"It's Basic" Documentary Film Screening and Panel Discussion

President, Cook County Board of Commissioners

Toni Preckwinkle is the 35th president of the Cook County Board of Commissioners, an office she has held since 2010. She is the first Black woman to be elected to the office. A dedicated and effective public servant, President Preckwinkle has worked to transform County government through increased fiscal responsibility, transparency, and improved services. Leveraging more than 30 years of political experience and leadership, President Preckwinkle has restored credibility to County government, solving for more than $2.87 billion in budget deficits and providing supplemental pension payments of almost $2 billion above the required contribution since 2016, significantly reducing unfunded pension liabilities. 

As the top executive in Cook County, the nation’s second most populous County, President Preckwinkle oversees one of the nation’s largest public health and hospitals systems and one of the nation’s largest criminal justice systems. Under her leadership, Cook County used the Affordable Care Act to create CountyCare, a managed care program for Medicaid-eligible residents. Cook County provides quality care to more than 500,000 individuals through the health system and health plan.

President Preckwinkle is also President of the Forest Preserves of Cook County, one of the oldest and largest forest preserve districts in the United States. The district receives an estimated 62 million visits each year, providing residents with outdoor recreation and environmental education opportunities.

Before she was elected Cook County Board President, President Preckwinkle served 19 years as Alderman of the 4th Ward. As Alderman, she oversaw the redevelopment of the Kenwood, Oakland, Douglas, Grand Boulevard and Hyde Park neighborhoods. She established a reputation as a progressive on the City Council and a champion for affordable housing. She was a co-sponsor of the living wage ordinances that passed the City Council in 1998 and 2002.

Prior to holding elected office, President Preckwinkle was a high school history teacher for ten years, before serving as an economic development coordinator for the City of Chicago and the executive director of the Chicago Jobs Council. A native of St. Paul, Minnesota, President Preckwinkle came to Chicago to attend the University of Chicago, from where she holds Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees. She is the proud mother of two and grandmother of three.
 

Assistant Professor, University of Chicago Crown Family School of Social Work, Policy, and Practice

Professor Thomas' scholarship and teaching emphasize structural sources of oppression and privilege, grounded in her practice experiences working with children, youth, and families facing social and economic marginalization. Her research focuses on the wellbeing of economically marginalized individuals and families through the lens of policy causes and solutions to material hardship and poverty.

Professor Thomas conducts two primary streams of research. First, she examines material hardship and its consequences for other domains of wellbeing, such as child protective services involvement (CPS) and health and mental health outcomes. Second, she analyzes policy impacts on poverty and hardship, such as Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) and Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) consequences for material hardship experiences. Some of her current research projects include a multi-year, randomized controlled trial testing the effects of guaranteed income receipt on material hardship and other domains of wellbeing; a study of the structure and systemic causes of the relationships between food insecurity and mental health; and work examining the relative roles of material hardship and income poverty in shaping child and family wellbeing.

Special Advisor to California Governor Gavin Newsom for Economic Mobility
Former mayor of Stockton, California; Founder of Mayors for a Guaranteed Income
Executive Producer, "It's Basic" Documentary Film

At the age of 26, Michael D. Tubbs became the youngest Mayor of any major city in American history. As Mayor, Tubbs was lauded for his leadership and innovation. Under his stewardship, Stockton was named an “All-America City” in 2017 and 2018, saw a 40% drop in homicides in 2018 and 2019, led the state of California in the decline of officer involved shootings in 2019, was named the second most fiscally healthy city in California and one of the top most fiscally healthy cities in the nation and was featured in an HBO documentary film, Stockton on My Mind.

Tubbs raised over $20 million dollars to create the Stockton Scholars, a universal scholarship and mentorship program for Stockton students. He is the Founder and Chair of Mayors for a Guaranteed Income.

Tubbs has been named a fellow at the Harvard Institute of Politics and The MIT Media Lab, a member of Fortune’s Top 40 under 40, a Forbes 30 under 30 All-star Alumni, the “Most Valuable Mayor” by The Nation, the 2021 Civic Leadership Award winner from The King Center and 2019 New Frontier Award Winner from the JFK Library. Before taking the helm as Mayor, Tubbs served as a Councilmember for the City of Stockton District 6, was a high school educator, and a fellow for the Stanford Design School and the Emerson Collective.

The author of the memoir The Deeper the Roots, Tubbs currently serves as the Special Advisor to California Governor Gavin Newsom for Economic Mobility and is the founder of End Poverty in California (EPIC).