Looking for a speaker for your next meeting?  The ICRF is working with prominent activists, republicans, conservatives, media, etc to give your chapter some options and ensure you have a great guest speaker at each and everyone of your meetings.

Please browse the list below frequently as it is sure to grow.  If you see someone you'd like to book fill out the from and we will help make it happen.

Even if you are not a college republican chapter and would like to book one of the speakers below we'll be happy to help you out.

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SPEAKERS

JOSEPH E. BIRKETT - DuPage County State's Attorney

Issue Expertise -IL GOP -The Conservative Movement -Law & Order

Joseph E. Birkett grew up on Chicago’s West Side along with his nine brothers and sisters. His father died when Joe was just thirteen years old but with the strength and guidance of his mother, the entire family worked hard to pull through the tough times.

Following his graduation from St. Thomas Aquinas Elementary School, Joe attended St. Phillip High School in Chicago which closed in 1970 after his freshman year. Joe then accepted a football scholarship from Aurora Central Catholic where he went on to become the Team Captain and Most Valuable Player. Joe accepted another football scholarship from North Central College in Naperville where he again was voted the Team Captain. During his college days, Joe won the Chicago Golden Gloves and Chicago Park District Light-Heavyweight Boxing Championships. In 1977, Joe graduated with honors, earning Degrees in Political Science and English.

Joe married his high school sweetheart Patti Hill who helped him finance his law school tuition while she worked at AT&T Bell Labs. Joe received his Law Degree from John Marshall in 1981 and was admitted to the Illinois Bar later that same year.

Joe became an Assistant State’s Attorney in DuPage County in October 1981 and advanced rapidly through the Criminal Division. In 1985, he was promoted to Chief of the Major Crimes Unit, prosecuting drug delivery cases. The next year Joe was named Deputy Chief of the Criminal Division, and later served as Chief of the Criminal Division.

On October 1, 1996, Joe was sworn in as DuPage County State’s Attorney to finish an unexpired term. One month later, Joe was elected to the position for a four-year term, and in November of 2000 he was re-elected for another four-year term. He was the Republican Nominee for Illinois Attorney General in 2002 and won all 102 Counties in the Primary Election. He was reelected to his third term as State’s Attorney in 2004.

Joe is a teacher, a frequent lecturer across the nation, and an award-winning administrator. He has been responsible for initiating policy and procedures and for training junior prosecutors. Throughout his career, Joe has received numerous awards and commendations for prosecutorial excellence from State’s Attorneys, law enforcement agencies and victims. He is a Past President of the Association of Government Attorneys in Capital Litigation, and is also a member of the American and DuPage County Bar Associations, DuPage American Inns of Court, Delta Theta Phi Law Fraternity, the Illinois House of Representatives Capital Punishment Task Force, the Illinois Governor’s Criminal Code Rewrite Commission and is an adjunct faculty member at National Louis University in Wheaton.

Joe donates time to coaching basketball, boxing and baseball. He and his wife Patti have been residents of DuPage County since 1977. They live in Wheaton with their two children and are members of St. Daniel’s Church.

SENATOR BILL BRADY - IL 44th Senate District

Issue Expertise -IL GOP -The Conservative Movement

As a state legislator over the last 14 years, Senator Bill Brady has worked to increase educational accountability, promote fiscal responsibility, overhaul regulation of the health care industry in Illinois, create a business climate favorable to job growth, attack corruption in government, and to safeguard the pension funds of retired teachers, university faculty and state employees.

Senator Brady has represented the citizens of seven Central Illinois Counties in the 44th Senate District since 2002. He previously served in the Illinois House of Representatives from 1993 to 2001.

Senator Brady currently is the ranking Republican on the Senate Insurance Committee and the leading Republican on the Senate Pensions and Investments Committee. He also serves on the General Assembly’s Commission on Government Accountability and Forecasting and is a member of the board that governs the state’s CHIP (Comprehensive Health Insurance Plan) program.

