The Girl Talk

We've heard #MeToo stories from Hollywood to Springfield, but some of the most abusive and toxic behavior at the center of these stories is still experienced every day by women in the bar and restaurant industries.Our guests this month are legends in Chicago and beyond, not only for their abilities behind the bar, but for creating networks of talented, fierce women who mentor younger servers and focus on giving back to their communities.SHELBY ALLISONShelby Allison co-owns Lost Lake, a tropical cocktail bar in Chicago that opened in 2015 and was named Best American Cocktail Bar at Tales of the Cocktail's 2018 Spirited Awards, is a three-time James Beard Foundation semifinalist for Outstanding Bar Program (2016, 2017, 2018) and a finalist in 2019, and earned a spot on the World's 50 Best Bars list (2018). Shelby is a co-founder of Chicago Style, a yearly conference focused on increasing inclusivity, safety, and sustainability within the cocktail community, and was featured in The New York Times, Vogue, and Food and Wine. She also co-founded Shift-Ease, a monthly charitable party at Lost Lake that supports local Chicago organizations working for progressive racial, economic and gender justice, and is a founding board member of the Chicago Period Project, an aspiring non-profit that helps Chicago's homeless and in-need people experience their periods with dignity. Shelby was one of Chicago Woman's 10 Most Influential Women in Chicago's food and beverage community (2018), and one of Wine Enthusiast's 40 Under 40 Tastemakers (2018).NANDINI KHAUNDNandini Khaund was part of the opening team at one of the city's most groundbreaking cocktail bars, the Violet Hour, which has had a tremendous impact on the industry in Chicago and beyond for more than a decade. Since then, Nandini has done everything from tend bar at Big Star to create an independent cocktail app to open and operate Cindy's, the beautiful rooftop bar you definitely know if you've ever visited the Chicago Athletic Association hotel. She's now the founder of Grimoire, a consulting company that works with hospitality groups, bars, and restaurants to facilitate positive work environments, and sits on the grants committee for the nonprofit Tales of the Cocktail Foundation.ALEXIS BROWNMulti-certified mixologist, philanthropist and industry educator Alexis Brown, is the founder and executive director of Causing A Stir, an organization dedicated to educating and empowering underrepresented individuals in the bar and beverage industry.Born and raised in Chicago, Illinois, Alexis worked her way up in the hospitality industry from a coat-check and nightclub “shot girl” to a skilled beverage consultant and cocktail connoisseur. In her nearly 10 years of experience in the field, Alexis honed her skills at some of Chicago's most renowned bars and restaurants including The Drifter, The Dearborn and The Aviary.Throughout her bartending career Alexis witnessed the disparaging way underrepresented individuals were treated in the beverage industry and decided to create a safe space where they could develop the skills to thrive among their peers. In 2016, she developed Causing A Stir to uplift and empower marginalized individuals in the hospitality industry. Since its inception the group has gained nearly 3,000 members worldwide and hosts monthly events to educate individuals from underserved communities.Since 2011 Alexis has also served as the chief curator of her personal brand, Serving Life Behind Bars, where she develops custom cocktail creations for private events. She has received several accolades in the beverage industry including Wine Enthusiast Magazine's 40 Under 40 (2019), Drinks International Magazine's 100 Most Influential Figures (2019), World Class Competition Top 100 Bartenders (2019), Old Forester Old Fashioned Competition Winner (2018), Most Imaginative Bartender Regional Finalist Award (2017) and Semi-Finalist of the Bacardi Legacy Competition (2017 & 2018).Alexis has spread her mission of educating minorities in the beverage industry across the country. She has been featured on The Chicago Tribune, Food & Wine and Eater.Like the show? Join us LIVE monthly at The Hideout in Chicago!

This month, we're talking to two Latinx Chicago women fighting hard for progressive values in Springfield — and already seeing results from some groundbreaking legislation and widely earning the respect of their colleagues. State Reps. Delia Ramirez and Celina Villanueva have been showing up in a big way downstate, fighting for education equity, immigrant rights, voting access and empowering young people of color. Both women started off as organizers so we are putting them on stage together to learn from their experience and help us understand their work on a deeper level.--- OUR GUESTS ---DELIA RAMIERZ Delia Ramirez is an accomplished social service director, community leader, and coalition builder who has dedicated much of her life and career to the Humboldt Park and Logan Square communities. On March 2018, as a first-time candidate, Delia was elected the Democratic nominee of Illinois' 4th house district and is the first Guatemalan American in the state legislature. A daughter of Guatemalan immigrants, Delia resides on the same block where she grew up. As a graduate of Sabin Magnet Elementary school in the eastern part of the 4th district and Northeastern University, Delia recognizes the importance of public education and is committed to fighting for high quality, equitable education for all our children. In 2004, at only 21 years old, Delia became the Executive Director of Humboldt Park Social Services, now the Center for Changing Lives. During Delia's tenure, the agency served more than 4,500 households and quadrupled the budget expanding its supportive services to become a city-wide organization nationally recognized for its innovative work on housing and financial stability programs. Delia has served as the Board president of Logan Square Neighborhood Association, District Advisory Chair of the 14th District Police Department, Co-founder of the Chicago Justice for our Neighbors Free Immigration Clinic, and currently serves as the President of LUCHA, a community development and affordable housing organization in the district. Delia has been a leader in neighborhood and city-wide coalitions for balanced neighborhood development, an elected school board, the Fight for 15, and Automatic Voter Registration. Her work has been recognized through several awards including the 2007 Community Renewal Society 35 under 35 leadership award, The National Hispanic Plan's 2011 Leader for Change Award, an Emerging Fellow of The Chicago Community Trust in 2013, and La Raza's Community Leader award in 2013. Up until December 2017, Delia served as Deputy Director of the Community Renewal Society, Chicago's oldest faith-based social justice organization, where she oversaw the development, organizing and policy units. Under her leadership, CRS helped pass several bills that remove barriers to employment for people with records. Additionally, she led a process that culminated in a three-year strategic plan for the Chicago area faith-based organization. In her first year as a state legislator she passed seven pieces of legislation ranging from expansion of homeless prevention to legislation reforming the department of children and family services and removing barriers to licensing for immigrant communities. As a leader in the progressive caucus in the House of Representatives, she is leading the housing taskforce looking at comprehensive state policy to housing stability. Delia has demonstrated throughout her life both personally and professionally, the ability to build relationships across broad demographics and unite diverse stakeholders for a common good. She is a proven leader with deep roots in her community. CELINA VILLANUEVABorn in Chicago and raised in Little Village, Celina Villanueva is currently the State Representative of the 21st district. Formerly Civic and Youth Engagement Manager at the Illinois Coalition for Immigrant and Refugee Rights. With a focus on building immigrant power, developing leaders and expanding voting rights, Celina tied in her background in organizing, civic engagement and youth development to engage immigrant communities and allies throughout Illinois into the various campaigns at ICIRR. With various wins under her belt, Celina has helped to expand voting rights through her efforts on Online Voter Registration, Election Day Registration, and most recently Automatic Voter Registration, all of which are now the law in the land of Lincoln. Additionally, Celina lead the largest immigrant civic engagement program in Illinois that has registered over 200,000 new American voters and mobilized hundreds of thousands more to get out to vote. Prior to joining ICIRR, Celina served as the Director of Organizing at Chicago Votes, as well as working on various issue-based campaigns including the fight for Marriage Equality in Illinois. She also previously served as Outreach Coordinator for Cook County Commissioner Jesus “Chuy” Garcia, a role that superseded her work on various state and local electoral campaigns.When she's not busy trying to change the world into a place where we can all live openly and safely, Celina is an avid reader, lover of musicals, shopping, dancing and a great brunch. Celina a born and bred Chicago girl, graduated with a B.A in Latina/Latino Studies with minors in African-American Studies and Spanish from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

