Grisko & Associates
Deepa Gupta, MacArthur Foundation
Shira Hassan, Young Women’s Empowerment Project
Mia Henry, Chicago Freedom School
Stacey Horn, University of Illinois at Chicago
Amy Johnson, Howard Brown Health Center
Lesley Kennedy, Chicago Girls Coalition
Iris Krieg, Iris Krieg & Associates
Anne Ladky, Women Employed
Gabe Lyon, Project Exploration
Mary Morten, Morten Group
Susan Nussbaum, Access Living
Suleyma Perez, Northeastern Illinois University
Jobi Petersen
Carmen Prieto, Wieboldt Foundation
Hedy Ratner, Women’s Business Development Center
Daphnee Rene, Rogers Park Young Women’s Action Team
Beth Richie, University of Illinois at Chicago
Silvia Rivera, Radio Arte
Ana Romero, Casa Segura; Chicago Metropolitan Battered Women’s Network
Barbara Rose, Case Handyman & Remodeling; S.N. Peck Builder, Inc
Ann Russo, DePaul University
Jane Saks, Ellen Stone Belic Institute for the Study of Women & Gender in the Arts and Media
Laurie Schaffner, University of Illinois at Chicago
Sarah Schriber, Health and Medicine Policy Research Group
Sarah Shirk, UIC Center for Research on Women & Gender
Ada Skyles, University of Chicago, Chapin Hall
Keisha Farmer-Smith, Alternatives Inc.
Heather Steans, State Senator
K Sujata, Eleanor Foundation
Martha Thompson, IMPACT Chicago; Northeastern Illinois University
Julie Walther, Brinson Foundation
Jennifer Welch, Illinois Attorney General’s Office
Nadeja Wesley, Heartland Alliance
Kelly White, Chicago Foundation for Women