He has been honored by such organizations as the Illinois Chamber of Commerce and the Illinois Farm Bureau for his work in the General Assembly.

Senator Brady and his brothers have owned and operated real estate development, property management, mortgage, insurance, home construction and broadcasting businesses in Central Illinois for more than 25 years.

In his community, Senator Brady also has been an active member of a number of business associations, including the Illinois Association of Realtors, the Bloomington-Normal Home Builders Association and the McLean County Chamber of Commerce. His service has extended to several community organizations as well, including the Board of St. Joseph’s Hospital, the Diocese of Peoria Catholic Charities Board, Westminster Retirement Village Board, the Heartland Community College Foundation Board, the Illinois State University Business Advisory Council, the Illinois High School Association and the United Way.

Senator Brady graduated from Central Catholic High School and Illinois Wesleyan University, both in Bloomington. He resides in Bloomington with his wife, Nancy, and their three children.

FRAN EATON - Editor of the IllinoisReview.com

Issue Expertise -Politics & Journalism -IL GOP -The Conservative Movement

In addition to writing a political column for the Sun-Times' Southtown Star, Fran Eaton is co-owner and editor of IllinoisReview.com, named in the February 2008 edition of Chicago Magazine as one of the top five political blogs.  She is the legislative liaison for the United Republican Fund, a 74 year old independent Republican organization.  Her work through the years as a campaign volunteer and an grassroots activist gives her a unique perspective on the future of the Republican Party.   

STEVE GREENBERG - Candidate for Congress, IL 8th CD

Issue Expertise -IL GOP

Steve Greenberg, a successful businessman from Long Grove, IL, comes from the great American tradition of citizens who want to improve the lives of their families and neighbors through government service.  As a Congressman, Steve will focus on reforming Washington, cutting taxes, making government more efficient, and keeping our families safe.
               
Steve serves on the management team of Promotions Unlimited, a family company that sells quality merchandise to small businesses competing with the big chains.  At Promotions Unlimited, Steve has grown the customer base from 1,000 to 5,000 stores nationwide.  Steve also owns Herr’s Pacific, a distributor of art materials and craft supplies. Through his companies, Steve has created hundreds of jobs in Illinois and across the country, and has learned first-hand how government policies can help small businesses. In addition to his business ventures, Steve serves on the board of Americans for Prosperity, a pro-jobs and pro-growth national organization.
Steve and his wife, Kristine, have been married for 14 years and have three children, Tyler, 13; Claire, 11; and Jack, 8. Steve is active in his community and has coached local youth hockey teams, including his kids’ teams for several years.

SHAWN HEALY - Resident Scholar McCormick-Tribune Freedom   Museum

Shawn Healy, the McCormick Tribune Freedom Museumʼs resident scholar, is responsible for exhibit content expertise, academic outreach and conference planning. Before joining the McCormick Tribune Freedom Museum, he served as a social studies teacher at the high school level, where he taught American Government, Economics, American History and Chicago History to juniors and seniors at Community High School in West Chicago, Ill. He also served as the faculty sponsor of the Junior State of America chapter and the Fed Challenge Team. Healy previously taught at Sheboygan North High School in Wisconsin from 1999-2001 and also coached football, basketball and track. He holds an MA from the University of Illinois at Chicago in political science and a bachelorʼs degree in Political Science, History and Secondary Education from the University of Wisconsin at Madison. Healy is currently a doctoral candidate within the Political Science Department at the University of Illinois at Chicago specializing in American and urban politics.

SENATOR MATT MURPHY - IL 27th Senate District

Issue Expertise -IL GOP -The Conservative Movement

Matt Murphy is a Republican Illinois State Senator, representing the 27th district since 2007. The district includes parts of Arlington Heights, Barrington, Buffalo Grove, Inverness, Palatine, Prospect Heights and South Barrington.