On an earlier show, we heard from experts about the problems for legal weed in Illinois. Fast forward to just one month later, and it's become a reality, thanks, in large part, to Rep. Kelly Cassidy, who will be joining us this month along with one of her partners in badass legislative action, Rep. Jehan Gordon-Booth. Kelly, by all accounts, was a force of nature this year in Springfield, leading the way in groundbreaking legislative progress on legalization, the Reproductive Health Act, sexual harassment, a fair income tax that actually makes rich people pay their fair share, and more. Representatives Cassidy and Gordon-Booth will join us for the real story behind how they and their fellow legislators made it all happen after so many years of zero good things happening in the Capitol.ABOUT OUR GUESTS: REP. KELLY CASSIDYKelly Cassidy is currently serving her fourth term as the State Representative for Illinois' 14th House district. She currently serves as Chair of the Appropriations Public Safety Committee. She also serves as the Vice Chair of the Judiciary Criminal Committee, Vice Chair of the Restorative Justice Committee and is a member of the Labor & Commerce, Economic Opportunity, Human Services and Tourism & Craft Industries committees as well as serving on the House Sexual Discrimination & Harassment Task Force.Prior to her appointment in 2011 Illinois State Representative Kelly Cassidy was a community activist and organizer. She served as district office director to Senator John Cullerton and worked in the office of the Cook County State's Attorney working towards a smarter criminal justice system. Over the past 20 years Representative Cassidy has worked on behalf of the community in the non-profit and government sectors. As one of three openly gay members of the General Assembly, she has helped passed progressive legislation involving criminal justice reform, the rights of women and the LGBTQ community and more. This includes the Youth Mental Health Protection Act which bans conversion therapy to change youth sexual orientation and HB 1464 which ensures pregnant women being detained pre-trial, are not forced to give birth in detention centers. Cassidy's work on criminal justice reform has resulted in significant changes to our criminal justice system, including the Uniform Civil Enforcement of Cannabis law that eliminates arrest for possession of small amounts of cannabis and significant reentry reforms including removal of permanent barriers to employment for those with felony records. Representative Cassidy has devoted the last two decades to making government more accessible, efficient and effective. Her combination of non-profit sector, state, and local government experience provides her with a unique perspective, expertise and understanding that empowers her to serve as an outstanding representative for the 14th district.Representative Cassidy lives in Rogers Park with her spouse, Candace Gingrich and three sons.REP. JEHAN GORDON-BOOTH Representative Jehan Gordon-Booth is a community activist, mother and full-time legislator serving the people of Illinois' 92nd district. She is a proud daughter of Peoria and the first African-American woman ever to be elected to represent the central region of the state in the Illinois General Assembly.. Rep. Gordon-Booth is still a proud resident of Peoria where she lives today with her best friend and husband Coach Derrick Booth and their two year old daughter, Jianna. Among her colleagues Rep. Gordon Booth is regarded as kind, level-headed, and they even dare say “bipartisan.”Before she ever served in the House, Rep. Gordon-Booth lived out her platform of making quality education real and accessible through her work. After graduating from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, she served as one of District 69's youngest school board members. It's because she truly understands that communities are willing to work for them. So, she has. In the General Assembly, she's been working to pass legislation aimed at advancing educational opportunity for kids across the entire state of Illinois with a host of bills that have been signed into law.Fully understanding the work needed to effectively deal with the issue of safety and mass incarceration Rep. Gordon-Booth passed the largest and most comprehensive criminal justice reform bill, SB 2872--The Neighborhood Safety Act in 2017. While she always had the goal of making communities stronger and safer, her work extends far beyond education and criminal justice reform. Understanding the importance of industry, production and public-private partnerships, Rep. Gordon-Booth negotiated the first Historic Tax Credit in the state of Illinois' history. The credit has already created hundreds of jobs and spurred development projects to revitalize parts of Peoria's community.Currently, pushing for a state budget and reforming and revitalizing our state's outdated criminal justice system is Rep. Gordon-Booth's primary focus. It is her commitment, as a legislator, to people's dignity and their ability to contribute to their communities which have kept her motivated and pushing for reform in areas of: education, tax code, sentencing regulation, re-entry programming, and economic opportunity. In the past, Rep. Gordon-Booth has crafted state legislation that served as a nationwide model for public policy. With the folks of Illinois in mind, this time, she hopes to do it again.Let us know what you think! Contact us on Twitter @GirlTalkChi or on Facebook @girltalkchicago. Special thanks to the amazing Bleach Party for our theme music. Check them out at http://letshaveableachparty.bandcamp.com/

