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Thursday, November 30, 2023 | 9–11 a.m.
Roosevelt University, Ida B. Wells Lounge
430 S Michigan Ave., Chicago, IL 60605
8:30–9 a.m. - Coffee and Tea (optional)
9–10 a.m. - Panel Discussion
10–10:30 a.m. - Mayor Brandon Johnson
10:30–11 a.m. - Q&A session
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Each panelist will speak to their experience in the progressive movement over the past two decades, a movement that made it possible for Brandon Johnson to ascend to the mayor’s office. Johnson will speak to his challenges and opportunities as a progressive mayor and how he believes we must organize to continue the progressive movement and work with him to make the goals of the movement a reality.
Featured Speaker
Brandon Johnson, 57th Mayor of Chicago, is an educator, organizer and politician. He worked as a social studies teacher in Chicago Public Schools and was active in the Chicago Teachers Union (CTU). In 2018, he was elected to serve as the Cook County Commissioner and has worked as an organizer for the CTU. When he declared his successful bid for mayor, he did so with the support of United Working Families, the Chicago Teachers Union, the American Federation of Teachers, and progressive political organizations across the city.
Discussant
Stephanie Farmer is a professor of sociology at Roosevelt University. Her research focuses on the interaction between urban public policy, public-private finance, and the role of labor-community activism in shaping Chicago public schools, transit system, and infrastructure. She has published research in International Journal of Urban and Regional Research, Environment and Planning A, Urban Affairs Review, Urban Studies, Labor Studies Journal, Journal of Urban Affairs, Harvard International Review.
Moderator
Amisha Patel served as the executive director of the Grassroots Collaborative which builds power with working families through strategic community-labor organizing, grassroots leadership development, civic engagement, and training for 15 years. She has organized hospital employees and Head Start workers through SEIU Local 73. The documentary created by youth she worked with in the Bay area, Young Azns Rising! Breaking Down Violence Against Women, screened in film festivals nationwide and won the Asian Emmy for best documentary. Patel was named one of Crain’s Chicago Business 40 under 40, her op-eds have appeared in Bill Moyers, In These Times, Chicago Sun Times and Crain’s Chicago Business.
Panelists
Alex Han is executive director of In These Times magazine. He is a founding member of United Working Families, and spent over a decade as a vice president of the Midwest's largest union, SEIU Healthcare Illinois and Indiana. As a vice president of SEIU Healthcare Illinois and Indiana, he helped tens of thousands of home-based healthcare and childcare workers unionize. He helped found United Working Families, an independent political organization that has elected movement leaders to city, county, and state offices.
Benetta Mansfield is a lawyer with more than 40 years of experience as an advocate and mediator. In Washington, D.C., she served as the chief of staff of the Amalgamated Transit Union, chief of staff of the National Mediation Board and was appointed by a federal judge to direct the election of international officers for the International Brotherhood of Teamsters. Upon retirement, Benetta returned to her hometown of Chicago where she is a social and political activist. She is a member of the Board of Directors of Avodah and the Jewish Council of Urban Affairs and is co-chair of the Board of Directors JCUA Votes.
Andrea Ortiz is the director of Organizing for the Brighton Park Neighborhood Council (BPNC). Over the past seven years with BPNC, she has engaged leaders and community members around the following campaigns including, #CopsOutCPS, #EraseTheGangDatabse, #NoCopAcademy, #FairTax, and #ERSBNow. Andrea also serves as an executive committee member for United Working Families. She is the daughter of Mexican immigrants and was born and raised in the Brighton Park neighborhood, attending CPS, earned her BA at DePaul (Political Science and Latin American and Latino Studies) and her MPPA from Northwestern University.
Richard Wallace is an artist, social justice advocate, and the founding executive director of Equity and Transformation (EAT), an organization dedicated to advancing social and economic equity for Black informal workers. In 2021, EAT made history with the launch of the Chicago Future Fund, a groundbreaking Guaranteed Income pilot for formerly incarcerated individuals in Chicago. Wallace is a proud graduate of Roosevelt University. Wallace's exceptional contributions to the realm of social justice have earned him esteemed accolades, including the Atlantic Fellowship for Racial Equity and the Soros Justice Fellowship. Additionally, Wallace received the prestigious Margaret Burroughs Fellowship at UIC, The Galaxy Leaders Fellowship, and the Voqal Fellowship.
For additional information about the lecture, contact Dr. Heather Dalmage, Director of the Mansfield Institute, at hdalmage@roosevelt.edu.