Petty Officer 3rd Class Keenan Taylor, a native of Calumet City, Illinois, serves in Japan aboard a forward-deployed U.S. Navy warship. Taylor joined the Navy 2019 years ago. Today, Taylor serves as an operations specialist aboard USS Dewey. “I wanted to be a part of something bigger than myself,” said Taylor. "It's something I have been interested in since a field trip to the USS Midway."
Toni Preckwinkle was elected President of the Cook County Board of Commissioners in 2010. During her time
as Cook County President, Cook County has sought to provide good health care, improve the criminal justice
system and use federal funds to reduce medical debt and provide a guaranteed income.
A new center in the Austin community is aimed at improving the quality of life for its residents. The Aspire Center for Workforce Innovation is part of the Aspire Initiative, which was part of the Austin Forward Together Quality of Life Plan.
The University of Chicago’s Office of Civic Engagement has several programs that help students who attend Chicago Public School high schools prepare for college. Two of those programs are Upward Bound and the Collegiate Scholars Program. The Collegiate Scholars Program was established in 2003. It is a free, three-year college preparation
program. It focuses on helping high school students prepare for admission to top colleges and universities
throughout the country.
Elizabeth Elie, who goes by the stage name Lizzie G, spreads a message of positivity, anti-bullying and unity.
Lizzie G was always musically inclined. She taught herself how to play the drums and plays the piano. In her
teenage years, she started to have a love of music producing. She would put her poetry with the beats she created
and turned it into rap. She debuted Lizzie G during her senior year at Marie Curie High School.
Christina Bolton Taylor started Cardiac Jump Starters because of her father. He was a nurse and Bolton Taylor followed in his footsteps. She started Cardiac Jump Starters in March 2021, with her father in mind. He passed away in 2018 after a choking incident led to cardiac arrest. Bolton Taylor believes his life could’ve been spared if her mother had received training in proper resuscitation procedures.
Cook County Sheriff Thomas J. Dart announced a critical partnership today with Uber, the largest rideshare company in the United States, to support the need for transportation and grocery delivery services amongst domestic violence and human trafficking survivors who are receiving assistance through the Sheriff’s Office.
With unanimous support, the Illinois Legislature has passed a measure that will make it safer for students to get on and off school buses across the state. SB2340 allows Illinois school districts to install a well-lit additional extended stop arm that further obstructs the roadway from passing traffic when a school bus is stopped to pick up or drop off students.
Cook County Treasurer Maria Pappas will celebrate Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month by recognizing business and community leaders with Certificates of Excellence.
Clinical trials are a critical part of the research process for new medicines and vaccines. The information gained is
fundamental to the development of new ways to help treat and prevent disease. Evidence has shown that some drugs and vaccines show variations in the response to some individuals depending on their racial or genetic background. For this reason, it is important that volunteer participants of clinical trials appropriately reflect the people that the investigational medicine or vaccine is intending to treat.
Black people are disproportionately affected by mass incarceration. A national initiative is looking to ensure those
who have served their time are able to not have their record be a barrier to gaining housing, employment and education opportunities. The Clean Slate Initiative is a national bipartisan movement that focuses on automatic record clearance,
removing the petition-based system that sometimes serves as a barrier for people who are eligible to get their record cleared.
Growing Home was founded by Les Brown in 1993. Brown was trying to figure out how to help homeless men. Brown saw gardening and farming as a great tool to help center people and help them obtain transferrable skills. Thirty years later, Growing Home continues to provide access to fresh food through its urban farm, workforce development and service communities that have been disinvested for years.
A student-led organization at the University of Chicago has taken on the task of ensuring Senior Citizens are well-versed
in all things technology. Tech Savvy Friends is an organization within the University of Chicago, which partnered with Chicago Hyde Park Village, to provide technology assistance to older adults.
Girls Like Me Project, Inc, in partnership with National Geographic Explorer Alyea Pierce, Producer of the critically
acclaimed podcast, Into The Depths, aims to push past stereotypes by exposing girls to the powerful narratives and contributions of Black girls in spaces that have otherwise muted their impact by hosting an exclusive screening of one of Disney’s most anticipated beloved classic film “Enchanting the Little Mermaid”. Saturday, May 27th at 10:00
AM - 2:00 PM Cinema Chatham: powered by Emagine 210 W. 87th St. Chicago, IL. 60620.
Girls Inc. of Chicago was founded in 2017 as the local chapter of Girls Inc, a national organization that was founded in
1865. The mission is to inspire all girls to be strong, smart and bold, which is done through direct advocacy.