Gov. Pritzker Announces Five Appointments to Boards and Commissions

Children and Family Services Advisory Council

Kelly Rosenberg will serve as a Member of the Children and Family Services Advisory Council.* Rosenberg is a passionate social worker, currently serving as a Child Welfare Advocate at a domestic violence shelter. She focuses on providing counseling services to children who have experienced domestic or sexual violence, advocating for parents and leading parenting groups. Throughout the course of her career, Rosenberg has interned with the Illinois Department of Children and Family Services, served as a foster care worker for Children's Home and Aid Society and taught preschool at the local park district. An involved member of her community, Rosenberg serves on the Saint Charles Mental Health Board. Rosenberg earned a Bachelor of Social Work from Southern Illinois University Carbondale.

Commission on Discrimination and Hate Crimes

Anita Banerji will continue to serve as a Member of the Commission on Discrimination and Hate Crimes.* Banerji is currently the Senior Program Director of Strategy and External Relations with the Funders’ Committee for Civic Participation. Previously, she was Senior Director of Media and Technology with the Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights and Director of Democracy Initiative at Forefront. Banerji has extensive public policy experience as well and has managed legislative offices. Banerji earned a Bachelor of Science from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and Master of Arts in Communications from DePaul University.

Employment Security Advisory Board

Noah Finley will serve as a Member of the Employment Security Advisory Board.* Finley is the Illinois State Director for the National Federation of Independent Business, representing the interests of small businesses in Springfield. He has worked as a legislative staffer in both Springfield and Washington, DC, most recently serving as a deputy chief of staff in the Illinois State Senate. Prior to his time as a legislative staffer, Finley served in the U.S. Army, deploying to Afghanistan in 2011-2012. After leaving the service, he spent time in the Middle East studying Arabic and teaching English in Jordan and Oman. While there, he also volunteered with Syrian refugees. He has a bachelor’s degree in Political Science and Communications from Geneva College and a master’s degree in International Relations from Johns Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS).

Energy Workforce Advisory Council

Amalia NietoGomez will serve as a Member of the Energy Workforce Advisory Council.* NietoGomez has been dedicating her life to organizing her community, and currently serves as the Executive Director of the Alliance of the SouthEast. While in this role she partners with environmental groups to stop the concentration of toxic developments in minority communities in Chicago. Prior to joining ASE, NietoGomez was a Senior Personal Banker with First American Bank, where she connected with local organizations to present mortgage process, budgeting, and understanding credit history workshops in English and Spanish. She has recently been recognized in Chicago Reader’s, Best of Chicago: “Will That New Development Benefit Your Community?” Amalia NietoGomez received a Bachelor of Arts from Princeton University.

Illinois Committee for Agricultural Education

William Ladd-Cawthorne will continue to serve as a Member of the Illinois Committee for Agricultural Education.* Ladd-Cawthorne has dedicated his career to local farm non-profits. He currently serves as Director of Employment Programs with the Gary Comer Youth Center’s urban farm and agriculture initiatives. Prior to this role, he was the Director of Urban Agriculture and Urban Agriculture Manager at Gary Comer Youth Center. Ladd-Cawthorne is active in the agriculture community and volunteers his time to Advocates for Urban Agriculture: “Farmer to Farmer” mentor program, is Chairperson for the Farm Service Agency Committee for Cook County, and is Secretary of Illinois Committee for Agricultural Education. William Ladd-Cawthorne received a Bachelor of Liberal Arts from St. John’s College and a Master of Science in Crop Sciences from University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign.

* Appointments pending confirmation by the Illinois Senate.

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