Leadership Roundtable: Health Equity, Nature, and the Environment in Lake County
Thursday, June 24th 1 - 2:30 PM via Zoom
Join community, civic, and business leaders from across Lake County to explore intersectional solutions to health inequities, environmental justice and access, and COVID-19 recovery.
The goal of this program is to:
The goal of this program is to:
- Create a virtual forum to understand the impact of access to green space and environmental justice as social determinants of health, particularly in light of COVID-19; and
- Identify community assets and opportunities for breaking down barriers and uplifting efforts already underway to improve health of people and the environment.
Agenda:
Opening
Marvin Bembry, Master of Ceremonies, Executive Director of The John Maxwell Team
Catherine Game, Executive Director, Brushwood Center at Ryerson Woods
Representative Rita Mayfield, State Representative Illinois 60th Legislative District
Representative Daniel Didech , State Representative Illinois 59th Legislative District
Senator Adriane Johnson, State Senator Illinois 30th District
Panel: Challenges and Opportunity
Mark Pfister, Executive Director, Lake County Health Department and Community Health Center
Angelo Kyle, President, Lake County Forest Preserves, Lake County Board of Commissioners
Celeste Flores, Director of Community Building, Mano a Mano, Co-Chair, Clean Power Lake County
Dulce Ortiz, Trustee, Waukegan Township, Executive Director, Mano a Mano, Co-Chair, Clean Power Lake County,
Dani Abboud, Manager of Community Programs and Partnerships, Brushwood Center
Breakout Room Discussions
Concluding Conversation and Next Steps
Marvin Bembry, Master of Ceremonies, Executive Director of The John Maxwell Team
Catherine Game, Executive Director, Brushwood Center at Ryerson Woods
Representative Rita Mayfield, State Representative Illinois 60th Legislative District
Representative Daniel Didech , State Representative Illinois 59th Legislative District
Senator Adriane Johnson, State Senator Illinois 30th District
Panel: Challenges and Opportunity
Mark Pfister, Executive Director, Lake County Health Department and Community Health Center
Angelo Kyle, President, Lake County Forest Preserves, Lake County Board of Commissioners
Celeste Flores, Director of Community Building, Mano a Mano, Co-Chair, Clean Power Lake County
Dulce Ortiz, Trustee, Waukegan Township, Executive Director, Mano a Mano, Co-Chair, Clean Power Lake County,
Dani Abboud, Manager of Community Programs and Partnerships, Brushwood Center
Breakout Room Discussions
Concluding Conversation and Next Steps
About the Speakers
Master of Ceremonies
Marvin Bembry, Executive Director of The John Maxwell Team Marvin serves as Executive Director of The John Maxwell Team, where he facilitates, speaks, trains and coaches individuals and groups in the areas of leadership development, professional skills and personal growth. He has over 20 years of corporate leadership experience in Government Affairs, Human Resources, and Training and Development. His most recent experience was as the Midwest Regional Director of State and Local Government Affairs for a Fortune 100 pharmaceutical firm. In this role, he supported the legislative and regulatory interest at the Federal, State and Local levels. Prior to this, he was the Senior Manager of Organizational Development for the Engineering Division of a major Health Care company. In that role I led a team dedicated to improving organizational effectiveness, training and development. I haved served my community in a variety of civic and leadership roles. He has received many awards for community service, leadership, and volunteerism, and has travelled extensively and been the featured speaker/trainer to thousands of people throughout North America, Canada, Europe, Asia, Africa and Israel. |
Representative Rita Mayfield, State Representative Illinois 60th Legislative District
Rita is a lifelong resident of Waukegan and graduate from Waukegan West High School. She has earned a Bachelor of Science degree from Columbia College in Computer Information Systems, and a Master of Science from Benedictine University in Management and Organization Behavior with an Emphasis in Organization Development. Rita has over 15 years of management experience and has garnered regional and national recognition for her accomplishments in change management. She became a founding member of Citizens Organized for School Board Leadership (COSLA) which led her to running and being elected to the Waukegan Board of Education where she served 2 years as Vice President. Rita was appointed as a Member to the Waukegan Schools Foundation Board and is the Democratic Committeeman for Precinct 395. |
Representative Daniel Didech, State Representative Illinois 59th Legislative District
Daniel Didech was raised in Buffalo Grove by a family of small business owners. A graduate of Stevenson High School and District 96 schools, after completing law school Daniel returned to the community with his wife, Jen, who is a 6th grade math teacher at Twin Groves Middle School. During law school, Daniel worked at Jewish Child & Family Services where he advocated for children with special needs and their families. Currently, Daniel works as a local government attorney, where he provides legal counsel to suburban villages, school districts, park districts and community colleges. As State Representative, Daniel will continue the tradition set by his predecessors, Carol Sente and Kathy Ryg, of being an accessible and hard-working leader in the community. He regularly attends local board and community meetings, holds meet-and-greet and town hall events, and talks to our neighbors on their doorsteps about their concerns and ideas to move our state forward. |
Senator Adriane Johnson, State Senator Illinois 30th District