Murphy was elected to the Illinois Senate on November 7, 2006 defeating Democrat Peter Gutzmer to succeed retiring Republican Senator Wendell Jones. Murphy had won the Republican primary on March 21, 2006 defeating Palatine Village President Rita Mullins.

Murphy has served as a Harper College Trustee since 2003, and served as a Trustee of the Greater Palatine Area Chamber of Commerce from 2003 to 2004. Murphy is a graduate of John Marshall Law School and is a practicing attorney with Brian J. McManus & Associates.

 

JIM OBERWEIS - Candidate for Congress, IL 14th CD

Issue Expertise -IL GOP -The Conservative Movement

Jim Oberweis graduated from Marmion Military Academy before going on to earn a B.A. from the University of Illinois at Champaign-Urbana and, later, an M.B.A. from the University of Chicago Graduate School of Business.

Soon after graduating from the University of Illinois, he started a career in the financial services industry, eventually starting three no-load mutual funds -- one of which, the Oberweis Micro-Cap Fund, was rated as one of the top performing small cap growth funds in the country over the last five years. Today, Jim serves as the Chairman of Oberweis Asset Management, which now manages more than $3 billion in assets.
               
 Jim also serves as the Chairman of Oberweis Dairy. Under Jim's leadership, the Dairy has grown enormously; from one ice cream store and 50 employees, to 43 ice cream stores and more than 1,000 employees.

Jim is the Republican candidate for the 14th Congressional District seat soon to be vacated by former House Speaker Denny Hastert.

Jim is a member of the Illinois Republican Party Finance Committee and the Kane County Republican Advisory Board, and serves as a precinct committeeman in Kane County's Sugar Grove Township.

Jim is active in several organizations, including the Three Fires Council Boy Scouts of America and the United Republican Fund. The Oberweis Foundation, supports charitable efforts with an emphasis on services that provide food and shelter to the neediest among us, as well as programs for youth.

Jim is married, and has five adult children and fourteen grandchildren, all of whom call Illinois home. Jim is a member of Holy Angels Parish in Aurora, Illinois.

TONY PERAICA - Cook County Commissioner 16th Dist.

Issue Expertise -Corruption -Cook Co. Politics

Born 49 years ago in Croatia, Tony Peraica came to America at the age of 13, after losing both of his parents, unable to speak a word of English.
               
Despite his circumstances, Tony persevered and went on to earn his B.A. in Political Science form the University of Illinois at Chicago and J.D. from The John Marshall Law School and has built a thriving law practice in the past 20 years.
               
From 1990 to 1992 he served as a Special Assistant for the Attorney General of Illinois. He founded the South Loop Chamber of Commerce in 1990 and is currently the Commerce Secretary. From 1995 to 1997, Tony served as the International Vice President for the Boy Scouts of America. In 1996, Tony was appointed by former Governor Jim Edgar to the Illinois Department of Professional Regulation where he served four years.
               
Tony also served as the National President of the Croatian American Association for 5 years and is currently the Illinois President. In 2000, Peraica was honored as the "Man of the Year" by the Illinois Coalition for Immigrant and Refugee Rights.
               
Tony sought county offices previously as the Republican nominee for Cook County Treasurer in 1998. In the 2002 primary, Tony was elected as they Lyons Township Republican Committeeman. Later that year, he was elected to the 16th District seat on the Cook County Board of Commissioners where he has served since 2003. Tony is currently a candidate for Cook County State’s Attorney.
               
Tony credits his accomplishments to the support of Nilo, his loving wife of 26 years, and his two wonderful children, Marko and Anisa. He and his family live in Riverside, Illinois.

DAN PROFT - Principal of Urquhart Media & WLS Commentator

Issue Expertise -IL GOP -Messaging -Campaigning

Dan Proft, a principal of Urquhart Media, LLC, has run political campaigns and served in various capacities in state and local government for the past 13 years.