The power is in the person who is trying, regardless of the success. If you're trying, you've got all the power, you're driving the agenda.” -Alexandria Ocasio CortezWhat is it like to be a woman running for political office? The stories women collect on the campaign trail of misogyny and sexism are often kept out of the public eye for fear of appearing weak. Not anymore. This month, we are going to hear from women who ran for office in a very male dominated political environment. About Our Guests:MARIA HADDENMaria Hadden is Alderwoman-Elect of the 49th Ward. In February 2019, she defeated Joe Moore, who had held the seat for 28 years. Once sworn in, she will be the first black queer woman on City Council and the first black alderman from a North Side ward. Maria is the Executive Director of Our City Our Voice, a national nonprofit organization she founded to empower communities and governments to redesign democracy to be more collaborative and transparent.SUSAN SADLOWSKI GARZASusan Sadlowski Garza is the first ever active Chicago Teachers Union member to be elected to City Council and the first ever woman to represent the 10th Ward in City Council. Susan's priorities include keeping schools public, increasing wages and creating long lasting economic development in the 10th Ward.Susan is constantly working to protect public interests, increase equality for women and the LGBTQ community, foster business relationships and protect air, land, and water resources for residents. ANNA VALENCIAAnna Valencia was sworn-in as City Clerk of Chicago on January 25, 2017 overseeing one of the largest offices in the City serving 1.2 million Chicagoans and generating more than $130 million annually. Prior to becoming Clerk, Valencia served as the second woman and first Latina to run Mayor Emanuel's Legislative Counsel and Government Affairs (LCGA) where she spearheaded the passage of police accountability reform, the modernization of the CTA's Red and Purple lines, the stabilization of pension funds and creation of the City's legal fund that assists immigrants and refugees threatened with deportation.Plus, our very own Erika Wozniak Francis will be telling her own tales from her recent aldermanic run in the 46th Ward! (Trust us, she's got some!)Special thanks to the amazing Bleach Party for our theme music. Check them out at http://letshaveableachparty.bandcamp.com/

05/28/19 FREE THE WEED Edition at The HideoutDescription: Illinois has just joined the ranks of the states who have legalized recreational cannabis. This episode we have two guests who bring us the straight dope ABOUT OUR GUESTSEDIE MOORE is one of the original owners of the only minority-owned firm, Illinois Grown Medicine, to receive cannabis licensure in Illinois in 2014. Working primarily on the compliance and community engagement teams, she has since expanded to advise firms locally and beyond who are seeking licensure. Recognizing that opportunities for success in the national cannabis community were overwhelming to many of her friends and colleagues, she looked for a way to break down the content and entry points into more manageable opportunities. In 2017 she, along with her filmmaker son, received a Chicago Community Trust Acting up Grant to produce their Cannabis on the Table microfilm series, Humans of Cannabis, which features people of color who are medical cannabis patients and caregivers. Edie is passionate about educating and reforming cannabis policies in her communities. To that end, she is a founding board member and Executive Director of Chicago NORML, a local chapter of the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws. The chapter, which was organized in 2017, has a mission to educate and motivate communities of color to destigmatize and accept the cannabis plant as a vehicle for political, economic, and health and wellness empowerment. Edie and Chicago NORML have been actively working with Illinois legislators to create the social equity provisions of the pending adult-use cannabis bill. They frequently lobby at state capitols across the country and in Washington DC for the reformation of cannabis laws. RITA J. MCGUIRE, M.D. affectionately known as Dr. Rita, is a globally recognized OB/GYN with over eight thousand deliveries throughout a 30-year career within the United States, Virgin Islands and Caribbean. She is a well-established medical professional serving as Medical Director and Attending Physician for prominent academic and community hospitals throughout the Midwest and Caribbean, providing effective patient care and innovative training techniques to medical students.As a compassionate and people-oriented motivational speaker, Holistic Health, Wellness & Fitness expert, Dr. Rita used her gifts to educate and empower women to pursue and maintain healthy lifestyles through proper nutrition, physical fitness and natural alternative medicine in South Africa, Mexico, Bahamas and across the United States.Dr. Rita, a four-time medical cannabis radio show spotlight guest (WVON Chicago and Bermuda radio) is a strong and dedicated advocate for the education and legalization of medical cannabis. Her pursuit of holistic and alternative medicine led her to become Co-Founder and Chief Medical Officer of the only African American female owned Hemp company in Illinois and as a certifying Medical Marijuana physician, where she has presented educational information to medical professionals and the general public on the use of cannabis for various health issues: Glaucoma, Diabetes, Heart Disease and Cancer.Dr. Rita's passion, drive and dedication is evident in her extensive research and application of knowledge throughout her medical and wellness practices.Let us know what you think! Contact us on Twitter @GirlTalkChi or on Facebook @girltalkchicago. Special thanks to the amazing Bleach Party for our theme music. Check them out at http://letshaveableachparty.bandcamp.com/

