POWER-PAC IL Executive Committee and Governing Council

Susana Salgado

Co-President and Chicago North/Northwest Branch Delegate

Susana Salgado is Co-President of POWER-PAC IL, a Delegate of the Northwest Chicago branch of POWER-PAC IL, and has been a parent leader since 2010. She has been the Co-Chair of the Early Learning Campaign, part of her school network’s Bilingual Parents Advisory Council and Parent Action Council, and is currently an Early Learning Ambassador, a Family Leader with Raising Illinois, and a member of the Local School Council at Otis Elementary School. She is a mother of three children and lives in West Town in Chicago. Susana enjoys advocating for changes for future generations and making sure that the voices of Latino and African American communities are heard.

Chanelle Brown

Vice President (Out of Chicago) and Elementary Justice Campaign Co-Chair

Chanelle Brown is a Vice President of POWER-PAC IL, the Co-Chair of the Elementary Justice Campaign, and a member of the POWER-PAC IL Evanston Branch, PEACE-POM (Parents of Evanston Advocating for Children and Education – Parents on a Mission). She is also a member of Evanston’s Mental Health taskforce and a staff member at the YWCA. Chanelle is proud to have been a single mother for ten years and continues to use her voice to advocate for single mothers and children of single mothers.

Charlene Campbell

Vice President (Chicago) and Chicago Southside Branch Delegate

Charlene Campbell of Kenwood is a Delegate of SPUR (Southside Parents United Roundtable) and has been in POWER-PAC IL for 10+ years. She has seven children and many grandchildren. She works as a nurse at Northwestern Hospital in labor and delivery and has helped welcome babies into the world for 25 years. She has served as Co- Chair of the Elementary Justice Campaign and was a Peace Keeper at Reavis Elementary, helping end the school-to-prison pipeline by limiting out of school suspensions. She has been a Head Start Ambassador with COFI for many summers, sharing her wisdom with her teammates.

Marisol Luna

Vice President (Out of Chicago)

Marisol Luna is a Vice President of POWER-PAC IL, an Aurora Branch Delegate, and has been a member of POWER-PAC IL since 2017. Marisol is part of the Bilingual Parents Advisory Council representing her children’s school in SD131 Aurora. She is currently representing parents at the Raising IL Cross Systems Coalition. She is an active member of the Kane County Parent Council, supporting families and facilitating Parent Cafes. Originally from Durango, Mexico, she is married and has five children.

Delia Perez

Vice President (Chicago) and Stepping Out of Poverty Campaign Co-Chair

Delia Perez is a Vice President of POWER-PAC IL and the Co-Chair of the Stepping Out of Poverty Campaign. She is a proud mother and grandmother. Delia is a fierce advocate around economic security issues and the racial wealth gap, as well as access to early learning and removing police from schools. Delia was a team leader for the Early Learning Ambassador project in 2022 and has also been active as a vaccine outreach ambassador. She is a Survivor Moms Companion (SMC) tutor with POWER-PAC IL’s work around mental health on Chicago’s Westside and also serves as a Parent Leader with BRIDGES, a mental health advocacy group also on the Westside.

Donna Carpenter

Stepping Out of Poverty Campaign Co-Chair

Donna Carpenter, is a lifelong Englewood resident who attended her first COFI training in 2006. She has been actively involved in the Stepping Out of Poverty Campaign (particularly within the Utilities Affordability sub-campaign) and Early Learning Campaign ever since. In 2021, Donna played a pivotal role in passing Senate Bill 265, which expanded access to a utility affordability program, and spoke at the press conference with Governor J.B. Pritzker. That same year, she was one of five COFI mother leaders selected to be part of a national women’s economic security fellowship. Donna has six adult children and three grandchildren.

Valerie Carroll

Early Learning Campaign Co-Chair

Valerie Carroll is the Co-Chair of the Early Learning Campaign and a member of the Southside Parents United Roundtable (SPUR) Branch. She has been a part of POWER-PAC IL since 2015. She is a proud mother of three and grandmother of eight. She believes that parents have a powerful voice and deserve to be heard.

Katrina Falkner

Health, Food and Recess Campaign Co-Chair

Katrina Falkner is the Co-Chair of the Health, Food and Recess Campaign, a SPUR (Southside Parents United Roundtable) member, and a leader in POWER-PAC IL for ten years. She joined POWER-PAC IL because she is passionate about helping others and wants to make positive changes to her community. The Health, Food and Recess Campaign is important to her because she wants to address the mental health challenges in Black and Brown communities, advocate for healthier meals in schools, and ensure every child has recess. She is a proud mother, parent-guardian, and auntie.

Liliana Olayo

Stepping Out of Poverty Campaign Co-Chair

Liliana Olayo is the Co-Chair of the Stepping Out of Poverty Campaign and an active parent leader in Aurora with Padres Lideres Activos. She also serves on the COFI Board of Trustees. Locally, Lili is also the President of the Oak Park School Neighbors group and President of the Bilingual Parents Advisory Council of District 131. In 2021, she joined four COFI mother leaders as part of a national fellowship focused on closing the women’s wealth gap. Originally from Mexico, she is a proud mother of three and recently became a grandmother.

