Democracy Under Siege: Safeguarding Our Elections and Preserving Voting Rights

When she was sworn into office on December 2, 2024, Monica Gordon became the youngest woman and just the third African American to serve as the Clerk of Cook County, one of the largest consolidated Clerk’s offices in the nation. 

As Clerk, Ms. Gordon has many wide-ranging responsibilities, including serving as the Chief Election Authority for suburban Cook County, securing and administering Vital Records, and recording and maintaining land records and other official documents. 

A longtime resident of the Southland, Ms. Gordon served as Cook County Commissioner for the 5th District prior to her election as Clerk. She served as Vice Chair of the Cook County Board’s Transportation Committee and has been active on issues involving health care, violence prevention, and women’s issues. 

Clerk Gordon has a long record of public service, having served as board chair of Prairie State Community College as well as Government Affairs Director for Chicago State University. She previously served as the Executive Director of the Illinois Legislative Black Caucus Foundation, a statewide advocacy organization. 

Ms. Gordon holds an MA in Communication & Training from Governors State University and a BA in Journalism from Northern Illinois University. She says her birth on Labor Day symbolizes her commitment to improving the lives of working people.

Carolina Lopez is the Executive Director at the Partnership for Large Election Jurisdictions (PLEJ) and has over two decades in election administration and building coalitions. She spent a decade administering elections in Miami-Dade County, Florida where she optimized operations, transparency, and good governance. Thereafter as a democracy advocate, she leveraged stakeholder relationships and expertise across broad coalitions to guide legislative advocacy, shape clerk engagement and election protection programs, and strengthen national and in-state relationships. Given her unique insight on how elections are run in large jurisdictions and creating strong relationships among national, state, and local coalitions, Carolina understands the pivotal role that PLEJ plays in connecting a through-line across states with peers from similarly-sized jurisdictions. Carolina holds a BBA and an MBA in Business Administration from Florida International University.

The Honorable Karen Freeman-Wilson began serving as President and CEO of the Chicago Urban League in January 2020. She brings a passion for equity and social justice to the organization, which works to achieve equity for Black families and communities through social and economic empowerment. 

Having served in the public arena most of her professional life, Freeman-Wilson has deep experience in addressing issues that impact urban communities. She was mayor of her hometown of Gary, Indiana, from 2012 through 2019. She was the first female to lead the city of Gary and the first African-American female mayor in the state of Indiana. Her mayoral accomplishments included job creation, completion of a $100 million airport runway relocation, and the development of key areas in the city. She also previously served as Indiana Attorney General, Director of the Indiana Civil Rights Commission and presiding judge of the Gary City Court. She also served as CEO of the National Association of Drug Court Professionals and Executive Director of the National Drug Court Institute. 

Freeman-Wilson is a graduate of Harvard College and Harvard Law School. She is a past President of the National League of Cities and past Chairperson of the Criminal and Social Justice Committee of the U.S. Conference of Mayors. She is a member of Israel C.M.E. Church; Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc.; the Links, Inc.; the NAACP; the Urban League of Northwest Indiana and the Indiana Bar. 

Freeman-Wilson and her husband Carmen Wilson II have a blended family of four children.

Theodis Pace, longtime area resident and President of the Kankakee County branch of the NAACP, has been named the President of the statewide chapter. 

Pace was recently appointed President of the Illinois State Conference of the NAACP. 

Pace is actively involved in the community. He serves as a board member for the Economic Alliance of Kankakee County. His experience includes 29 years as the President of the Kankakee County Branch NAACP, Former Exalted Ruler of the Greater Kankakee Elks Lodge #1753, former Board Member of the Illinois Association of Minority in Government, Athletic Director and Coach of the Kankakee Eastside Junior Football League (47 years), Member of Kankakee County Jury Commission, member of the Iroquois-Kankakee Education to Careers Partnership Committee, panel member of Kankakee Area Community Advisory Committee, former Member of the Kankakee Planning Commission, member of Morning Star Baptist Church, former President of the River Valley Special Recreation Association, former Vice-President of the Kankakee Valley Park District Board of Commissioners, Mentor of the Career Health Academy of Medical Profession, member of Citizens for Children Rights Committees, former member of the National Points for Lights Foundation Advisory Board, YMCA Pioneering and Healthy Community Board and Kankakee County Renewed Opportunity Board, Board Member of Kankakee County Chamber of Commerce.