2010 Freedom Award Recipients

JOHN J. CULLERTON

John Cullerton is the President of the Illinois State Senate.

In 1976 Cullerton began his public career by being elected to the Illinois Delegation to the Democratic National Convention. Two years later, he was elected to the Illinois House of Representatives, and as a freshman Representative voted to create the Illinois Human Rights Act in 1979. Throughout his 12-years as a State Representative, Cullerton served as Democratic Floor Leader and Speaker Pro Tempore. In 1990, he was the chief sponsor of Illinois’ hate crime law, and fought ensure that protection for sexual orientation and gender identity was included.

Cullerton was first appointed to the Illinois Senate in 1991 and was re-elected to the State Senate in 1992, representing the state’s 6th Legislative District. With his reputation as a respected, intelligent attorney, Cullerton has often been tapped to serve as the Democrat’s point person on key judicial issues, including Chair of the Senate’s Judiciary Committee, as well as co-sponsoring the expansion of Illinois Human Rights Act to provide protection from discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity in 2005.

Over the past 30 years, Cullerton has built a reputation as a lawmaker who takes on some of the state’s toughest problems, finding solutions by negotiating compromise and agreement to end gridlock and get Illinois’ business done. He is one of the most vocal and ardent supporters of equal rights for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender people in Illinois.

Equality Illinois salutes the Honorable John J. Cullerton for his decades of public service and for his commitment to justice for all.

MARY F. MORTEN

Mary F. Morten is the President of Morten Group (MG), a consulting firm specializing in social change through skills development, public policy and advocacy. Morten Group’s work includes: organizational and resource development; workshops on diversity; public policy initiatives; trustee cultivation and film/video production. Morten served as associate and interim executive director for the Chicago Foundation for Women.

Morten is the immediate past Director of the Office of Violence Prevention for the Chicago Department of Public Health. Prior to this position, Morten was a mayoral appointee for Mayor Richard M. Daley and served as the Director/Liaison for the Chicago Commission on Human Relations’ Advisory Council on Gay and Lesbian Issues. She led the community-based coalition for the film, It’s Elementary, a 37-minute educational film for use in staff development trainings for Chicago Public Schools, which represents the largest institutional use of the video in the country, and developed the anti-racism project, The Color Triangle, for the LGBT community. She is co-founder of the Illinois Safe Schools Alliance.

Morten is a former board member of Chicago’s Center on Halsted and of the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force. Morten co-anchored the LesBiGay Radio and later serving as founding general manager of Windy City Radio. Her commitment to full equality for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender people was honored with 1996 induction into the Gay and Lesbian Hall of Fame. For seven consecutive years, Morten directed and produced Justice for All Gala videos.

Morten has received numerous honors for work with women and girls and in the philanthropic community, such as Rape Victim Advocates Visionary Award, Women’s Funding Network’ Changing the Face of Philanthropy Award, and Women’s Business Development Center’s Advocacy Award.

Morten holds a B.A. in Communications from Loyola University of Chicago. She currently chairs the Illinois Center for Violence Prevention’s Leadership Council, is a member of the Association of Fundraising Professionals and is on faculty for the Axelson Center for NonProfit Management. Morten is currently in production on her own documentary on African American youth, Woke up Black, slated for completion in 2010.

Equality Illinois salutes Mary F. Morten for her commitment to justice for all.

LAURA M. RICKETTS

Laura Ricketts is an active member of the Chicago community. She is involved with several Chicago area community organizations and social causes. She is Chair of the Leadership Council for Housing Opportunities for Women, Inc. (“HOW”), a non-profit organization that provides permanent supportive housing and comprehensive case management to homeless women and children in the Chicago area. Before chairing HOW’s Leadership Council, Ricketts served on its Board of Directors for eight years assuming leadership positions of Treasurer and Development Committee Chair. Ricketts also serves on the Board of Directors for GayCo Productions, a non-profit theatre ensemble founded as an outreach of Second City that produces intelligent and thought-provoking lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (“LGBT”) themed sketch comedy as well as training workshops and creative expression programming.

Ricketts is a member of U.S. Representative Mike Quigley’s LGBT Advisory Council and recently joined the Cook County State’s Attorney’s LGBT Advisory Council, which serves as a link between the LGBT community and the State’s Attorney’s Office. Ricketts also serves on the Board of the West Edgewater Area Residents Association and has volunteered for and contributed to several other Chicago community organizations including Howard Brown Health Center and Equality Illinois. She served as event chair of the 2008 Justice for All Gala and co-chaired the 2009 Justice for All Gala.

Beyond the Chicago community, Ricketts serves on the Board of Directors for Lambda Legal Defense and Education Fund, a national non-profit organization that litigates, educates and engages in public policy work on behalf of LGBT civil rights. Ricketts Co-Chairs the Democratic National Committee’s LGBT Leadership Council. She is also on the Board of Directors for Opportunity Education, an international charitable foundation that endeavors to make educational opportunities accessible to children in developing nations so that they can attain the skills required to improve their standard of living. Opportunity Education currently provides educational programming and technological tools to help train teachers in over 900 schools across Africa and Asia.

Ricketts earned her J.D. from the University of Michigan Law School and an A.B. in Philosophy from the University of Chicago. She practiced law at the Chicago law firm of Schiff, Hardin & Waite (now Schiff Hardin LLP) where she was an associate in the Corporate and Securities Practice Group. Ricketts is President and Co-Founder of Ecotravel, LLC, a company dedicated to fostering and promoting ecotourism worldwide.

Equality Illinois salutes Laura Ricketts for her commitment to justice for all.



2010 Business Leadership Award Recipient

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