The Girl Talk: #METOO EditionThis episode was recorded live at The Hideout in Chicago on November 28, 2017.In recent months, it been hard to go five minutes without hearing a new, horrifying story about sexual assault or harassment. After years of silently suffering, it seems that women are finally being heard -- and the men who have been getting away with their egregious behavior for decades are facing the consequences.This show, The Girl Talk will tackle how women in Illinois are working to stop rampant sexual abuse and support victims who have long-endured the gropes, date rape drugs and assaults from powerful men. Our guests:MEGAN BLOMQUISTMegan Blomquist began fighting gender-based violence in college and started working with Rape Victim Advocates in 2009. She is currently the Director of Education and Training with Rape Victim Advocates. Megan graduated from University of Illinois-Chicago with a degree in Applied Psychology, focusing in Gender and Women's Studies. She is 40-hour certified in both Sexual Violence (2009) and Domestic Violence work (2011) in the state of Illinois. Through the Illinois Attorney General's Office Megan has also completed the 40-hour Sexual Assault Nurse Examiner training (2012). She is an active rape crisis counselor and community educator. Megan is passionate about ending sexual violence within our communities.EMILY MILLEREmily Miller is a political consultant living in Chicago. Over the last decade, she has developed and fought for policy and legislative agendas that give Illinois children and families the tools they need to build better lives. After graduating from DePaul University College of Law in 2006, Miller began her career as a staff attorney and health care advocate with the Illinois Public Interest Research Group (PIRG). Miller also coordinated government affairs for the Better Government Association and directed policy and advocacy at Voices for Illinois Children before launching her own consulting practice in January, 2017.LITESA WALLACE State Representative Litesa E. Wallace has spent her career fighting for working families like her own. As an educator and psychologist, as a single mother, and as the State Representative for Illinois' 67th District, Litesa understands the impact thatdecisions in Springfield have on people across the state.Litesa began her career as a counselor, working with children and adults experiencing mental health issues as well as child abuse victims, families in crisis, and people with histories of substance abuse. After completing a master's degree and doctorate at Northern Illinois University while raising a son on her own, Litesa worked as an adjunct professor at Northern Illinois University and the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater. Litesa's experiences as a counselor and educator drew her to become more involved in local government.She began volunteering, and working directly with policy-makers on the issues most important to her. Litesa won her first election for the Illinois House of Representatives in 2014, after serving as chief-of- staff to State Representative Charles E. Jefferson. She was re-elected in 2016.In the House, Litesa has proven herself an ally of working families and an adept policy-maker able to lead her fellow legislators to support causes she believes in. A progressive advocate for economic justice, she has protected Illinois' most vulnerable populations by expanding access to crucial services such as affordable childcare, healthcare, and SNAP benefits while also working to raise wages and create innovative economicdevelopment tools in cities across the state.Born on the Southside of Chicago and raised in the south suburbs and the daughter of a law enforcement agent and postal worker, Litesa grew up in a union household and was the first member of her family to complete a college degree. Litesa is raising her son in Rockford.Let us know what you think! Contact us on Twitter @GirlTalkChi or on Facebook @girltalkchicagoSpecial thanks to the amazing Bleach Party for our theme music. Check them out at http://letshaveableachparty.bandcamp.com/

The Girl Talk: 1968 EditionThis episode was recorded live at The Hideout in Chicago on August 28, 2018. 50 years ago this month, the streets of Chicago were packed with protesters demonstrating outside of the Democratic National Convention against the war in Vietnam and demanding civil rights and equality for African Americans.On the anniversary of those historic protests and the civil rights and student movements of 1968 in general, we'll be chatting with two women who were in the middle of it all, Mary Scott-Boria, a former member of the Black Panther Party, and Susan Klonsky, a former member of Students for a Democratic Society, which was the nation's largest student-led anti-war organization in the 1960s.Join us as Susan and Mary take us back to the heat of 1968, and shed some light on the lessons from that time for today's resistance movement. MARY SCOTT-BORIA is a lifelong resident of Chicago, arriving to Chicago at 15 where she was immediately immersed in the Chicago Freedom Movement as a young activist. Immediately upon graduating from high school she joined the Black Panther Party where her activities led her to working with the Puerto Rican Socialist Party. Mary has over 50 years of experience and knowledge of Chicago's communities, having worked as a professional social worker and human services administrator in several not for profit organizations. Her work and interests have been in women and youth issues and in community organizing and politics. She served as the founding executive director of the Chicago Sexual Assault Services Network, director of Youth Services Project (YSP), a founding executive member of the Cook County Democratic Women, and most recently as director of the Urban Studies Program of the Associated Colleges of the Midwest. As director of Women's Services for the Metropolitan YWCA, she became interested in global issues of violence against women and visited women's anti-violence projects in Ghana and South Africa. She was also active in anti-apartheid organizing and visited South Africa soon after the release of Nelson Mandela. Her involvement with the Christian Peacemaker Teams afforded her the opportunity to travel and lead a delegation of activists to Palestine. Her background in anti-racism education and organizing has kept her involved in issues of racial justice since the late 60s and involved membership in the Chicago Black Panther Party.Mary holds a master's degree in Social Work from the University of Illinois at Chicago. Her leadership in the Anti-Racism Institute of Clergy and Laity Concerned led her to seminary where she completed her Master of Divinity degree from the McCormick Theological Seminary in Chicago. She served on the training team of the Christian Peacemakers Teams and was most recently active with the Mikva Challenge Foundation and CLAIM (Chicago Legal Advocacy for Incarcerated Mothers). She lives in the Humboldt Park community in Chicago with her husband Rafael. Her passion involves engaging herself, her children and grandchildren in social justice issues that are both local and global. SUSAN KLONSKY is a Chicago-based writer and activist, is interested in preserving and improving public education, especially through the arts and through the creation of smaller and more personalized public schools. In 1968 Susan was a 21-year-old member of SDS (Students for a Democratic Society), the largest youth activist organization in the U.S. SDS actively supported various liberation movements both at home and internationally, and was deeply engaged in Its militant opposition to the U.S. war in Vietnam. The national headquarters of SDS was in the West Side of Chicago. Susan was a member of the national staff which offered support to students interested in starting SDS chapters on their campuses in every state. Susan's personal activism was focused on organizing women, creating a more democratic and egalitarian culture within the student movement, and in finding concrete ways to organize in solidarity with the movements for civil rights and Black liberation in the U.S. The focus of her work over the years has been the creation of community based organizations, public schools and arts companies that can carry on those early goals of peace, nonviolence and freedom for all people.Let us know what you think! Visit us at https://www.girltalkchi.com/Contact us on Twitter @GirlTalkChi or on Facebook @girltalkchicagoSpecial thanks to the amazing Bleach Party for our theme music. Check them out at http://letshaveableachparty.bandcamp.com/

This episode was recorded live at The Hideout in Chicago on September 27, 2016. As contract negotiations reach a fever pitch between the Emanuel administration and the Chicago Teachers Union, fierce and fearless CTU President Karen Lewis will join Jen Sabella (founder and editor at Block Club Chicago) and Erika Wozniak (teacher and activist) of The Girl Talk this episode! Assume President Lewis will deliver plenty of her signature bluntness and real talk about the Mayor and the future of our public schools and celebrity crushes. Plus, need life advice? Let President Lewis set your ass straight! Suggested advice topics include: best practices in red-oriented fashion accessorizing, exposing corruption, and making powerful dudes pee themselves in fear.Let us know what you think! Contact us on Twitter @GirlTalkChi or on Facebook @girltalkchicagoSpecial thanks to the amazing Bleach Party for our theme music. Check them out at http://letshaveableachparty.bandcamp.com/

