EPISODE 50: ILLINOIS LIEUTENANT GOVERNOR JULIANA STRATTON
Mary Morten: Hey, everyone, welcome back to “Gathering Ground.” I’m Mary Morten. And today I am excited to share my conversation with a true trailblazer, Illinois Lieutenant Governor Juliana Stratton.
Imagine a future where everyone has a seat at a table, where voices are heard, and where opportunities blossom. That’s the Illinois that Lieutenant Governor Stratton has always worked towards, from lawyer and legislator to being the first Black woman to hold the second highest office in Illinois. She has carried her unwavering dedication to building a more just future, and her deep belief in the power of collaboration is a huge part of what makes our state shine. And I was so glad I got to hear all about it in our conversation together.
Welcome. So good to see you.
Lt. Gov. Stratton: Thank you, Mary. So glad to be here and I look forward to our conversation.
Mary Morten: Absolutely. Well, this is exciting because you’re working on so many things that I’m interested in but I’m going to try to stay focused here. And one of the things we like to do is to start by asking our guests to just give our listeners a little bit of context in terms of your background, like, where were you born, and then just to talk about your career trajectory and, you know, you’ve been in public service for a number of years and now you’re our lieutenant governor. How did you get here?
Lt. Gov. Stratton: Well, what I would say – yes, I was born in Chicago. I lived here in the city of Chicago, the state of Illinois for all of my life, except for a little bit of time when my dad, who was a Navy veteran, had gone to the West Coast, and so for a little bit of time we lived on a farm in Belfair, Washington, and then we lived in San Diego. But other than that, I grew up on the South Side of Chicago and I continue to live on the South Side of Chicago.
By background, I always thought that I might be a teacher growing up. My mom was a teacher and I just thought that that was the profession I’d go into. But I studied broadcast journalism in undergrad and so I love doing podcasts because it very much reminds me of those days, and I thought I would be a news reporter or somewhere in that space. I worked for the city of Chicago at the Office of Cable Communications and we were really trying to create something like C-SPAN for the city of Chicago with the Chicago City Council and my boss was an attorney and she was a Black woman. I did not have – I do have one aunt who’s an attorney but I didn’t grow up around attorneys and it just so intrigued me because I thought that to be an attorney you had to be in the courtroom and that you had to be sort of representing one side and arguing it out in court and going to trial, and I found that there were ways to serve in government and be a public servant as a lawyer, and honestly, that was my first time being exposed to that. And so after that first job out of college, I then ended up going to law school and from there started my own – I worked in a law firm for a little bit of time but then started an alternative dispute resolution firm. And I served in all different levels of government through most of my career until I started running for office, and my first office was running for local school council at Kenwood Academy, which is the high school that I attended and my daughters attended, and then went on to state representative and, as you mentioned, of course lieutenant governor. So I would say that my whole career has really been focused on public service. It was the example I saw of my parents but it was also something that I just felt called to do and did throughout my entire career.
Mary Morten: What I didn’t realize is that we have such a similar background in that I grew up on the South Side, my mother was a teacher, raised in radio and television – (laughs) – and of course it’s been very, very helpful over the years. But tell us a little bit more about what has it been like to make that transition from state representative to lieutenant governor? I worked as an appointee to Mayor Daley and I know what it’s like in the city, but I can’t imagine – you know, again, you were at the state level but then moving into the lieutenant governor’s office, huge, huge difference.
Lt. Gov. Stratton: It is a huge difference. I mean, I think what I would say is that, first of all, I went from representing about 110,000 people to close to 13 million people, so that is a big difference, which means it’s also a different way of engaging with people. As a state representative I would spend a lot of time just going out into my district and knocking on doors and meeting people and listening to their concerns, and of course, when you’re representing the entire state, a quite diverse state, I should add, there’s not that sort of one-on-one talking to constituents as much.
But one of the things that’s always been close to my heart and it’s really because not only did I come from the world of alternative dispute resolution and mediation and really with a focus of bringing people together to solve problems is that I also come from the restorative justice world, and I am a trained Peace Circle Keeper and restorative justice practitioner, which really uplifts the values of listening to the wisdom in the room. So whether it was on a smaller scale – and not small but smaller scale as a state representative – to moving to the lieutenant governor, throughout my career in this sort of government realm as an elected official, I still have focused on what are the ways that I could, first of all, repair harm that’s been done by policymaking? Policymaking is a wonderful thing, it is a powerful thing, but there’s been a lot of harm that’s been done through policymaking throughout the years, and my goal has always been, at whatever level of government, to help repair the harm, and you saw that in my work as a legislator in the bills that I passed, and you see it in the work that I’m doing with my portfolio as lieutenant governor. So repairing harm, which is a restorative justice-based principle, and the second is listening to the wisdom in the room. And I think it’s just realizing that, you know, government has a real opportunity to do some good but it’s not my job to sit in my office and hope that I can come up with ideas; it is to figure out how I can connect with my constituents, connect with the people of Illinois, listen to them, and together we make policy. I kind of firmly believe that people are in a space where they no longer want policy to be made for them but for policy to be made with them and alongside of them. And so I try to approach my role today, just as I did as a legislator, in how to engage communities that are most impacted by issues, because the bottom line is this, Mary: People who know and love their communities want the best for their communities, and they also have the best solutions for their communities.
Mary Morten: I totally agree. And I’m wondering, what has it been like to be in this administration and the work that you’ve done even as a state rep to talk about things like repairing harm and restorative justice? Because those terms are not often used in this container. I mean, that’s the reality of it. And so how have you negotiated and really approached people with your – your – intentions of doing work in that way?