State Senator Adriane Johnson was sworn in as the first Black state Senator from Lake County to represent the 30th District in October 2020. Johnson received a Bachelor of Arts degree in Liberal Studies from Columbia College and a Master of Jurisprudence in Business Law from Loyola University Chicago School of Law. As commissioner of the Buffalo Grove Park District Board and the president of the Buffalo Grove-Lincolnshire Chamber of Commerce, Johnson had dedicated her life to serving the residents, small businesses and local parks of the northern suburbs. Prior to her current job, Johnson served as the president of the Buffalo Grove Park District. Johnson is also currently the chair of the Illinois Association of Park Districts' Board of Trustees, a member of the Village's Board of Fire and Police Commissioners, a member of the Rotary Club of Buffalo Grove, and serves as a volunteer with the Taproot Foundation. Johnson will serve as vice chair of the environment and conservation committee, and will sit on the behavioral and mental health, commerce, public safety, ethics, and transportation committees. |
Angelo Kyle, President, Lake County Forest Preserves, Lake County Board of Commissioners
Board member Kyle represents the 14th District, which includes portions of Waukegan and North Chicago. His began his most current term of service on the board in 2018, and previously served from 1990 to 2012. He currently serves as President of the Lake County Forest Preserves District, and also serves on the Diversity & Inclusion, Ethics & Oversight, and Legislative committees on the Lake County Board. As a public servant Angelo is the Past President of the National Association of Counties. He also served as the first African American Vice-President of the Lake County Forest Preserve. He is a 22+ year veteran and senior member of the Lake County Board of Commissioners and Lake County Forest Preserve Board of Commissioners. He was a keynote speaker at the Democratic National Convention in 2004 in Boston Massachusetts. He has also appeared on CNN, C-Span, ABC, NBC, CBS, PBS, and the National Press Club. |
Mark Pfister, Executive Director, Lake County Health Department and Community Health Center
Mark currently serves as the Executive Director of Lake County Health Department and Community Health Center. He holds a Bachelors Degree from Augustana College in Biology, Environmental Science, and Psychology, a MSES from Indiana University, School of Public and Environmental Affairs. As a public health executive and ecologist for over 30 years, Mark has researched and identified that the health of individual organisms and populations depend on the health and balance of the biophysical, and in the case of humans, socioeconomic environments within their ecosystem. Many problems plaguing our Illinois communities, like obesity and associated chronic and infectious diseases, are linked to social determinants of health. He believes that identifying and addressing the social determinants of health, should lead to improvements in health and well-being. |
Celeste Flores, Director of Community Building, Mano a Mano, Co-Chair, Clean Power Lake County
Celeste is the child of immigrant parents, was born and raised in Lake County, Illinois, and has been a lifelong member of Most Blessed Trinity Parish. She currently oversees the community outreach and benefits programming along with the communication department of Mano a Mano. Before joining Mano a Mano, Celeste spent six years working in the environmental justice movement in several different positions, most recently as the Lake County Outreach Director at Faith in Place. Celeste’s work with frontline community members has drawn national attention to the environmental injustices associated with corporate polluters in Lake County. As Co-Chair of Clean Power Lake County, she has built strong relationships with various coalition partners and elected officials. Celeste has continually championed the need for environmental justice and frontline communities to be part of conversations that shape the policy decisions that will work towards an equitable clean energy future. Most recently, in 2020, Celeste was the guest of Senator Tammy Duckworth for the State of the Union address. She was also a recipient of the 2020 Energy News Network's 40 under 40 Awards, and holds a bachelor's degree in History and Theology from Bellarmine University. |
Dulce Ortiz, Trustee, Waukegan Township, Executive Director, Mano a Mano, Co-Chair, Clean Power Lake County
Dulce is originally from Mexico City, Mexico, and immigrated to the area with her mother as a child. She holds a Bachelor’s degree from Robert Morris University. She joined Mano a Mano as Executive Director in April 2019 and is responsible for leading the Mano a Mano team in the implementation of their mission through planning, programming and community engagement. She also plays a key role in the development of strategic community partnerships and leads the policy advocacy agenda. She is an advocate for the underserved and vulnerable populations, and is a founder of the Clean Power Lake County Campaign. This grassroots-volunteer led campaign, is working for a long-term plan for the Waukegan coal plant that includes a just transition for the workforce, the tax base, and the lakefront site. She currently serves as one of the co-chairs of CPLC and is a member of Sierra Club’s local Chapter. She was featured in the National Geographic Channel’s Emmy Award-winning documentary series "Years of Living Dangerously." The ‘Uprising’ season finale episode, is an inspiring story of the Clean Power Lake County Campaign and Sierra Club's Beyond Coal Campaign. |
Dani Abboud, Manager of Community Programs and Partnerships at Brushwood Center
Dani is the Manager of Community Programs and Partnerships at Brushwood Center. Dani builds and maintains Brushwood Center’s partnerships with community organizations, and manages program coordination, social media communications, and volunteers. They also coordinate and facilitate youth programming with partners across the region, focused on supporting mental health, building community, and empowering students through creative expression. They graduated from Loyola University Chicago’s Institute of Environmental Sustainability, where they studied Environmental Science and Sociology. During their studies, they were part of a research project exploring environmental gentrification and racism, which inspired them to work in the social side of environmentalism. They bring a wealth of experience in community engagement, environmental justice issues, and qualitative research. |