Luminary Award Dinner

Luminary Award Dinner, held at the Union League Club on Thursday, May 7, honored Alderman Edward Burke & Illinois Supreme Court Justice Anne Burke for their work as child advocates. During their 40 years of distinguished service, the Burkes have tirelessly worked to keep children safe in Chicago and throughout Illinois, helping to restore the lives of children and families who have experienced sexual abuse.

The event, co-chaired by Sheila McGinn Dorman, COO of Northern Trust Securities and Hollis M. Otero, Senior Vice President of Corporate Risk Management Northern Trust, was attended by 350 community leaders, professionals, and supporters. During a special appeal, guests contributed nearly $50,000 towards the ChicagoCAC’s Growing & Giving campaign, a $2.5 million campaign which supports programmatic growth, and will double the center’s mental health therapy capacity and expand education efforts to empower adults to keep children safe. The evening raised over $260,000.00.

In 1998, Mayor Daley created a children’s advocacy task force to begin formalizing the process of supporting children who had been and were being sexually abused. The initiative fell under the domain of the Office of Budget & Management of which Barbara Lumpkin was Director. In August 2001, Mayor Richard M. Daley and other dignitaries were present for a ribbon-cutting ceremony for the Chicago Children’s Advocacy Center. The center’s opening officially changed the system for sexually abused children and allowed children to interviewed only once by a trained professional in a child-friendly environment, instead of repeated interviews in hospital emergency rooms, police stations and in front of friends at school.

96% of ChicagoCAC’s young clients know their perpetrator personally. ChicagoCAC is the city’s only not-for-profit organization that brings together law enforcement professionals, child protection staff, family advocates, medical experts, and mental health clinicians under one roof to address alleged abuse, reduce trauma and provide resources so that children and families may begin the healing process.

“Since opening our doors in 2001, we have served more than 25,000 children who, as a result of the care and support they received through the center, are happier, healthier and safer,” said Rivette. “Donations to our Growing & Giving campaign expand our efforts to help families heal.”
ChicagoCAC and its public partners are the first responders to over 2,500 reports of child sexual and life-threatening physical abuse in Chicago each year. Sexual abuse is estimated to be underreported by 60% leaving another 3,000 children in Chicago each year the center would like to help. The center provides private funds and works with the task force of first responders (Chicago Police Special Victims Unit, Illinois Department of Children and Family Services, the Cook County Health & Hospitals System, and the Cook County State’s Attorney’s Office at Luminary Award Dinner.

Some of the Luminary Award Dinner   attendees included: Tom Sampson – Chair of ChicagoCAC Board of Directors and CEO of Peacock Engineering; Barry Siegal – Partner at Golan & Christie; Michael McCaskey, retired Chairman of the Chicago Bears, and wife Nancy; Author Scott Turow; Frank Pettaway – VP, Northern Trust; Attorney Keith Dorman; Christopher Roswold – Manager of Global Partner Activation, Walgreens; Melissa Sherrod (Vice President of Regulatory Projects, ComEd; Barbara Lumpkin – Deputy Chief Executive Officer for External Affairs at the Chicago Public Schools; Eugene Roy -Deputy Chief, Chicago Police; Evelyn Diaz (Commissioner, City of Chicago Department of Family Support Services; Attorney Julie Shelton; Michael O’Meara DDS, Water Tower Dental Ltd; Robert Steele – Cook County Commissioner; Jacki Robinson-Ivy – VP Public Affairs and Government Relations, Northern Trust; George Sheldon – Director, Illinois Department of Children and Family Services; Emily Duncan – Director of Investor Relations, Exelon;  Jim Ryan – SVP of Constellation Brands; Dana Popish -Director of Government Relations at BlueCross BlueShield; Manika Turnbull – Chief of Staff, BlueCross BlueShield of Illinois; Richard Boykin – Cook County Commissioner; Journalist & Writer Victoria Lautman.

Feature Photo: Alderman Edward Burke, Justice Anne M. Burke, Sheila McGinn Dorman, Keith Dorman

Photo Credit: Mila Samokhina

Article: Margaret J. O’Connor