2019-2021 Board of Directors
Kathy Kenny
Director LWV Naperville |
Siobhan Greene
Director LWV La Grange Cheryl Budzinski
Director LWV Peoria |
Jean Pierce,
Director LWV Central Kane Barbara Hayes
Director LWV Homewood/Flossmoor |
Executive Director

Audra Wilson is a public interest attorney, with a depth of experience in poverty law and diversity, Wilson is uniquely positioned to lead the organization whose mission is to further a democracy where every person has the desire, the right, the knowledge, and the confidence to participate .
Wilson began her legal career as a Welfare Advocacy Staff Attorney with the Sargent Shriver National Center on Poverty Law where for five years she focused on food security issues and advocacy for low-income working families. Wilson was thrust squarely into the world of politics when she was tapped by then state senator, Barack Obama to serve as the Deputy Press and Policy Director on his U.S. Senate campaign.
After the U.S. Senate race, Wilson spent seven years on the faculty at Northwestern University Pritzker School of Law as Adjunct Professor and Director of Diversity Education and Outreach. In addition to launching several major diversity initiatives, Wilson developed and taught a seminar analyzing the history of US welfare programs and impact of social attitudes on contemporary welfare policy.
In 2013, Wilson accepted a position as Deputy Chief of Staff for United States Congresswoman Robin Kelly in the Second Congressional District of Illinois. She began her work with the League of Women Voters of Illinois in October of 2018. In October 2019, Wilson was appointed as the chair of the Cook County Commission on Women's Issues by Cook County Board President, Toni Preckwinkle.
Wilson began her legal career as a Welfare Advocacy Staff Attorney with the Sargent Shriver National Center on Poverty Law where for five years she focused on food security issues and advocacy for low-income working families. Wilson was thrust squarely into the world of politics when she was tapped by then state senator, Barack Obama to serve as the Deputy Press and Policy Director on his U.S. Senate campaign.
After the U.S. Senate race, Wilson spent seven years on the faculty at Northwestern University Pritzker School of Law as Adjunct Professor and Director of Diversity Education and Outreach. In addition to launching several major diversity initiatives, Wilson developed and taught a seminar analyzing the history of US welfare programs and impact of social attitudes on contemporary welfare policy.
In 2013, Wilson accepted a position as Deputy Chief of Staff for United States Congresswoman Robin Kelly in the Second Congressional District of Illinois. She began her work with the League of Women Voters of Illinois in October of 2018. In October 2019, Wilson was appointed as the chair of the Cook County Commission on Women's Issues by Cook County Board President, Toni Preckwinkle.