CALL Volunteer Day of Service Announced for Oct. 9 – Sign Up Now Open!

The Community Service Committee has planned a volunteer day of service for CALL members.  Join us on Saturday, October 9, from 9:00 -11:00 am, to collect trash and plastic debris from Montrose Beach. Volunteers can register using this link.

We organized this opportunity as a work group for the  Alliance for the Great Lakes, a nonpartisan nonprofit organization working across the region to protect our most precious resource: the fresh, clean, and natural waters of the Great Lakes. Plastic pollution is a growing problem in our Great Lakes, Chicago’s source of fresh drinking water. Whether you’re able to join us on Oct. 9th or not, we also encourage all CALL members to take the Plastic-Free Great Lakes Pledge and start actively changing your own daily habits to reduce plastic consumption.

We will bring garbage bags and rubber gloves, but volunteers are welcome to bring their own supplies. Be sure to dress for weather as this is a rain or shine outdoor event.  Additional family members and friends are welcome to attend. Review the current CDC Guidance on outdoor activities and take whatever measures you need to in order to feel Covid-safe together.

Please contact Mike McMillan at mmcmillan@mwe.com if you have any issues registering or any other questions. We look forward to seeing you there!

Permanent link to this article: https://chicagolawlib.org/blog/2021/09/17/call-volunteer-day-of-service-announced-for-oct-9-sign-up-now-open/

Continuing Education Committee Presents: Answering the CALL: Law Librarians & Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion

Answering the CALL: Law Librarians & Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion

Presented by: Tanesha Williams

Tanesha Williams is an Attorney and Digital Campaign Manager at the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund’s Thurgood Marshall Institute. She is also the founder of Redtree Strategies, a consulting and strategy firm that implements organizational change management and diversity, equity, and inclusion strategic plans for organizations, corporations, and educational entities.

After graduating in 2018 from Georgetown University Law Center, where she was a Public Interest Fellow, Tanesha worked as the Director of Organizing and Community Building for Families Against Mandatory Minimums, a criminal justice reform advocacy organization based in D.C.  There, she led a team of organizers to help community members turn the resources they had into the power they needed to create change at the local level.

While attending law school, Tanesha clerked for the Poverty & Race Research Action Council, where she conducted research on race and equity in education.  As a student attorney with the Public Defender Service for the District of Columbia, Tanesha provided direct representation to clients appearing before the United States Parole Commission.  Tanesha also was a Holley Law Fellow with the National LGBTQ Task Force, where she researched and drafted criminal justice and economic policy.

As a law student in Georgetown’s Criminal Defense and Prisoner Advocacy Clinic, Tanesha represented clients before the Superior Court of the District of Columbia and taught legal research and writing classes for incarcerated persons.  She was awarded the clinic’s first Patsy Jarrett/Craig Muhammad Prisoner Advocacy Award.  Tanesha also served as the Managing Editor of Georgetown Journal of Law & Modern Critical Race Perspectives.

Tanesha is a 2010 graduate of Birmingham-Southern College, in Birmingham, Alabama.  Prior law school, she worked for several years with Teach For America, where she was a Corps Member and Manager and also served as a Dean of Students, and a School Director.

 When: Wednesday, September 29th, 12:00 to 1:00 p.m.

 Where: At your desk via Zoom. Registrants will receive webinar details prior to the program.

 Cost: This program is free to members.

 Please register here

Permanent link to this article: https://chicagolawlib.org/blog/2021/09/16/continuing-education-committee-presents-answering-the-call-law-librarians-diversity-equity-and-inclusion/

September 2021 Business Meeting

The Meetings Committee presents:

September 2021 Business Meeting
Meeting Date: Thursday, September 23, 2021

Register here: https://chicagolawlib.app.neoncrm.com/event.jsp?event=580&

Location: Zoom (https://us06web.zoom.us/j/83230867322?pwd=WDlsVkM4ampDMnZGdGlTb3JTZGE0QT09)
Meeting ID: 832 3086 7322

Passcode: 737801

Time: 12:00 p.m. – 1:00 p.m. (Please stay on Zoom after the meeting to network and catch up with CALL friends.)

Cost: free

Speaker: Ben Jackson is the co-founder and COO of Immigrationhelp.org. Recently named to the 2021 “Fastcase 50” list, Ben Jackson is using tech tools to tackle common problems in immigration law. He was awarded the Access to Justice Tech Fellowship and the Equal Justice Foundation fellowship while attending The Chicago-Kent College of Law. Since then, Ben has worked with fellow Fastcase 50 honorees Jonathan Petts and Rohan Pavuluri to create consumer bankruptcy solution Upsolve, and now he’s the COO and co-founder of legal aid nonprofit Immigrationhelp.org. The nonprofit provides an online tool, equated to the “Turbo Tax for DACA applications”, allowing Dreamers to apply online for free. Ben and his team are on a mission to make immigrating to the United States easy, safe, and free by combining the power of technology with attorneys to help people achieve the American dream. They’ve assisted more than 3,000 immigrants at various stages in their immigration process. The budding organization has received funding from Google.org, KKR, and Harvard University.

Community Service: The committee is finalizing the details and we will add this information soon.

Door Prizes: Two gift cards will be raffled during the meeting courtesy of LexisNexis.

Registration ends September 21st.

Permanent link to this article: https://chicagolawlib.org/blog/2021/08/30/september-2021-business-meeting/

Continuing Education Committee Presents: Getting to Know the Chicago Commission on Human Relations

Getting to Know the Chicago Commission on Human Relations

Description: Discrimination in employment, housing, and public accommodations continues to marginalize too many of Chicago’s residents. Hate crimes also have a devastating impact on individuals and communities, as we are currently seeing with the Asian American community in the wake of the pandemic. The Chicago Commission on Human Relations (CCHR) is charged with addressing these and many other issues as the City of Chicago’s civil rights agency. Join First Deputy Commissioner Kenneth Gunn for a discussion of the work and challenges facing this important and instrumental agency in bringing fairness and equity to our city.

Presented by: Kenneth Gunn. For more than 30 years, Ken Gunn has dedicated his career to public service, specifically civil rights law. He currently serves as the First Deputy Commissioner of the Chicago Commission on Human Relations where he has been on staff since 1990. The Commission serves as the city’s civil rights agency responsible for investigating and adjudicating complaints of discrimination, aiding hate crime victims, mediating racial and ethnic tensions, and providing anti-bias training.

As the First Deputy, Ken is responsible for the managing the day-to-day operations of the agency under the direction of the commissioner. He is involved in all aspects of the Commission’s work including reviewing complaints of discrimination, strategizing to address hate crimes and community tensions, and directing personnel and fiscal operations. He also provides legal counsel to the staff and Board of Commissioners and works with the Mayor and City Council to draft and review legislation.

 When: Tuesday, June 29th, 12:00 to 1:00 p.m.

 Where: At your desk via Zoom. Registrants will receive webinar details prior to the program.

 Cost: This program is free to members.

 Please register here

Permanent link to this article: https://chicagolawlib.org/blog/2021/06/17/continuing-education-committee-presents-getting-to-know-the-chicago-commission-on-human-relations/