Chicago community leader will speak about urban homelessness and poverty at ISU

02-23-12

Contacts:

Pat Miller, Lectures Program, 515-294-9935, pamiller@iastate.edu

Teddi Barron, News Service, 515-294-4778, tbarron@iastate.edu

Chicago community leader will speak about urban homelessness and poverty at ISU

AMES, Iowa -- Jane Ramsey, an influential community leader and activist in Chicago, will speak at Iowa State University on Wednesday, Feb. 29. Her talk, "Myths and Realities of Homelessness and Poverty: A Plan for Transforming Cities," will be at 8 p.m. in the Memorial Union Sun Room. It is free and open to the public.

Ramsey is president of the Chicago-based Jewish Council on Urban Affairs (JCUA), which combats poverty, racism and anti-Semitism in partnership with the city's diverse communities. Under her leadership since 1979, JCUA has become one of Chicago's most influential organizations addressing human and civil rights issues, including immigration, homelessness and community displacement, community reinvestment, police misconduct and government accountability. A principal organizer of coalitions that bring diverse groups together to address common concerns, Ramsey has been at the forefront of many critical issues affecting Chicago.

In 2009, the publication Forward named Ramsey to "The Forward 50," a list of those "leading the American Jewish community into the 21st century." A former director of community relations for Mayor Harold Washington, she has served as a board member for the Illinois Coalition for Immigrant and Refugee Rights, the Chicago Coalition to Protect Public Housing and the Public Welfare Coalition. Ramsey also was a commissioner for Private Industry Council and the Women's Commission of the City of Chicago. She holds a master's degree from the University of Chicago, School Social Service of Administration.

Ramsey's lecture is cosponsored by the College of Design, the Department of Community and Regional Planning, the Graduate Community and Regional Planning Club and the Committee on Lectures, which is funded by the Government of the Student Body. More information on ISU lectures is available at http://www.lectures.iastate.edu, or by calling 515-294-9935.

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