The Girl Talk podcast is back!This episode was recorded live at The Hideout in Chicago on August 23, 2016. This show Jen & Erika of #TheGirlTalk will be chatting with Chair of the Chicago Police Board Lori Lightfoot and public policy expert/triathlete Amara Enyia. Lightfoot, a partner with the law firm Mayer Brown, has served in numerous key governmental roles, including as an Assistant U.S. Attorney in the Criminal Division of the Northern District of Illinois, as General Counsel and Chief of Staff at the Chicago Office of Emergency Management, and as Chief Administrator at the Office of Professional Standards – the internal Police Department organization that investigated allegations of excessive force and misconduct prior to 2007 when the City created the independent investigative agency – the Independent Police Review Authority. Her current role is leading the civilian body that gives residents a voice in the police disciplinary process. And Amara Enyia is a municipal policy consultant who took on Rahm Emanuel when she ran for Mayor of the City of Chicago in the 2015 municipal election at just 30 years old.We're throwing them together on ONE stage to talk about all the incredible things they're working on, the struggles facing our city, and the path forwardLet us know what you think! Contact us on Twitter @GirlTalkChi or on Facebook @girltalkchicagoSpecial thanks to the amazing Bleach Party for our theme music. Check them out at http://letshaveableachparty.bandcamp.com/

The Girl Talk: Self Care Is An Act of Political Warfare EditionThis episode was recorded live at The Hideout in Chicago on January 23, 2018.“Caring for myself is not self-indulgence, it is self-preservation, and that is an act of political warfare.” - Audre Lorde One year into Trump's presidency feels like 1,000 years, but a new year brings new hope, as difficult as that is to muster at times. This month on The Girl Talk, we'll speak to women who can help give us that hope by reflecting on what we've accomplished in the last year, how to care for ourselves even at our darkest moments, and how we can avoid fatigue and keep striving to make the world less awful. It's easy to be a dick to yourself a few weeks into the new year if you missed the gym or broke your resolutions in some other ways, but that's no way to love yourself! Let's surround ourselves with some positive femme-rgy and get ready to slay 2018. What is The Girl Talk, you ask? It's a monthly show on the fourth Tuesday of the month hosted by journalist Jen Sabella and public education warrior/CPS teacher Erika Wozniak Francis and co-produced by Chicago media strategist Joanna Klonsky. We feature influential Chicago women and gender nonconforming individuals fighting for social justice. All are welcome to take part in these important conversations. THIS MONTH'S GUESTS Khadijah Kysia is a licensed acupuncturist and board-certified herbalist, and poet with a Bachelor Degree in Creative Writing from the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor and a Masters of Science in Traditional Oriental Medicine from Pacific College of Oriental Medicine (Chicago). She is currently enrolled in the DAOM/Ph.d program at Five Branches University in San Jose. Khadijah is a momentum strategist specializing in resolving pain internally and externally, accessing joy to transform challenges into health and stability.Alexa James is a licensed clinical social worker and has devoted her professional life to serving people living with mental illnesses. In 2013, Alexa assumed the leadership of NAMI Chicago as Executive Director. In the 10 years preceding her appointment as Executive Director, Alexa worked with children and adults living with mental illness as well as those impacted by poverty and trauma. She earned her Master's Degrees in Social Work from Loyola University and in Child Development from Erickson Institute. Alexa's passion is to see that our community is equipped to support those in need of mental health support and to end the crippling stigma that attaches to those living with mental illness. Alexa's mission is to support the creation of a system of care that is compassionate, trauma informed and comprehensive so that individuals affected by mental health conditions get better, not worse. A lifelong Chicagoan, Alexa lives in Lincoln Square with her husband and two young children. The mission of the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) Chicago is to provide hope and improve the quality of life for those whose lives are affected by mental illness, by providing information and referrals, education, support, advocacy, and active community outreach.Let us know what you think! Contact us on Twitter @GirlTalkChi or on Facebook @girltalkchicagoSpecial thanks to the amazing Bleach Party for our theme music. Check them out at http://letshaveableachparty.bandcamp.com/

A Girl Talk throwback episode! This show was recorded live at The Hideout in Chicago on December 27, 2016. In November 2016, the F.B.I. reported a spike in hate crimes nationally, but most of that racial hatred was directed towards Muslims. The last time things were this bad was in the aftermath of 9/11. What will happen to Muslims under Trump? And even if he decides not to start some sort of fascist “registry,” what are American Muslims doing to fight this hatred and protect their families? This month, The Girl Talk welcomes three fierce Muslim women who will school us on what American Muslims are dealing with in this brutal political climate, and tell us how we can support the Muslim community moving forward. This month, proceeds from the show will go towards helping homeless women in the Uptown neighborhood. We are working with The Healing Corner to organize & purchase essential items to help these women during the coldest months of the year.OUR GUESTS: NADIAH MOHAJIR is the co-founder and Executive Director for The HEART Women & Girls Project. For the last seven years, she has led a national team of people to organize the Muslim community and lead awareness campaigns, educational workshops, and professional develop training on stigmatized topics. She and her staff continue to break many cultural barriers and raising awareness about important issues such as sexual and reproductive health, sexual violence and media literacy.She has worked in healthcare for over ten years in a variety of settings, including, but not limited to research, academics, policy, and community health. In the past, she was a consultant for the Office on Women's Health (OWH) at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, working on a variety of different projects focusing on minority health in the Midwest.Prior to her work at OWH, Nadiah worked on a research project focusing on improving pregnancy outcomes of low-income Chicago women. HIND MAKKI is an interfaith educator who holds a degree in International Relations from Brown University. She develops and delivers workshops on active citizenship through interfaith action, anti-racism education and youth empowerment. Hind is a former Fellow of the American Muslim Civic Leadership Institute (AMCLI) and is currently a Religious Advisor to the Kennedy-Lugar Youth Exchange & Study (YES) Program. Hind is the founder and curator of "Side Entrance,” a crowd-sourced website documenting women's prayer experiences in mosques around the world. She is the co-chair of the Islamic Society of North America's Mosque Inclusion Taskforce and was an adviser to the Institute of Social Policy and Understanding project, "Reimagining Muslim Spaces."Hind's work has been featured on Al Jazeera English, Chicago Public Radio, The Chicago Sun-Times, The Economist, The Huffington Post, National Public Radio, The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, and The Washington Post. Follow her on Twitter @HindMakkiREEMA AHMAD is a community organizer with experience in political, electoral, and issue-based campaigns. She collaborated with community leaders to co-found Project Mobilize, a 501(c)4 political action organization dedicated to increasing civic participation and representation from politically marginalized communities across Chicago and surrounding suburbs. Ahmad later joined Asian Americans Advancing Justice – Chicago, where she managed the Pan-Asian Voter Empowerment Coalition of 13 social service community-based organizations. Ahmad directed strategic community outreach for the Jesus "Chuy" Garcia's mayoral campaign in Chicago. Most recently, Ahmad managed a state representative campaign in Chicago and the second most diverse district in the country for Asian American and Muslim American candidate Harish I. Patel.Let us know what you think! Contact us on Twitter @GirlTalkChi or on Facebook @girltalkchicagoSpecial thanks to the amazing Bleach Party for our theme music. Check them out at http://letshaveableachparty.bandcamp.com/

