About the ILBCF

Message From The Joint Chairman

Rep. Carol Ammons

The Illinois Legislative Black Caucus, founded in 1967, stands for the progression of the African-American community by promoting education, health and welfare, minority business enterprise, job creation, consumer education and criminal justice reform.

As chairman of the Illinois Legislative Black Caucus, it is a great honor to serve within an organization dedicated to improving the quality of life for African Americans. I will diligently work in a unified effort with our membership to continue fostering economic growth within the black community by ensuring statewide inclusion and diversity.

The ILBC will continue working with business leader’s and community stakeholders to find ways to spark job creation in a growing economy. Preparation is the true path toward future employment opportunities. To illuminate that path, the ILBC will continue to work aggressively to ensure our children have access to a world class education. While future generations are preparing themselves to lead us to a better, brighter future, the ILBC will protect them by ushering in legislation to preserve their rights.

I will work to expand on our collective leadership as we continue to affect real, positive change. We are committed to doing this within the budget process to protect programs that shape and improve African American life. The ILBC will use our voice and position within the Statehouse and within districts across Illinois to represent the interests of Illinois citizens.

Illinois Legislative Black Caucus

As chairwoman of the Illinois Legislative Black Caucus, my focus will be to ensure our members are advocating on behalf of the community, to ensure inclusion and diversity which results in the expansion of growth in the African-American community; and make sure we are improving the health and social outcomes for our community statewide.

Mission:

• Assure that the interest of African-American citizens are given equitable representation in the General Assembly
• Areas of housing, health & welfare, education, employment and minority business enterprise.
• It is an honor to serve as the chairwoman of the ILBC and then go from there…
• I want to use our collective leadership capacity to enhance growth for our community

In the Spirit,

Representative Carol Ammons
Joint Black Caucus Chairman

Message From The Executive Director

Tiffany D. Hightower

Greetings,

Since its inception in 2002, the Illinois Legislative Black Caucus Foundation has been dedicated to protecting, developing and advancing black communities around Illinois. As Executive Director, I have worked tirelessly to ensure Black stakeholders have a seat at the table to give our community fair representation during the legislative process. We are experiencing an interesting time in State government. Funding has seemingly dried up for pivotal community based programs, and partisan gridlock is constant. But, there is a silver lining.

In our journey to address the needs of Black Illinoisans, we have helped countless students advance their education by providing over $800,000 in scholarships to deserving students.

Every year, we bring hundreds of students from around Illinois who reside in ILBC member districts to learn about how state government works in hopes we spark their interest to become civically engaged. Communication is a key aspect in our mission to improve the Black community. To ensure our community is aware of legislative changes, the ILBCF regularly holds legislative forums where we inform residents about changes in state government. At these events, we also look for feed back from the community so we know what changes we should be supporting and advancing.

I am excited for the coming changes that the ILBCF is undertaking. Leading this organization is truly an honor, and I look forward to continuing a legacy of service.

Best,

Tiffany Hightower

Brief History
Of The Illinois Legislative Black Caucus