Food for Thought Summer Lunch and Program
August 8, 2025
Focus on the Public Health Department in Cook County
Speaker: Dr. Kiran Joshi, Chief Operating Officer,
Cook County Department of Public Health
Moderator: Susan Avila
Dr. Kiran Joshi, Chief Operating Officer of the Cook County Department of Public Health, was the featured speaker at the Cook County League’s 2025 Food for Thought event on August 8. Dr. Joshi covered a number of topics in response to questions posed by League moderator Susan Avila and members of the audience. One theme that came through was that Dr. Joshi sees the need to address societal issues in order to improve public health.
Dr. Joshi gave an example of how red-lining decades ago led to segregation and in turn led to areas of greater pollution, reduced safety, and fewer places for outdoor play. All these results have a great impact on public health in those areas. So public health departments must work in partnership with those addressing societal issues. Related to this is recognizing the need to address behavioral health needs. Dr. Joshi cited looking at upstream factors, such as what support schools provide, contrasting strict discipline with discipline with compassion, and how that can impact behavioral health.
The Department of Public Health also deals with keeping track of and providing vaccines for communicable diseases, such as measles and Covid 19. The Department does contact tracing and will provide support as necessary so people can isolate. The Department also is responsible for inspecting food establishments and is empowered to shut establishments down if necessary for health reasons. However, Dr. Joshi explained that the Department tries to work with food establishments to get compliance, rather than having to shut them down.
Dr. Joshi said that over the last few years there has been a new emphasis on increasing public health preparedness: how to quickly set up the necessary administrative functions and obtain money to deal with outbreaks of communicable diseases, for example.
The Cook County Department of Public Health covers most of Suburban Cook County. Evanston, Oak Park, Skokie, and Stickney Township, along with Chicago, each have their own public health departments.
To learn more about the Department, check out its Website.
2025 LWVCC Annual Meeting
May 6, 2025
Brookfield Zoo Chicago
League Members from across Cook County had a beautiful day to meet in the ITW White Oak Room at the Brookfield Chicago Zoo to plan for LWVCC 25-26 year. New officers were elected, a budget was passed, and the program was approved. A $2 per member PMP was also approved. See the reports of our Interest Groups, details of the approved budget and program, and changes to Where We Stand below.
Our speaker, Dr. Mike Adkesson, President and CEO, Brookfield Zoo Chicago, began his talk by thanking the League for its support of the Forest Preserve Referendum in 2022. The Zoo resides on Forest Preserve land and the additional funds the Zoo receives are going to much needed infrastructure projects like updates to roofs, HVAC, and trucks.
The Zoo's Next Century Plan includes some amazing projects that will let visitors make connections to the natural world. The exhibits, such as the Tropical Forest and Seven Seas, will be immersive ecosystems creating more natural environments for the animals and the visitors. To read more about his talk, click HERE.
Food For Thought Tuesday August 13, 2024
Cook County Public Defender Sharone R. Mitchell Jr. proved a very interesting speaker for this year's Food for Thought. Responding to questions from the League's Criminal Justice Group chair, Jan Goldberg, and the audience, he explained all of the services needed to defend a client.
2024 LWVCC Annual Meeting
Tuesday May 13, 2024
70 Members from across Cook County met to review the 23-24 year and plan for the 24-25 year.
Edward Michalowski, Cook County Deputy Clerk for Elections and Marisel Hernandez, Chair of the Chicago Board of Elections gave a positive report on the secure and sound operations of the two election authorities.
Tuesday May 13, 2024
70 Members from across Cook County met to review the 23-24 year and plan for the 24-25 year.
Edward Michalowski, Cook County Deputy Clerk for Elections and Marisel Hernandez, Chair of the Chicago Board of Elections gave a positive report on the secure and sound operations of the two election authorities.
Highlights of the Meeting
- LWVIL President Becky Simon reminded the group of the League legacy of action and accomplishment and how critical our work is for this upcoming election.
- Interest Groups highlighted impactful actions this past year: monitoring the implementation of the Safe-T Act; campaigning for special elections for vacancies over 28 months; monitoring of ARPA programs and Forest Preserve funds.
- Retiring LWVCC Board Members Diane Edmundson and Karin Hribar were recognized for their significant contributions to the Cook County League
- New Directors Victoria Cerinich and Sue Gregory were elected to the Board. VP Kathi Graffam, Secretary Carolyn Consentino, and Director Betty Hayford were elected to another term. The new Nominating Committee will be chaired by Ann Yoshida with member Diane Hodges.
- Approved the 2024-25 Budget and Program
Approved 24-25 Budget
Approved 24-25 Program
February 26, 2024
Forest Preserve Interest Group Presentation
Photo by Pixabay
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Freedom Seekers and the history of Northeastern Illinois View a recording of the presentation HERE |
Cook County Forest Preserves Guided Walks
2021-2024, LWVCC sponsored guided nature walks at all of the Cook County Forest Preserves' Nature Centers to highlight how the preserves are an integral part of our community and contribute to our quality of life. These walks were planned to bring attention to the November 8, 2022, rate increase referendum which passed.
The walks have proven to be very popular with our members and have continued into 2024.
2021-2024, LWVCC sponsored guided nature walks at all of the Cook County Forest Preserves' Nature Centers to highlight how the preserves are an integral part of our community and contribute to our quality of life. These walks were planned to bring attention to the November 8, 2022, rate increase referendum which passed.
The walks have proven to be very popular with our members and have continued into 2024.
Cook County Board President and Commissioners pictured with LWVCC Members at 100th Anniversary Recognition
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League of Women Voters
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