50-Organization CWTA Alliance Spotlights
Vetted Policy Issues
Eleven mayoral candidates have been invited to and will appear at the Chicago Women Take Action Alliance Mayoral Forum on February 2nd from 1 to 4 p.m. at the Chicago Temple, 77 West Washington Street.
Three candidates – William Daley, Jeremiah Joyce, Jr. and Neal Sales-Griffin will not appear at the forum as they did not turn in the required survey that was a requirement of invitation. Daley declined to fill out the survey. Neither Sales Griffin nor Joyce could be directly reached.
“Women are the majority of voters in Chicago, as we are in the nation,” said Mary Kay Devine of Women Employed, one of the 50 women’s issue organizations that make up the CWTA Alliance. “It is critical that before we vote, we know the candidates’ opinions on the issues women have deemed most important.”
To best present the large number of candidates, the forum will divide them into three panels. Each candidate will be asked questions that are reflective of the Women’s Agenda and the candidates’ stated public positions, but chosen by moderators Julia Stasch, President of the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, and Angelique Power, President of the Field Foundation.
The pre-forum survey asked a series of yes/no questions based on the 11-point Chicago Women’s Agenda forged by the Alliance in 2014 as a baseline statement of candidates’ views on crucial issues.
“No one – particularly women – should vote for a candidate unless they know where they stand on key issues like raising the minimum wage to $15; ensuring access to contraception and abortion at institutions that receive public funds; ensuring fair access to education; and ensuring fair work rules,” says CWTA member Jacky Grimshaw. Responses to the surveys will be posted online at Eventbrite page and organizations’ sites.
The forum will be live cast by CAN TV (https://cantv.org/live/) and live streamed on CWTA’s and the Indivisible Illinois Facebook pages. Further broadcasts will also be available online. (Survey results are available at Chicago WomenTakeAction.com). Organizers expect the mayoral forum to be attended by nearly 700 people, with an additional 10,000 viewing the event online or via a CAN TV. The event is free, but tickets are required. They may be obtained by registering at https://tinyurl.com/CWTAMayoralForum.
The 2019 Mayoral Forum is the third forum the CWTA Alliance has held since the coalition was formed in 2014 and represents the Alliance’s commitment to ensure that women’s interests are represented in government and public policy. The full sweep of the Alliance’s concerns on behalf of Chicago women is in the Chicago Women’s Agenda, created by the Alliance in 2014, that can be found at ChicagoWomenTakeAction.com.
AAUW IL – Action Illinois – Adlai Stevenson Center on Democracy – Broad Cast – Cause the Effect – Chicago Aging Collaborative – Chicago Alliance Against Sexual Exploitation – Chicago Foundation for Women – Chicago Metro Battered Women’s Network – Chicago National Organization for Women PAC – Chicago Teens Take Action – Chicago Women in Green – Chicago Women Take Action – City Clerk Anna Valencia – Community Renewal Society – Democratic Party of Oak Park – Enlace Chicago – Fierce Over 40 – Fight For $15 Chicago – Flourish PAC – Forward Chicago- Generation All – Girl Talk – Girlfriends Group – Global Girls Media – Gorgeous Within – Health & Medicine Policy Research Group – Hustle Mommies – Illinois Council Against Handgun Violence – Illinois Democratic Women – Illinois Psychological Association, Women’s Section – Illinois Women’s Institute for Leadership – Indivisible Chicago – Indivisible IL9 – Indivisible Illinois – Mujeres Latinas en Acción – Muslim Women’s Alliance – NARAL – National Council of Jewish Women Chicago North Shore – Planned Parenthood of Illinois – Power Pumps – Pride Action Tank – Psychotherapy Action Network – RAINBOW-PUSH – Raise Your Hand Action – SAFE Coalition for Human Rights – SEIU Healthcare – Suzy’s Place – Voices and Faces Project – Windy City Times – Women and Children First Bookstore – Women Employed – Women’s Business Development Center – Women’s March Chicago – YWCA of Metropolitan Chicago.