#NoBanNoWallRecorded live at The Hideout in Chicago on February 28, 2017This episode of The Girl Talk highlights women who are resisting the Trump agenda and have been fighting for social justice long before he became president. Thousands of Chicagoans are currently worried about being deported, or afraid of leaving the country since they might not be let back in. How can we support immigrant and refugee communities at home? What do these new executive orders mean for our neighbors? And what is it like coming to this country from somewhere else? We'll tackle these subjects and much more at The Girl Talk. What is The Girl Talk, you ask? It's a monthly show on the last Tuesday of the month hosted by women and featuring influential Chicago women. Though the show features women and femme-identified individuals on stage, we welcome all gender identities and expressions to join us for these important conversations. Hope you enjoy the show! Let us know what you think! Contact us on Twitter @GirlTalkChi or on Facebook @girltalkchicagoCheck out our new website: http://girltalkchi.comSpecial thanks to the amazing Bleach Party for our theme music. Check them out at http://letshaveableachparty.bandcamp.com/

Wrongfully Convicted!This show was recorded live at The Hideout in Chicago on May 23, 2017. Seemingly every week in Chicago, the City is paying out millions to wrongfully convicted people who spent years -- sometimes decades in prison. Those who have their lives destroyed by a broken criminal justice system are typically poor and lacking the support system to fight a wrongful conviction. Thankfully, there are women on the front lines working often for free to clear their names. For our May 23 show, we'll talk to some of Chicago's most powerful wrongful conviction fighters. From a lawyer who helped free a CPD torture victim who spent 30 years behind bars, to former host of MTV's “Unlocking the Truth,” we'll hear about what it's like defending people accused of heinous crimes -- and getting them out of prison -- all while trying to change the system as a whole. OUR GUESTS Jennifer Bonjean is the owner and founder of Bonjean Law Group, PLLC. She is a seasoned attorney with extensive experience in criminal defense and civil rights litigation. Bonjean also specializes in appellate, post-conviction, and habeas corpus litigation. Her passion and tenacity drives her to aggressively fight for individuals who have been wronged by the criminal justice system. Bonjean works tirelessly to reverse the convictions of innocent people wrongly incarcerated. She is committed to exposing the rampant police and prosecutorial misconduct that often leads to wrongful convictions. In 2014 the Chicago Innocence Project awarded Bonjean the Humanitarian of the year Award for her work on Stanley Wrice's appeal.Eva Nagao is the Managing Director of the Exoneration Project, a pro bono legal clinic that works to overturn wrongful convictions. In her time in Chicago, Eva has served on the Board of Directors of the youth-driven Chicago Freedom School, and as a long-time propaganda specialist for Project Nia. She continues to work with explicitly abolitionist outfits like Liberation Library, sending books to incarcerated youth, and the People's Response Team, documenting police-involved shootings in Chicago. Once, she hosted a true crime series on MTV called “Unlocking the Truth.” Eva's grandparents met as prisoners in Manzanar during WWII, and they never talked about it. She strives to talk about it as much as possible. Deana G. Lewis is a 2016-17 Mellon Sawyer Pre-Doctoral Fellow and a doctoral candidate in the Educational Policy Studies Department at the University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC). Her research interests include Black girlhood studies, the school/prison nexus, and youth incarceration. More specifically, Deana is interested in Black girls' experiences within the school to prison pipeline and how their experiences have been left out of discourses about youth incarceration in general. As an educator, Deana teaches, facilitates, and holds discussions that engage race, gender, sexuality, and education for multigenerational audiences. Currently, Deana is a Research Assistant with the Institute for Research on Race and Public Policy (IRRPP) at UIC, where she is working on a report called the “State of Racial Justice in Chicago” and a summer program for K-12 educators. Outside of school and work, Deana is a member of Love & Protect, a support committee dedicated to supporting of marginalized gender identities who are criminalized or harmed by state and interpersonal violence. She is also a founding member of the Just Practice Collaborative, whose purpose is to build communities' capacity to effectively and empathically respond to intimate partner violence and sexual assault without relying primarily on police or other state-based systems.Hope you enjoy the show! Let us know what you think! Contact us on Twitter @GirlTalkChi or on Facebook @girltalkchicagoCheck out our new website: http://girltalkchi.comSpecial thanks to the amazing Bleach Party for our theme music. Check them out at http://letshaveableachparty.bandcamp.com/

