Gov. Pritzker Announces 13 Appointments to Boards, Commissions, Public Administrator and Public Guardians

Building on a strong team of diverse experts in their fields, Governor JB Pritzker announced the following appointments in his administration:

COMMISSION ON EQUITY AND INCLUSION

 
Kellye Keyes will serve as Chair of the Commission on Equity and Inclusion. * Keyes currently serves as the Senior Council and Chief Counsel of Human Resources for the Executive Ethics Commission. In this role, Keyes has built a Diversity, Equity and Inclusion strategy for purchasing and hiring, placing an emphasis on active collaboration and leadership. She previously worked as the Deputy Director of Finance and as Assistant Chief Financial Officer for the Office of the Chief Judge of the Circuit Court of Cook County. She previously led the compliant solicitation and negotiation of more than 250 competitive construction and commodity contracts exceeding $590 million during her tenure as a State Purchasing Officer for the Executive Ethics Commission. Keyes also brings a wealth of experience from her time with the Chicago Housing Authority (CHA) where she successfully led the CHA in their negotiation of a $1.6 billion agreement with the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. She received a Bachelor of Arts in History and Political Science from Emory University and a Juris Doctorate from the Washington College of Law from American University.  
 

ILLINOIS FORENSIC SCIENCE COMMISSION
 

John Hanlon will serve as a Member of the Illinois Forensic Science Commission. * Hanlon has previously served as an Assistant Defender and Assistant Director of Capital Litigation for the Office of the Illinois Appellate Defender 4th Judicial District and Supreme Court Unit. He has also worked as the Executive Director of the Illinois Innocence Project at the University of Illinois at Springfield, and as a Staff Attorney for the Illinois Department of Children and Family Services. Hanlon received a Bachelor of Arts in History Education from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and a Juris Doctorate from Wake Forest University Law School.
 
Phillip Kinsey will serve as a Member of the Illinois Forensic Science Commission. * Kinsey is the Executive Director at the Northeastern Illinois Regional Crime Laboratory. He previously served as Laboratory Administrator for the State of Montana and as a DNA Scientist for the State of Oregon. Kinsey also worked as a Postdoctoral Research Fellow for the University of Oregon. He received an Associate of Arts from Golden West Junior College, a Bachelor of Science in Biology from the University of California at Irvine, and a Doctor of Philosophy in Biology from the University of California at Irvine.   

ILLINOIS STUDENT ASSISTANCE COMMISSION

Payton Ade will serve as a Member of the Illinois Student Assistance Commission.* Ade is the Student Body Executive Vice President at Eastern Illinois University, Vice President of  EIU Pride, Treasurer of the Political Science Association, Secretary of the Stevenson Hall Council,  Student Trustee on the Eastern Illinois University Board of Trustees, and the Eastern Illinois Representative on the Illinois Board of Higher Education's Student Advisory Committee. Prior to this role, they served as a Student Senator at the university, and as Interim-Speaker of the Student Senate. Ade is also the Orientation Leader for the New Student and Family Programs at Eastern Illinois University. They are currently studying Interpersonal Communications at Eastern Illinois University.

 
ILLINOIS STATE BOARD OF INVESTMENT

 
Gisela Attlan will continue to serve as a Member of the Illinois State Board of Investment. * Attlan is a Real Estate Advisor at Engel & Volkers Chicago. She previously served as Vice President of Global Development in Latin America for Nuveen Securities LLC/TIAA, and as an Account Manager in Global Marketing and Business Development for Sadesa S.A. She has also worked as a Real Estate Agent at the Compass Real Estate-The Perotti Group. Attlan is a member of the National Association of Realtors, a mentor and member for the French American Chamber of Commerce. She received a Bachelor of Science in Marketing from Argentine Business University, and a Master of Business Administration in Finance in International Business from Suffolk University. 

 PUBLIC ADMINISTRATOR AND PUBLIC GUARDIANS

Eddie Carpenter will serve as Public Administrator and Public Guardian of Cass, Scott, and Pike Counties, and will continue to serve Morgan County. * Carpenter is an Attorney at Law in Jacksonville, Illinois, and a courier for the CNB Bank and Trust. He received a Bachelor of Arts in English from Illinois College, a Master of Arts in English from the University of Iowa and a Juris Doctorate from the University of Illinois.
 
Kelly Finet will serve as Public Administrator and Public Guardian of Douglas and Coles Counties, and will continue to serve Piatt County. * Finet is the Owner, Accountant, and Manager of Kelly's Accounting Services, Inc., where she has worked for 33 years. She received a Bachelor of Science in Accountancy from the University of Illinois, and a Master's in Business Administration from Sangamon State University. 
 
Thomas Ballantyne Hood III will serve as Public Administrator and Public Guardian of Lake County. * Hood is the Owner of Hood Law P.C. He was previously the Owner of the Thomas B. Hood Law Office, P.C., which operated for 27 years. He received a Bachelor of Science in Management from the University of Illinois at Chicagoand a Juris Doctorate from John Marshall Law School.
 
Diana Law will continue to serve as Public Administrator and Public Guardian of Kane County. * Law is a Partner at Law Hesselbaum LLP, where she practices guardianship law, estate planning, trust/estate probate litigation and probate administration. In 2011, she was elected as President of the Kane County Bar Association and is a member of the Illinois State Bar Association. Law graduated from Goshen College and from the Northern Illinois College of Law.
 
Chad Long will serve as Public Administrator and Public Guardian of Henderson County, and will continue to serve Knox and Warren Counties. * Long isan Administrative Hearing Officer for the City of Galesburg, and the Owner and Member of Statham & Long, LLC. He previously served as an Associate Attorney at Robertson, Wilcox & Statham, P.C. Long is a Member of the Illinois State Bar Association, the Illinois Association of Defense Trial Counsel, and is President of the Knox County Bar Association. He received a Bachelor of Business Administration from the University of Iowa, and a Juris Doctorate from the University of Iowa College of Law.
 
Robert Porter will serve as Public Administrator and Public Guardian of Logan County. * Porter is the current Public Administrator and Public Guardian of McLean County, and a Partner at Costigan & Wollrab, P.C.  He has previously served as a Law Clerk for Webber & Thies, P.C., and as a Law Clerk for the Honorable Judge Charles G. Reynard. Porter received a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science from Illinois Wesleyan University and a Juris Doctorate from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. 
 
Andrew Russell will serve as Public Administrator and Public Guardian of Bureau County and will continue to serve Putnam County.* Russell has previously worked as a partner at Russell, English, Scoma & Beneke, and has also served as the Library Trustee of the Princeton Library for six years. He received a Bachelor of Arts in History from St. Ambrose University and a Juris Doctorate from the Chicago-Kent College of Law. 
 

 STATE EMPLOYEES' RETIREMENT SYSTEM BOARD OF TRUSTEES
 

Jameson Ramirez will serve as a Member of the State Employees' Retirement System Board of Trustees. * Ramirez is a Strategic Researcher for the Service Employees International Union Local 1. Previously, he was an Adjunct Instructor at St. Louis University. Last June, he was appointed as the Bunker Hill #1 Democratic Precinct Committeeperson and was elected to the Bunker Hill Community Unit School District Board in 2019. Ramirez has served as a member of the American Anthropological Association, and as a member of the Association for Humanist Sociology. He received his Bachelor of Arts in Sociology from Greenville University and a Master of Arts in Sociology from Southern Illinois University.
 
* Appointments pending confirmation by the Illinois Senate.