Equip for Equality

Award Recipients & Guests Bios

FEATURED SPEAKER
Illinois Supreme Court Justice Anne M. Burke

Equip for Equality is proud to announce that Justice Anne M. Burke will be the speaker at the 2006 Evening for Equality. Appointed to the Illinois Supreme Court on July 6, 2006, Justice Burke has had a long career in public service that includes an extraordinary commitment to providing a voice to society's most marginalized citizens, with a special focus on children and adults with disabilities.

She began her judicial career in 1987 with an appointment to the Illinois Court of Claims by governor Jim Thompson. As the first woman to serve in that court, she was later reappointed by Illinois Governor Jim Edgar. Highly regarded as an advocate and judge, Justice Burke has served on the Illinois Appellate Court, 1st District, since 1995.

Before her appointment to the judiciary, Justice Burke was a leading advocate for our community's most vulnerable citizens. One of her first efforts to assist children was at the Chicago Park District, where she taught physical education to children with disabilities. Out of that experience, she went on to found the Chicago Special Olympics in 1968. She later served as a director of that organization as it grew to become the International Special Olympics, represented in more than 160 countries.

Following her graduation from law school at the age of 40, she opened a neighborhood practice. She maintained a very diverse law practice in addition to representing the interests of children in matters of abuse, neglect, delinquency and parental custody.

Respected by civic and community leaders throughout Illinois, Justice Burke has often been called upon to lead systemic change. She was appointed by Governor Edgar as special counsel for Child Welfare Services and served as a member of his Legislative Committee on Juvenile Justice. As special counsel, Burke helped reform the Cook County juvenile justice system, improving child protective services by establishing greater coordination and cooperation among the Illinois Department of Children and Family Services, law enforcement agencies and other governmental bodies charged with protecting children.

She was appointed by the Illinois Supreme Court to serve on its Special Commission on the Administration of Justice and the Board of Admissions to the Bar. For more than two years, serving as interim chair, she directed the efforts of the National Review Board of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, investigating the causes and effects of the clergy abuse scandal and helping to establish guidelines and policies for effectively responding to this issue.

Issues and causes impacting the civic, cultural and educational life of Chicago have been a priority for Justice Burke throughout her career. She currently serves as a trustee on the boards of DePaul University, the Ruth Page Foundation and the Hundred Club of Cook County. In the past, she has served as a trustee on the board of Rush Medical Center, as well as serving on the Board of Managers of the Chicago Bar Association and as director of the Chicago Bar Association.

She has served as president of Special Children's Charities and the Caritas Foundation, as well as other boards and foundations, and has written and lectured extensively on the subjects of children, people with disabilities and ethical leadership.

LIFETIME LEADERSHIP AWARD
Dr. Henry B. Betts, Past Medical Director, President & CEO of the Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago (RIC)

Dr. Henry B. Betts, an internationally renowned specialist in physical medicine and rehabilitation, will receive Equip for Equality's 2006 Lifetime Leadership Award at An Evening for Equality on Friday, November 3, in recognition of his four decades of advocacy, exemplary service and visionary leadership on behalf of children and adults with disabilities.

Dr. Betts, Past Medical Director, President & CEO of the Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago (RIC), has been at the forefront of a national movement to change attitudinal and physical barriers for people with physical disabilities.

Coming to RIC in 1963, the young doctor Betts soon brought national recognition to himself and the Institute through his pioneering work in physical medicine and rehabilitation. He led the drive to make seatbelts mandatory in Illinois and was a strong advocate for the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990. At RIC, he created the full-time Injury Prevention Program, the first in the nation aimed at lessening the incidence of preventable injuries. He also founded a residency-training program at RIC in the field of physical medicine and rehabilitation, which now attracts the top medical students throughout the country. At Northwestern Medical School, he implemented a mandatory rotation for medical students and created a continuing education program for healthcare professionals, which now educates 7,000 students every year.

Dr. Betts was a Magnuson Professor of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation at Northwestern University's Feinberg School of Medicine. A New York native, Dr. Betts received his bachelor's degree from Princeton University and his medical degree from the University of Virginia.

Equip for Equality's Lifetime Leadership Award is presented annually to honor those individuals who demonstrate exceptional public commitment and outstanding achievement in advancing the human and civil rights of people with disabilities. Past recipients of the award include Senator Max Cleland, Congressman Lane Evans, Mayor Richard M. and Mrs. Maggie Daley, former Press Secretary James Brady and Cardinal Frances Eugene George.

CORPORATE EXCELLENCE AWARD
Lasalle Bank

Equip for Equality is honored to present LaSalle Bank with its 2006 Corporate Excellence Award, which recognizes enterprises that demonstrate exceptional commitment to and achievement in advancing the human and civil rights of people with disabilities. Equip for Equality lauds LaSalle Bank's extraordinary measures to provide its customers who are blind or sight-impaired with independent and equitable access to its banking services.

As part of an initiative to improve its services to and employment opportunities for people with disabilities, LaSalle Bank is providing talking ATMs at all of the ATM locations it owns, as well as developing fully accessible bank web pages, retail banking documents in alternative formats and raised line checks for customers with visual impairments. Further, LaSalle Bank is conducting community outreach to spread awareness of the improved accessibility.

The 2006 Corporate Excellence Award will be presented to LaSalle Bank at An Evening for Equality on Friday, November 3, 2006. Past recipients of the Award include Walgreen Company; Sears, Roebuck & Company; Northern Trust; and McDonald's Corporation.

MASTER OF CEREMONIES
Dave Savini, CBS 2 Investigative Reporter

Dave Savini is one of Chicago's great investigative journalists. In 1999, he uncovered and developed a five-part expose for WMAQ-TV on public schools that locked young students with disabilities in closets for "time out." The series, 'Kids in Confinement,' on which he extensively collaborated with Equip for Equality, led to legislative and regulatory action. Besides his work reporting on the plight of children with disabilities, Dave has uncovered corruption in the police department, and exposed medical negligence, government waste and child exploitation. His reports have resulted in legal reforms and policy changes within government agencies and local corporations.

In 2003, he won the prestigious Edward R. Murrow award for his series "Code Blue, Code Red," which investigated law enforcement officials and exposed 250 drunk driving offenders among Chicago police officers, firefighters and paramedics. Dave recently moved from WMAQ to WBBM, Channel 2 News in Chicago, and he previously worked at WROC-TV in Rochester, New York as an anchor and investigative reporter. Before that, he was the Raleigh bureau chief at WNCT-TV in Greenville, North Carolina (1990-92). He began his career as a weekend anchor and investigative reporter at WHIZ-TV in Zanesville, Ohio.

Dave has been honored for excellence throughout his career with nine Emmy Awards, a national Clarion Award, the Herman Kogan Award from the Chicago Bar Association and an Edward R. Murrow Award. Born and raised in Chicago, he is a 1985 graduate of Weber High School and earned a B.A. in Broadcast Journalism from the University of Dayton. Dave and his wife have two children and live in Naperville.