Rosalia Salgado

Early Learning Campaign Co-Chair

Rosalia Salgado is one of the four Vice Presidents of POWER-PAC IL and co-chair of the Early Learning Campaign. As the newly elected early learning co-chair, Rosalia hopes to continue to advocate to expand childcare access to every community and ensure high-quality early childhood services for all of Illinois. She has served as a parent ambassador, generating interest in her neighborhood in community solar projects and enrolling young children in Head Start. She has also advocated for making more mental health resources available to families. Originally from Mexico, she is a proud mother of two young girls. Photo credit: Esther Yoon-Ji Kang/WBEZ Chicago

Patricia Bolden

East St. Louis Branch Delegate

Patricia Bolden is an East St. Louis Branch Delegate for POWER-PAC IL and an active parent leader in East St. Louis with Parents United for Change. She also serves on the Parents United for Change Board of Directors. Locally, she is on the executive committee for the Greater East St. Louis Early Learning Partnership and a member of Make Health Happen-ESTL. She is a proud mother of three and also recently became a grandmother.

María Gamino

Aurora Branch Delegate

María Gamino is a prominent community leader and new delegate for the Aurora, Illinois Branch of COFI/POWER PAC Illinois. Committed to the well-being of her family and community, María is a member of the Kane County Health Department System of Care Parent Council and an active advocate for public policies that benefit families. Through her work at COFI/POWER PAC IL, she has driven local and statewide change, focusing on parent unity as a driver of social justice transformation. María takes advantage of every educational opportunity to better support her community. Her vision is to empower future generations, helping them overcome barriers and achieve a better future. María firmly believes that the collective strength of parents is key to creating lasting change. María has two daughters and began her leadership within COFI back in 2020.

Sherita Hamlin

Chicago Westside Delegate

Cynthia Lara

Evanston Branch Delegate

Cynthia Lara is a Delegate for the POWER-PAC IL Evanston Branch, PEACE-POM (Parents of Evanston Advocating for Children and Education – Parents on a Mission). She has been a member of the branch since 2020. She is a proud mother of two boys (11 and 21). She initially joined COFI during the pandemic to socialize (the convenience of Zoom helped). Soon enough, though, she became passionate about addressing the issues parents in her community face – specifically, addressing issues with parents being part of the solution.

Michelle Morton

Chicago Westside Delegate

Michelle Morton is a Delegate for the Westside Chicago branch and has been involved in POWER-PAC IL since 2008. She joined POWER-PAC IL because she wanted to learn to be a part of the fight before she had to fight. She is a proud mother of one teenage daughter. Michelle is an advocate for early childhood education and was an Early Learning Ambassador for many years. This year, she worked in the call center, helping parents decide and find a school for their children. Since joining POWER-PAC IL, she has worked diligently as Co-President and as a member of the Stepping Out of Poverty Campaign and Health, Food and Recess campaign.

Gabriela Piceno

Chicago Southwest Branch Delegate

Gabriela Piceno is an active parent leader in Chicago and serves as one of the Southwest Branch Delegates. She is from Mexico. She has been a Head Start Ambassador for two years, and is always willing to learn and help communities. Married for 22 years, she has four children and one grandchild.

Juan Rocha

Chicago Southwest Branch Delegate

Juan Rocha is a member of the Southwest Branch of POWER-PAC IL. Juan has supported the growth of POWER-PAC IL as a parent trainer, ambassador, and Branch Delegate. A proud father of two sons, Juan cares deeply about supporting the community, informing parents, and ensuring a bright future for all kids. Juan is an immigrant from Mexico, and a lifelong participant and judge of charreadas (Mexican rodeo).

Regina Simms

Chicago Southside Branch Delegate

Regina Simms is the Delegate for SPUR (Southside Parents United Roundtable). She joined POWER-PAC IL because she believes in the goals of the Health, Food and Recess Campaign, and believes in creating healthy schools for all children. She is a proud mother of 10 including six adopted children, and a proud grandmother of nine grandchildren.

Stacey Simon

Chicago North/Northwest Branch Delegate

Stacey Simon is the Delegate for the Chicago North/Northwest Branch and has been involved in COFI and POWER-PAC IL since 2013. She first joined COFI as a walking school bus parent and later joined POWER-PAC IL because of her passion for helping families from low-income backgrounds. Additionally, she wanted to advocate for children and families and ensure low-income communities got the resources they needed to thrive. She is also involved in the Health, Food and Recess, Elementary Justice, and Early Learning Campaigns. Stacey is a proud mother of four adult sons.

Zor Zapata

Aurora Branch Delegate

Zor Zapata is a Delegate for the Aurora Branch and has been a member since 2020. She joined COFI after witnessing how COFI parents, even without citizenship, had a voice. Through COFI, parents became leaders; they knew their rights and how to advocate, so she joined! This motivation was cemented when she shared her stories with legislators during COFI’s annual advocacy day and witnessed it make a difference in helping pass laws to support families in Illinois.