The Chicago Council on Urban Affairs has a long history of working to create positive change for people who live, work, and play in the city of Chicago. By joining the Council you have the opportunity to:

	take a leadership role in civic affairs and become part of Chicago’s future;
	gain a better understanding of the views and needs of people from many diverse backgrounds;
	bring people together to seek solutions that benefit all of Chicago; and
	work with dynamic, dedicated people who share a common goal—to make Chicago a better city.

Your membership support helps the Council to publish its newsletter (Urban Affairs Update), the urban affairs magazine (One City), produce the cable show (Hotline 21), and your support also makes it possible for the Council to sponsor events that are free to the public. This is especially important because the Council believes that public education on critical urban issues must be accessible to everyone.

As a Council member, you’ll receive the Council’s newsletter, the urban affairs magazine, One City, the latest Council research reports and publications, special member discounts on Council events, invitations to serve on various committees, and a chance to work with others who share your vision of working as Partners for a Better Chicago!

The Council is a 501(c)(3), tax-exempt charitable organization and, as such, membership dues are tax deductible. The Council has registered with PayPal, a national secure site which accepts credit card transactions online. By clicking on a specific join button below, you will be taken to the secure PayPal web site to complete the process. Of course, you may also send us your membership information through conventional mail or phone us with your membership information.

Meet Our New Members!

The Chicago Council on Urban Affairs is an organization made up of diverse members of the Chicagoland community who care about quality of life for those who love, work, or play in the city of Chicago.

From time to time, we will feature the dynamic people who are part of our Council family. We hope you enjoy the profiles of our newest members.

Kenneth Gunn
First Deputy Commissioner of the
Chicago Commission on Human Relations

Kenneth Gunn is a lifetime resident of the City of Chicago. He grew up in the Englewood community and attended Linblom High School. He received his Bachelor’s degree in History and his Law degree from the University of Illinois, Champaign-Urbana.

While in law school, Ken began his legal career with the Illinois Attorney General’s Office where he investigated and mediated complaints of consumer fraud. Upon obtaining his law license, he joined the Office of the Cook County Public Guardian where he represented abused and neglected children.

His interest in civil rights law led him to the Chicago Commission on Human Relations. The Commission serves as the city’s civil rights agency, which is responsible for investigating and adjudicating complaints of discrimination, providing assistance to hate crime victims, mediating racial and ethnic tensions, and providing anti-bias training. Ken’s first role with the Commission was as the Assistant to the Commissioner. He is currently the department’s First Deputy Commissioner where he manages the day-to-day operations of the agency.

For more information about the Chicago Commission on Human Relations, please contact: www.cityofchicago.org/HumanRelations

Sheila A. Perkins
Executive Director
Project JOBS
(Joint Opportunities Bring Success)

Sheila Perkins has had an extensive background and experience in the field of Community Development for the past 25 years. Her career started in Baltimore, Maryland, where she held several positions ranging from Community Coordinator to Community Specialist to Assistant Director of a small urban renewal community organization based in East Baltimore. Twelve years were dedicated to revitalizing disenfranchised neighborhoods and working with low-income communities in order to teach the disadvantaged residents how to empower themselves and improve their quality of life.

After relocating to Chicago in 1988, Sheila began working with a community-based organization in the Grand Boulevard community, known as “Bronzeville” on the South Side of Chicago, as a Community Coordinator. She was later promoted to Director of Community Development. From there, she became Executive Director of a small community development council on the West Side of Chicago, which focused on family, youth and economic development activities, as well as university/community collaborations.

After spending 3 years at the West Humboldt Park Family & Community Development Council and 4 years with Ahkenaton Community Development Corporation/Centers for New Horizons, Sheila then worked for 18 months with a Welfare-To-Work program located at the Metropolitan Pier and Exposition Authority (MPEA). In January 2000, she became Executive Director of Project JOBS and still holds that position.

Unlike her previous community development positions, Sheila’s position at Project JOBS is the most challenging and rewarding, with more concrete accomplishments that lead to a better quality of live for community residents.

Project JOBS is a collaboration of agencies working together to promote self-sufficiency among the residents of the Uptown, Edgewater, and Rogers Park communities. Their goal is to help create a stronger, healthier community by increasing levels of employment, reducing barriers to work and career mobility, and improving the quality of supportive services.

As a local workforce intermediary and a non-direct service provider, the Project JOBS vision is to coordinate member benefits and referrals, create employer linkages, and enhance the quality and integration of services delivered by member organizations and partners while serving as a catalyst for shared learning and advocacy.

