Welcome to the Illinois Guardianship and Advocacy Commission. Since 1979, the Commission has served the needs of incapacitated adults, through its Office of State Guardian, and all other persons with disabilities through the Human Rights Authority and the Legal Advocacy Service. Please visit the rest of our web site to get important information about the work that we do.
Dr. Mary L. Milano
Director
Illinois Guardianship and Advocacy Commission
The Illinois Guardianship and Advocacy Commission is comprised
of eleven citizens appointed by the Governor for three-year terms. These
Commissioners serve in a voluntary capacity to govern the agency, and are
selected for a particular of expertise. An annual election is held at the
end of each fiscal year, at which time the Commissioners elect a Chairperson,
Vice Chairperson, Secretary, and Treasurer. Members of the Commission are:
Anthony E. Rothert, Chairperson Anthony Rothert is the Legal Director for the American Civil Liberties Union of Eastern Missouri. His previous experience includes six years as a staff attorney with the Illinois Guardianship and Advocacy Commission's Legal Advocacy Service. Mr. Rothert received an MSW and his Juris Doctorate from St. Louis University in Missouri. He has taught courses at Sanford Brown College in St. Louis at the Bachelor and Associate Degree levels. An active member of the Bar Associations, he serves on many committees in a variety of capacities, some include; The Committee on Human Rights, The Committee on Law- Related Education for the Public and The Committee on Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity, The Committee on Mental Health and Committee of Supreme Court Rules. He has been an active member of IGAC's Human Rights Authority in the Metro East Region for the past two years and serves on the Board of Directors for the Illinois Guardianship Association.
Andrea M. Schleifer, Vice Chairperson Andrea M. Schleifer is an attorney at law in her own practice, Andrea M. Schleifer & Associates, P.C., since 1979. Ms. Schleifer specializes in general civil litigation including; Divorce; Family Law; Adoptions; Contested Adoptions; Parentage; Child Custody; Visitation Rights; Child Support; Guardianship; Grandparents Visitation Rights; Residential Real Estate. She is the President of the Decalogue Society of Lawyers (2008-2009), and is a member of the Illinois State Bar Association, The Decalogue Society of Jewish Lawyers and the Woman's Bar Association of Illinois. She has volunteered with the Chicago Volunteer Legal Services for 25 years and was elected to two terms on Board of Directors, 2003-2009.
Her past accomplishments include 6 years with the Center for Conflict Resolution, formerly the Neighborhood Justice of Chicago, as a mediator and member of the Board of Directors of this community based dispute resolution service. She was also active on the Illinois Task Force on Child Support and also the Gender Bias task force, which evaluated the effect of gender on the administration of justice in Illinois. She is a graduate of Indiana University and received her law degree from Loyola University of Chicago.
Honorable Don Harmon, State Senator - 39th District
Don Harmon was born and raised in Oak Park, Illinois. He carries a BA from Knox College and a Masters of Business Administration and law degree from University of Illinois at Chicago. He has been serving in the Senate since 2002. He has promoted a progressive agenda, advocating for better educational opportunities for children, greater access to affordable health care, meaningful assistance to seniors facing high prescription medical costs, and economic opportunity for all citizens of Illinois. Harmon has sponsored legislation to authorize local governments to enhance funding for people with disabilities and permitting the Chicago Park District to create such a program, he sponsored legislation creating the Equal Pay Act , worked to create the Senior Citizen Prescription Drug Discount Program. He passed legislation to create the Illinois Early Leaning Council, to address vicious dog attacks and he authored the Illinois Civil Rights Act of 2003, to prohibit discriminatory policies by State, county or local governments. He serves as the vice chair on the Senate Judiciary Committee and is a member on the Senate Appropriations II Committee and the Senate Insurance and Pensions Committee. In 2003, the Illinois Association of Park Districts honored Harmon with their Outstanding Legislator of the Year award. He currently lives in Oak Park, with his wife Teri, and their three children.
Seymour Bryson, Ph.D.