Proft is the featured political commentator on the Don Wade & Roma Morning Show on WLS-AM 890, the number one news talk radio station in Chicago, where he provides a weekly commentary. His commentaries also appear regularly in Human Events (HumanEvents.com), the nation's leading journal of conservative thought since 1944.
Among his civic pursuits, Proft serves as a Board member for the Illinois chapter of Operation Homefront, a non-profit whose mission is to provide assistance to military families, particularly those with a spouse serving overseas. He also serves on the Associate Board of The Cradle, an Evanston-based adoption agency.
               
Proft, a practicing Catholic, grew up in west suburban Wheaton, Illinois. He is a 1994 graduate of Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois. In 1992, while at Northwestern, Proft helped found an independent weekly campus paper, the Northwestern Chronicle, which continues to publish to this day.
               
Proft, an avid sports fan, also coaches youth basketball in Cicero, Illinois.

SENATOR CHRISTINE RADOGNO - IL 41st Senate District

Issue Expertise -IL GOP -IL Senate -IL Budget

Deputy Leader Christine Radogno has served in the Illinois Senate since 1997. She currently represents the 41st District in Cook, DuPage and Will counties.

Senator Radogno is the Deputy Republican Leader, acting as both an advisor and second-in-command to the Republican Leader. She is also the Republican spokesperson for the Senate Rules Committee and the Human Services Committee, while also serving on all three Senate Appropriations Committees, Executive Committee and the Public Health Committee.

Senator Radogno also serves on the Commission on Government Forecasting and Accountability, and is a member and previous Co-Chair of the Illinois Conference of Women Legislators.

Before running for the Senate, Christine Radogno served as Village of LaGrange trustee, Village of LaGrange Liquor Commission, Village of LaGrange Economic Development Commission, and worked as a social worker at Mercy Center for Health Care Services.

Senator Radogno has been very active in the community. She founded Citizens Active in Reclaiming the Environment (CARE) to oppose McCook Reservoir Project and McCook and Summit incinerators. She serves on the board of the Community Support Services and also serves as a member of the League of Women Voters, local chambers of commerce, and Business and Professional Women.

Senator Radogno was educated in the Chicago area. She holds a Master’s degree in Social Work at Loyola University, Chicago, a Bachelor’s degree at Loyola University. She graduated from Lyons Township High School.

Senator Radogno currently lives in Lemont with her husband, Nunzio. They have three daughters.

DR. STEVE SAUERBERG - Candidate U.S. Senate

Issue Expertise -IL GOP

A respected family physician for over 25 years and recognized medical expert, Dr. Steve Sauerberg was born in Berwyn and raised in LaGrange where he graduated from Lyons Township High School. After High School, Steve went to MacMurrary College in Jacksonville, IL. Steve was accepted into Rush Medical College’s specialty medical program where he finished his fourth year of undergraduate course work and first year of Medical School simultaneously.
               
After medical school, Steve returned home for his residency at LaGrange Memorial Hospital where he was appointed Chief Resident his final year due to his medical skill and proven leadership ability. Steve quickly worked his way up to Associate Director of the residency. Steve started his own family practice in 1985 and today it is one of the most successful Family Medicine group practices in Chicago’s western suburbs. In addition to his family practice, Steve is a member of the Illinois State Medical Society and the American Medical Association and has been a generous donor to the LaGrange Hospital Foundation.
               
Steve is committed to giving back to his community. The Sauerberg Family Foundation has been a financial supporter of Habitat for Humanity, Disabled American Vets, Campus Crusade for Christ, the University of Wisconsin-LaCrosse, Indiana University, and MacMurray College.
               
A loving husband and father, Steve Sauerberg and his wife Nancyhave been married for 25 years. Together they have two adult children, Neal and Laura. The Sauerberg’s are active members of the Christ Church of Oak Brook.

Would you like to be added to the list?  Email us at speakersbureau@icrfweb.com!