Gov. Pritzker Announces Five Appointments to Illinois State Boards

Building on a strong team of diverse experts in their fields, Governor JB Pritzker announced the following appointments in his administration:

 
ILLINOIS CENSUS ADVISORY PANEL

 
State Representative Carol Ammons will serve on the Illinois Census Advisory Panel. Ammons is currently serving her third term as the full-time state representative of the 103rd District, which includes Champaign-Urbana. In addition to her work as a grassroots organizer, Ammons previously served on the Urbana City Council from 2013-2015 and the Champaign County Board from 2007 to 2012. She is a recipient of the IEA/NEA Region 9 Award for Supporting Higher Education Funding, the CU Superstar Program Shining Star Award for Star Award for Supporting Champaign Youth, the LeadingAge Illinois Partners in Quality Award and was a University of Illinois Edgar Fellow. In the last five years, Ammons has passed multiple pieces of legislation with bipartisan support including legislation to stop the dumping of toxic chemicals in the landfill above the Mahomet Aquifer, lowering the cost of phone calls from Illinois prisons to ensure families can stay connected, stronger police accountability measures, and implementing protections for temporary workers.

 
ILLINOIS CRIMINAL JUSTICE INFORMATION AUTHORITY

 
Carmen Terrones will serve on the Illinois Criminal Justice Information Authority.* Terrones most recently worked at the David Lynch Foundation as a consultant and Haywood Burns Institute as a senior associate. Prior, Terrones served as Regional Administrator of the Northern Region for the Illinois Department of Juvenile Justice, Deputy Chief Probation Officer of the Chicago Northern Division for Cook County Juvenile Probation Department, and Coordinator of the Juvenile Detention Alternative Initiative for Cook County Juvenile Probation Department. She is an advisory board member for the Restorative Justice Hubs and Adler University's Institute on Public Safety and Social Justice. In addition, she is a member of the Annie E. Casey Foundation Applied Leadership Network and the Latin American Professionals Impacting Society. Terrones earned her Bachelor of Arts in Law Enforcement Administration from Western Illinois University and her Master of Psychology with an emphasis in Industrial Organization Psychology from Walden University.

 
GUARDIANSHIP AND ADVOCACY COMMISSION

 
Kathryn Eisenhart will serve on the Guardianship and Advocacy Commission.* Eisenhart joined the faculty of the University of Illinois-Springfield in 1992 as a member of the Legal Studies Department. She served as chair of the department several times before retiring in 2014 as an Associate Professor Emerita. Before joining faculty at the University of Illinois-Springfield, she was an associate attorney at Leahy Law Office. Eisenhart's first position as an attorney was with the Guardianship and Advocacy Commission serving as the downstate lawyer for the Office of State Guardian. Additionally, she served as an advocate for persons with disabilities both with the Guardianship and Advocacy Commission and the not-for-profit Protection and Advocacy, now Equip for Equality. Eisenhart is active in the Illinois State Bar Association, having served as chair of the Human Rights Section Council, the chair of Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity Committee, and editor of the Human Rights Newsletter. She earned her Juris Doctorate from DePaul University College of Law in 1982.

 
LIQUOR CONTROL COMMISSION

 
Steven Powell will serve on the Liquor Control Commission.* Powell was elected to serve as the President of Local 881 of the United Food and Commercial Workers International Union in 2019. In addition, he serves as Vice President on the UFCW International Executive Board. Powell began his career in the labor movement in 1985 as a union representative for Local 881. Powell was asked to serve to UFCW International Union in Washington, DC as the Director of Political and Legislative Affairs. He returned to Local 881 in 1995 to serve as the Executive Vice President until he was elected Secretary-Treasurer in 1999. Powell was also assigned to be a special assistant to the President of the UFCW International to coordinate activities for the 2008 and 2012 presidential elections. In addition to his duties with the local and international union, Powell also serves as a Trustee for the UFCW Midwest Health Benefits Fund, Chairman of the Indiana-Calumet Region Health and Welfare Fund, and Trustee for the UFCW Local 655 Health and Welfare Fund. Moreover, he was appointed to the Illinois State Board of Investments from 2012-2017 and has served as an elected Trustee for the Village of Mundelein from 1997 to 2001.

 
ILLINOIS STATE BOARD OF HEALTH
 

Karen Phelan will continue to serve on the Illinois State Board of Health.* Phelan is currently a business consultant in public relations and marketing for Duncannon Associates. Phelan's association with the State Board of Health began in 1998 as Citizen at Large, when she was appointed by Governor Edgar. She has consecutively been appointed by five Governors as Citizen at Large and/or Business Representative and has represented five Illinois SBOH Directors, and has additionally served as Chairman of the Board and currently serves as Chairperson of both the Policy Committee and the Rules Committee.
 
* Appointments pending confirmation by the Illinois Senate.