Seymour Bryson, Ph.D. is currently the Associate Chancellor (Diversity) and a professor in the Rehabilitation Institute at Southern Illinois University Carbondale. He is a three-degree graduate from SIUC, where he received a doctorate in educational psychology in 1972. He has presented papers at numerous conferences and has published in a variety of professional publications, including Rehabilitation Counseling Bulletin, The Journal of non-White Concerns, and The Journal of Multicultural Development. Bryson has held several administrative positions at SIUC, including Assistant to the President, Dean and Associate Dean of the College of Human Resources , and Director for the Center for Basic Skills. He has been active in professional organizations at the local, regional and national levels. He has served as a governor’s appointee to the Department of Rehabilitation Services Advisory Council and is currently a member of the State Use Commission.
Representative Angelo "Skip" Saviano - 77th District. State Representative Angelo “Skip” Saviano (R-Elmwood Park) is a full-time state legislator; born May 20, 1958 in Chicago; B.A., DePaul University; married (wife, Julie), and has two children. He was first elected to the legislature in 1993. Since 1995, Representative Saviano has served as chairman of the Registration & Regulation Committee. He currently serves on the following legislative committees: Committee of the Whole; Public Utilities; Aging; Health & Healthcare Disparities; Gaming; Executive; Appropriations-Public Safety.
Honorable Ira Silverstein,
State Senator - 8th District.
Honorable Ira Silverstein- State Senator (D) 8 th District. Senator Silverstein is an attorney with degrees from Loyola University and John Marshall Law School. He is a current member of the Chicago Bar Association; the Estate Planning and Probate Committee of the Chicago Bar Association and Decalogue society. His practice concentrates in areas of Probate and Guardianship. He has served as a Guardian Ad Litem in the Probate Court since 1988. He is the past President of the Northtown Community Council; and is a current board member of the Korean Senior Center. He is the Director of the Bernard Horwich JCC and is married with four children.
Inez Torres Davis
As a facilitator of Open Space Technology, the Peter F. Drucker's Organizational Self Assessment and William Bridges and Associates Leading Organizational/Personal Transitions, Inez has provided strategic planning retreats for Lutheran and community organizations. Mrs. Torres Davis served on the religious leaders' forum panel of President Clinton's Initiative on Race, "One America In The 21st Century” (1998) and the World Council of Churches consultation for Church Women's Response to Racism in Bangalore, India (2000). Mrs. Torres Davis has served the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America on the Lutheran Immigration & Refugee Services board and on the In the City for Good Funding Team.
Inez has worked professionally as an anti-racism educator since 1994, and anti-bias education since 1991. One part Chiricahua Apache and two parts Mexican American, Mrs. Torres Davis has conducted cross-cultural immersion experiences on Reservations as well as in Appalachia.
In addition to writing and gathering curriculum used in teaching hundreds of women about being anti racist organizers, Inez has also worked in areas of organizational development, cross-cultural education, commercial sexual exploitation, environmental safety and working with youth. Since 1997 she has consulted with various groups on issues related the full-inclusion of people living with disabilities and has written disability related cross-cultural tips for the web.
Barbara Berry-Bailey
Rev. Barbara Berry-Bailey serves as Program Director for Companionship for Africa in the churchwide office of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. She carries a Bachelor of Arts degree from University of Michigan in Speech Communication and Theater, and spent 20 years working in public broadcasting, including National Public Radio in Washington, before earning a Master of Divinity degree from the Lutheran Theological Seminary at Philadelphia. In addition to numerous production credits including "Grace Matters," the radio ministry of the ELCA; and executive producer of the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra broadcasts, Pastor Barbara has written for several publications including The Lutheran, Sundays and Seasons, The Word in Season, God's Story is My Story, edited by Walter Wangerin, Jr., and What Can Happen When We Pray. She has been a featured preacher on The Protestant Hour, Thirty Good Minutes of Television, and hosted the 2002 Christmas Eve telecast of This Holy Night, on CBS. She has served pastorates in Philadelphia, and West Lawn Pennsylvania, and is currently serving as Interim Pastor at Faith Lutheran Church in Chicago's Norwood Park area.
Sharon Jenkins-Collins
Sharon Jenkins-Collins has been a Doctor of natural health care for 34 years. She holds both Doctor of Naprapathy and Doctor of Chiropractic degrees.
Dr. Jenkins-Collins is in private practice on the south side of Chicago. She has been married for 25 years and is the mother of four children. Her passion for the population that the Commission serves is derived in part from her experiences as the mother of a son with special needs.
