Thursday, May 14, 2015

June 24: ADA Champion Tom Harkin to Speak at City Club of Chicago - ADA25 Chicago event!

As part of ADA 25 Chicago this year, retired U.S. Senator Tom Harkin of Iowa will be speaking at the City Club of Chicago on June 24. As many of you know, Senator Harkin is legendary for his 40 years of work in Congress fighting for the rights of people with disabilities. He retired at the end of last year and now, in this 25th anniversary year of the ADA, he is helping folks across the country celebrate and honor the legacy of the ADA.
Senator Harkin came to disability work through being brother to a Deaf man, and has a close friendship with the Deaf community. Yet his vision has been for inclusion and access for all people with disabilities, and it is a major honor for Chicago to host Senator Harkin at the City Club. He is a very good public speaker and this is an excellent opportunity to hear from a hero. Plus, the City Club event will be at Maggiano’s and I recommend the food!
To learn more details about the event and to register, please visit this link. Tickets are $45 for non-members of the City Club, $35 for members, $750 for one table. THIS WILL SELL OUT FAST!

Also, Senator Harkin will also be honored at the Chicago Disability Pride Parade on July 18 as the Grand Marshal.
so we will be getting two visits from him this summer. Learn more about ADA 25 at www.ada25chicago.org###

as posted by City Club of Chicago:

The ADA at 25: Promise, Progress, Opportunity

The ADA at 25: Promise, Progress, Opportunity
U.S. Senate Bill Sponsor
Hon. Tom Harkin
Wednesday, June 24, 2015
11:30 a.m. reception/12:00 p.m. luncheon
 Save to calendar
REGISTER NOW Seating is limited
  • $35 Members
  • $45 Nonmembers (Join now!)
  • $750 Sponsor Table for 10 (preferred seating)

Location

Maggiano's Banquets
111 W. Grand Avenue
Chicago, IL 60654
 Map and directions

Speaker bio

ADA 25 Chicago is a network of civic partners who have come together to commemorate and advance a civil rights milestone – the 25th anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). Despite 25 years of progress, people with disabilities still have higher poverty rates, lower employment and poorer educational outcomes than those without disabilities. ADA 25 Chicago is convening leaders from throughout the region to commit to new programs and initiatives that will build awareness and expand access, inclusion and opportunity for people with disabilities in the key areas of education, employment, community inclusion and technology. The vision of ADA 25 Chicago is to help make Metropolitan Chicago the most inclusive region in the nation. The Chicago Community Trust is the lead sponsor of ADA 25 Chicago.

In 1974, Tom was elected to Congress from Iowa's Fifth Congressional District. As a young senator, Tom was tapped by Senator Ted Kennedy to craft legislation to protect the civil rights of millions of Americans with physical and mental disabilities. Tom knew firsthand about the challenges facing people with disabilities from his late brother, Frank, who was deaf from an early age. What emerged from that process would later become Tom's signature legislative achievement — The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). To preserve the intent of the ADA after several court rulings weakened its standards, Tom and Senator Orrin Hatch (R-UT) introduced the ADA Amendments bill to ensure continuing protections from discrimination for all Americans with disabilities. It was signed into law in September 2008. In November 2008, Tom made history by becoming the first Iowa Democrat to win a fifth term in the U.S. Senate. Tom retired from the United States Senate in January, 2015.

Tom Harkin was born in Cumming, Iowa (pop. 150) on November 19, 1939, the son of an Iowa coal miner father and a Slovenian immigrant mother. To this day, he still lives in the house in Cumming where he was born. In 1968, Tom married Ruth Raduenz, the daughter of a farmer and a school teacher from Minnesota. Tom and Ruth have two daughters, Amy and Jenny, and three grandchildren.

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if you are attending, hope you find me and say hello! Jim at Ability Chicago Info

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