A Girl Talk throwback episode! This show was recorded live at The Hideout in Chicago on June 26, 2017.On June 12, 2016, one of the biggest terrorist attacks in U.S. history shattered the LGBTQ community in Orlando. Then, we watched the White House fill up with homophobes while states banned trans people from bathrooms. For years, the fight for marriage equality dominated the conversation when it came to LGBTQ rights. We won that battle, but the fight is clearly far from over. On June 27, 2017, The Girl Talk welcomed women fighting for LGBTQ rights in Chicago and beyond. From tackling rampant homelessness among queer youth to a civil rights attorney focused on intersectionality, our guests talk about the issues facing our queer communities today and what we can do to better support them. Also, Jen really wants to talk about lesbian bars. What is The Girl Talk, you ask? It's a monthly show on the last Tuesday of the month hosted by women (DNAinfo's Jen Sabella and public education warrior/CPS teacher Erika Wozniak) and featuring influential Chicago women. Though the show features women and femme-identified individuals on stage, we welcome all gender identities and expressions to join us for these important conversations. THE GUESTS Gaylon B. Alcaraz is an activist, organizer and champion of human rights. As the past Executive Director of the Chicago Abortion Fund, she worked within the reproductive justice/rights/health movement to advocate for low-income women seeking to control their reproductive freedom. Among the many social justice accomplishments credited to Gaylon, she served as a founding board member of Affinity Community Services, a social justice organization that advocates for the rights of black lesbian and bisexual women in the Chicago land area. During her board tenure at Affinity, she assumed increased leadership roles, across all areas of the organization's functions including the role of Vice-President of the board, prior to the end of her final board service. She is also a past board member of the Illinois Caucus for Adolescent Health and the Midwest Access Project.For more than twenty years, she has worked on behalf of sexual minority women, anti-violence, gender equity, health prevention, reproductive rights, as well as race and culture issues. Gaylon has consistently applied her knowledge in practice towards quality improvement, increased access, and by challenging frameworks that do not allow for the exploration of diversity across multiple dimensions when working with, and on behalf of diverse constituencies. These passionate beliefs have led her to advocate on behalf of all women and children.Born and raised in Chicago, Illinois she was awarded her BA and MA from DePaul University. Gaylon is currently a Ph.D candidate in Community Psychology at National Louis University. She has received awards from Sister Song Women of Color Reproductive Justice Collective, Northwest Suburban NOW, Choice USA, Chicago Foundation for Women and Chicago NOW for her work in the reproductive rights/health and justice field. The Chicago Reader recognized her as “The Activist” in the 2014 Chicago Reader People edition. In 2013, Gaylon was inducted into Chicago's Gay and Lesbian Hall of Fame – the only LGBT Hall of Fame in the country.*****Aisha N. Davis, Esq., is a fellow at Loevy & Loevy and was born in Washington, DC and raised in Maryland. After attending Washington & Lee University in Lexington, VA, she went on to Columbia Law School and the University of London's School of Oriental and African Studies for her JD and LLM, respectively.As an avid student of intersectionality, Aisha has worked on civil rights issues throughout her legal career, including work with Amnesty International, the Human Rights Foundation, Columbia Law School's Center for Intersectionality and Social Policy Studies, the African American Policy Forum, and Lambda Legal. Since her move to Chicago, Aisha has continued this mission through her work with Affinity Community Services, the Pride Action Tank, and as a board member of the Illinois Safe Schools Alliance.*****Amie Klujian is a top-producing Chicago real estate broker and executive vice president of SwakeGroup at Dream Town Realty. In 2004, Amie co-founded Back Lot Bash-- a Chicago pride festival showcasing a diverse array of women musicians, performers and artists. Now in its 14th year, Back Lot Bash has established itself as the Midwest's largest, outdoor pride event for women in the LGBTQ community. Amie earned an a degree in politics from Princeton University and a master's in integrated marketing communications from Northwestern University. She's an HRC Federal Club Member and serves with pride on the Executive Board of Directors at Girls in the Game, a nonprofit that helps girls become empowered game changers.Hope you enjoy the show! Let us know what you think! Contact us on Twitter @GirlTalkChi or on Facebook @girltalkchicagoSpecial thanks to the amazing Bleach Party for our theme music. Check them out at http://letshaveableachparty.bandcamp.com/

A Girl Talk throwback episode! This show was recorded live at The Hideout in Chicago on July 25, 2017.The labor movement is under attack on all fronts in Illinois and across the country. Our governor is like an anti-union Tasmanian Devil, frantically spinning around doing everything he can to hack organized labor to death in our state. Workers and unions all across the city and the state are fighting for fair contracts and livable wages--and facing massive obstacles. With big Supreme Court decisions coming down the pike that could redefine the future of the labor movement, it's time for a Girl Talk episode that tackles these issues head on.On July 25, #TheGirlTalk welcomed women who stand up for worker's rights in the Chicago labor movement and beyond to talk about the threats Bruce Rauner and the Trump administration have on workers' basic rights--and what it could mean for women and families in our communities. What is The Girl Talk, you ask? It's a monthly show on the last Tuesday of the month hosted by women (DNAinfo Chicago's Jen Sabella and public education warrior/CPS teacher Erika Wozniak Francis) and featuring influential Chicago women. Though the show features women and femme-identified individuals on stage, we welcome all gender identities and expressions to join us for these important conversations. Our Guests:Adrienne AlexanderAdrienne Alexander is Director of Intergovernmental Affairs at AFSCME Council 31, where she's worked since 2010. She's better known on Twitter as @DriXander. She originally hails from Georgia, where she graduated from Agnes Scott, a women's college. After undergrad, Adrienne ventured up to Minnesota where she got her Master's in Public Policy. Now she's happily settled in Rogers Park, where her New Yorker husband finally agreed to join her. They're surviving the Trump years by focusing on their lovely ten month old daughter.Stacy Davis GatesStacy Davis Gates has served as the Political and Legislative Director for theChicago Teachers Union for the past six years. While at the CTU, Ms. Davis Gates has been the architect of bold political and legislative campaigns for the schools and city that all Chicagoans deserve. In 2015, she raised millions of dollars for a coordinated challenge to Mayor Rahm Emanuel and his rubber-stamp City Council and coordinated a collaborative effort to pass a voter referendum for an elected school board in 37 out of Chicago's 50 wards. Most recently, she has led campaigns to pass statewide legislation for an elected school board, strengthen charter operator regulations, and fund public education through an elimination of tax breaks and slush funds for the 1%. In 2017, Ms. Davis Gates was elected Chair of United Working Families, an independent political organization by and for working class people and our movements.Ms. Davis Gates is currently on leave from the classroom, where she taught high school social studies for over a decade. She attended Saint Mary's College, the University of Notre Dame, and Concordia University. Ms. Davis Gates lives on the Southside with her husband and three children.Let us know what you think! Contact us on Twitter @GirlTalkChi or on Facebook @girltalkchicagoSpecial thanks to the amazing Bleach Party for our theme music. Check them out at http://letshaveableachparty.bandcamp.com/