For more information, contact 773-293-1751 or visit www.projectjobs.org.

Puran Stevens
Director
U.S. Bahá’í Refugee Office

In her position, Mrs. Stevens works closely with the United Nations High Commission for Refugees and the United States government, as well as local and state refugee agencies, to facilitate the resettlement of Bahá’í refugees, including Iranian Bahá’ís, who seek a new life in the United States, free from persecution.

Mrs. Stevens was born in Isfahan, Iran and raised in a Bahá’í family where she was taught, from an early age, that education for girls and the equality of women were important prerequisites for a peaceful and just society. Mrs. Stevens became the first woman to work for the United States as Head Librarian for US Information Services in Isfahan. She married an American, Joseph Stevens, in a Bahá’í wedding ceremony over 40 years ago in Tehran.

She and her family lived for 3 years in Germany, where the second of her two daughters was born and where Mrs. Stevens volunteered in the Children’s ward of the US Army Hospital as a Red Cross volunteer. She has also worked as research librarian at North Texas State University, after she obtained her Master’s Degree in Library and Information Sciences with Phi-Kappa-Phi honors from North Texas State.

The severity of the persecution of Iranian Bahá’ís increased after the Iranian Revolution in 1979. Mrs. Stevens was appointed to the National Persian American Affairs Committee by the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the United States, the national governing body of the Bahá’ís in the United States. Later she was asked to be in charge of the affairs of all Bahá’í refugees.

In 1988, she became director of the newly established US Bahá’í Refugee Office in Evanston, Illinois. During her tenure, Mrs. Stevens has had the pleasure of serving on the Mayor’s Advisory Committee in Chicago and has written America: A Nation of Immigrants.

Mrs. Stevens works with all Bahá’í refugees regardless of their county of origin. Bahá’í refugees from countries such as Sudan, Rwanda, Afghanistan, Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia, the Democratic Republic of Congo, and others have found new homes throughout the United States. During the 1980s, the majority of Bahá’í refugees came from Southeast Asia; now the majority come from Iran.

Mrs. Stevens believes that Chicago, with its large immigrant population, is an example of how embracing new Americans who come from diverse cultures enriches all our lives. She admits, however, that working with refugees is sometimes difficult. It involves hearing painful stories and witnessing unnecessary suffering, but she says that having the opportunity to life the burden of even one soul brings her tremendous joy, courage, and a sense of self-fulfillment. She says that, like her clients, she continues to have unwavering faith in the nobility of humankind and confidence that if we work together, we can build a more just global society.

For more information, contact 847-869-9039 or USBRO@usbnc.org.

Norm Viray
President
Fran Strain-Viray
Executive Director
DanceMates Educational Arts

DanceMates Educational Arts is a nonprofit, neighborhood-based organization that utilizes dance, music, and art to foster unity across the diverse neighborhoods of Chicago. Since it began in 1996, DanceMates Educational Arts has served thousands of Chicago residents. Their goal is to provide a safe, supportive environment to explore Chicago’s diverse cultures and unite the neighborhoods of Chicago. DanceMates Educational Arts specially designs programs for seniors, children, teens, and adults to educate the community regardless of race, religion, age, gender, or gender preference.

Many successful and innovative partnerships have been forged between DanceMates and Chicago agencies. The neighborhood outreach program, Let’s Get Together and Dance!, is housed in Truman College, Wright College, Harold Washington College, the Irving Park YMCA, and the Latin School of Chicago. A multicultural dance program, consisting of Salsa, Merengue, Cumbia, Cha-Cha-Cha, and European ballroom dance of Waltz and Foxtrot are taught to teens and adults. After the dance lessons, DanceMates sponsors a neighborhood gathering where all ages are invited. This gathering allows the dance student, their family, friends, and neighbors to share the evening together in a safe, nonalchoholic environment. Special activities, performances, and dancing are offered. DanceMates regularly partners with the City of Chicago Department on Substance Abuse Policy and neighborhood CAPS programs to further stabilize neighborhood involvement.

DanceMates was recognized by the Irving Park YMCA as Mentor of the Year for “Outstanding Contributions to the Community.” Recently, Harold Washington College honored Norm Viray as City of Chicago “Teacher of the Year.”

DanceMates also partners with the senior citizen community, Wright College, and the Chicago Park District to provide fitness, music, art, and health information for older adults.

For more information, contact 773-286-6879 or visit www.dancemates.org.