CHOICEA Girl Talk throwback episode! This show was recorded live at The Hideout in Chicago on January 24th, 2017. As we expected, our Republican-led Congress is already hard at work not at creating jobs or figuring out WTF they'll do when they take healthcare away from 30 million people, but defunding Planned Parenthood and destroying access to women's health care. Cool! In recent months, we've been talking a lot about what we can do in the next four years to support immigrants and people of color, to speak out against injustice and get more involved politically. This month, we're talking about the very real and very terrifying threat to reproductive rights in a GOP-run Washington. What can they really do, what will it mean for women, and how can we fight back? We'll address these questions and more.OUR GUESTS MARTHA SCOTTMartha Scott was a member of iconic feminist group The Jane Collective, officially known as the Abortion Counseling Service of Women's Liberation. The underground service operated in Chicago from 1969 to 1973, at a time when abortion was illegal in the United States. The collective was started to address the increasing number of unsafe abortions being performed by untrained providers who often had no medical experience at all. Since illegal abortions were not only dangerous but very expensive, the founding members of the collective believed that they could provide women with safer and more affordable access to abortions. The collective disbanded after Roe v. Wade made abortion legal throughout the United States in 1973.AILEEN KIM Aileen co-chairs Personal PAC's Future Voices Council, a group of women and men under 40 who are committed to electing pro-choice candidates in Illinois, and serves on the boards of CAN TV and the Albany Park Community Center.Aileen is an Associate with Civitas Public Affairs Group, a values-based bipartisan firm that delivers winning advocacy and public affairs campaigns that touch on some of the most pressing political and public policy issues of our day. Her current portfolio of work includes clients focused on reproductive justice, women's rights, the environment, and consumer protection.Prior to joining Civitas, Aileen served as District Director for Illinois State Representative John D'Amico where she was responsible for providing constituent services as well as furthering the Representative's transportation safety focused legislative agenda. Prior to that, Aileen worked as a producer for ABC News' affiliate news service in Chicago where she covered politics, national economic issues, and breaking news. DIANA ARELLANO Diana is a reproductive justice advocate with a background in community health and global women's rights. For the past five years, Diana has worked in maternal and child health, comprehensive sexual health education and reproductive rights. She is currently the Manager of Community Engagement at Planned Parenthood of Illinois and a board member of the Chicago Abortion Fund, where she works to mobilize people around reproductive justice issues and policies. Diana loves to work on transforming people's attitudes and beliefs about abortion. She has trained over 150 people on effective messaging tactics on abortion care and access and implemented a statewide training strategy for PPIL. She also chairs Chicago Semillas, a committee that supports Fondo Semillas- an organization based in Mexico City that provides grants to women-led organizations in Mexico.Let us know what you think! Contact us on Twitter @GirlTalkChi or on Facebook @girltalkchicagoSpecial thanks to the amazing Bleach Party for our theme music. Check them out at http://letshaveableachparty.bandcamp.com/

Throwback! This show was recorded in April, 2017, and marked the 1 year anniversary of The Girl Talk as a live show.What is The Girl Talk, you ask? It's a monthly show on the last Tuesday of the month hosted by women and featuring influential Chicago women. Though the show features women and femme-identified individuals on stage, we welcome all gender identities and expressions to join us for these important conversations. Though scientists (and people with eyes and brains) can see the devastating impact climate change has had on the world already, our Denier-in-Chief and his pal Scott Pruitt are dead set on gutting the EPA -- and letting big polluters do their thing. Coming out of a practically snow-free Chicago winter, we thought it would be a good idea to confront the issues facing our planet by bringing on women who have been working for decades on everything from endangered species to contaminated water in Flint, Michigan. On today's show, we'll welcome Nicole Cantello, an attorney for the EPA focused on water enforcement and Felicia Chase, an EPA water expert who witnessed the lead tragedy in Flint firsthand. Join us, and find out what you can do to demand accountability from our elected officials locally and nationally on these life-or-death issues.

The Girl Talk: Madame President Edition with Toni PreckwinkleCook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle is the most powerful woman in the second largest county in the United States - and one of the most influential people in the state of Illinois, period. Over the years, she's bucked the trend of politicians looking out for themselves by being a mentor to local political up-and-comers, including State's Attorney Kim Foxx, Rep. Juliana Stratton and more. For these reasons and many more, The Girl Talk is beyond excited to welcome President Preckwinkle to the show. Aside from the pop tax situation, we'll discuss her path to the presidency, her plans for the future and her role as a mentor to women and people of color in the political sphere. Recorded live at the Hideout in Chicago on October 24, 2017.What is The Girl Talk, you ask? It's a monthly show on the fourth Tuesday of the month hosted by women (DNAinfo Chicago's Jen Sabella and public education warrior/CPS teacher Erika Wozniak) and featuring influential Chicago women and gender nonconforming individuals fighting for social justice. All are welcome to take part in these important conversations.Find us on Facebook @girltalkchicago , email us thegirltalkchi@gmail.com , and give a ton of love to our amazing friends, Bleach Party, for providing our theme. You can find them at https://letshaveableachparty.bandcamp.com/ . Seriously check them out – they're awesome!

The Girl Talk: Women Run IL Edition at The HideoutIt's 2017 and not only do we have a Sex Offender In Chief, but abortion is essentially illegal in wide swaths of the country, our maternal mortality rate is higher than any developed nation, women still don't get equal pay or paid leave for continuing the human race and there are only four female governors in the entire country. We're ready for this nonsense to change, and to do that, more women need to get into the political fray. This month, The Girl Talk will be talking about how we can do just that. The good news: it's already happening. Since Donald Trump's election, there's been an explosion of women running for office across the country. Organizations like Emily's List and She Should Run report thousands more women expressing interest in running this year than in years past.Still, we're nowhere close to parity when it comes to women in government. Why don't more women run? What are the obstacles we still need to break down? And what do we need to know to more effectively recruit and support women candidates?Join us to hear from two women who have run for office, IL State Rep. Juliana Stratton (D-5th) and Friends of the Parks Executive Director Juanita Irizarry, plus the woman who (literally) wrote the book on women running, Rebecca Sive.We hope you enjoy our first podcast episode! Find us on Facebook @girltalkchicago , email us thegirltalkchi@gmail.com , and give a ton of love to our amazing friends, Bleach Party, for providing our theme. You can find them at https://letshaveableachparty.bandcamp.com/ . Seriously check them out – they're awesome!Recorded live at The Hideout in Chicago on August 22, 2017