Lt. Gov. Stratton: I think some of it is language, but I think more of it is how I carry out my role. Going into communities, going into communities that would say we never thought we’d see you here, and saying, nope, you’re as important as anybody else in our state. We have 102 counties; I try to travel – you know, I grew up on the South Side of Chicago and I lead, for example, the Governor’s Rural Affairs Council; I’m the chair of that council. And I remember kind of thinking from the beginning, are people going to welcome me into their rural communities around – to talk about the issues to strengthen their communities, knowing that that is not my lived experience? But I think because I have approached the work by saying nope, I want to uplift your voices and your ideas and I want to come to listen and learn, then that allows me to create a space where we can be in partnership in helping to advance solutions. I bring to the partnership the ability to look at the state agencies and what we have in our agencies and resources that can help those communities, and they bring to the table the knowledge of their communities and what their needs are, and I think that that’s where that nice marriage takes place, a community that has needs, a government that has all sorts of programs and other resources and information, and figuring out how to connect those dots.
So I don’t think it’s been as much of a situation where I have to figure out how do people understand the language of restorative justice; rather it’s, they know what it feels like to know that their voices matter and whether it’s a rural community, whether it’s thinking about other communities that have been marginalized or disinvested, whether it’s thinking about constituencies. You know, one of the things that I did first time that I came into office, the first year, rather, as lieutenant governor was – I lost my mother to Alzheimer’s in 2016 and one of the issues that I was passionate about was thinking about caregivers and how there must have been other people who, like me as her primary caregiver, who understood that it was the greatest privilege and joy of my life to take care of her during her final years, but also one of the most stressful things that I’ve ever done, and how it was hard to find resources and it was difficult to figure out how to make sure she had what she needed but also to take care of myself and be a mom to my daughters. And you know, I came into the office and one of the first things I did was establish an initiative called Through Our Eyes, because I wanted to establish – you know, think about policymaking and solutions through the eyes of caregivers, and I traveled all around the state and I understood that the needs of caregivers in the Black and Brown communities were different than other communities; rural communities that didn’t have access to health care as readily, they had different needs. And, you know, I just went around and listened, and then we came back – and to go back to that point of restorative justice, we developed the first-in-the-nation legislation that was passed and signed into law by Governor Pritzker that requires physicians to have a regular cadence of training on how to screen for dementia and other forms of Alzheimer’s – or Alzheimer’s and other related forms of dementia. So that’s an example of how listening to the wisdom in the room led to a real solution that allows people to understand, this is how policymaking really works for the good of all the people.
Mary Morten: Well, that’s an incredible example in a way that you have just really talked about having lived experiences and how that can impact, right, the legislation. I think of another case where for many years we really worked hard in the anti-violence community to get doctors to ask questions when you go in for your, right, checkup and when you’re just with the person who’s checking you in to ask you, do you feel safe in your home, right, to take this opportunity to ask that question. And so similarly, again, making those kinds of policy changes really can impact the quality of life for many folks.
And I just have to say that I know you’re everywhere because I follow you – (laughs) – on social media, and you are literally all over the state of Illinois, and just really, I think, bringing an air of freshness, I guess I want to say, just this lightness to the role because it’s the first time we’ve seen, of course, a Black woman in this role and, as you know, that matters to so many people. I know you’re a member of a sorority and there’s so many folks who are, you know, supporting you and really want to I think just, you know, look at what you’re saying and how can they bring those actions, those ideas into their own communities, and it sounds as though there’s just a way that you have of bringing people into the conversation, and I just think that’s so invaluable and I personally just am very much, you know, supportive of that and we hope that these kind of conversations will make sure people understand. I think sometimes when you’re in public office it’s an us and them kind of atmosphere. Even when I was working in the Daley administration people would often say, but why did you go and work inside the administration, you’re going to work for, quote, “the man,” and I said but you want someone with my politics on the inside, right, so that you can push from the outside and we can push from the middle. And as you know, we have one of the most – or the most – I would say progressive administrations both at the city and the state level than we may ever have, yet I find that people don’t necessarily understand that it’s still government, if you know what I mean, that there’s still some ways that you can’t just have things happen overnight – you know, if only, right? And what’s been your experience with that?
Lt. Gov. Stratton: First of all, let me just talk about the experience of how exciting it has been to serve alongside Governor Pritzker and how we kind of came into office saying that our main goal was to uplift working families all across our state, and that was what we wanted to do. We came in after an administration where we had seen the social service safety net really shredded into pieces. We had gone the longest time I think anywhere in the country without a budget, almost two years without a budget, which, by the way, Mary, as you know, is the most basic function of government is to make sure you have a budget and can allocate resources and make sure what’s coming in and going out – being good stewards of taxpayer dollars. And, you know, I think about what that was like; in fact, it was a motivating factor for me to run for state representative because I was sitting at home watching the news one night and I thought, what do you mean you’re cutting services to seniors who need in-home health care? What do you mean you’re cutting services to families who need childcare assistance to go to work or to go to school to take care of their children and create a better life? And the senior part really hit me because, as I said before, I was sitting at home caring for my senior mother and I understood how much our most vulnerable in our communities need to be supported and to make sure that they can at least have some assistance in getting to a better point in their lives. There was a need – and the governor and I saw it very clearly – to stabilize things in our state. I mean, people are going to have opinions about government but, as I said, government can do a lot of good but you need to have, you know, a sound fiscal footing to be able to do that. So when I look back over these last five years that we’ve been in office and to be able to say, you know, the fifth balanced budget that was passed and signed by the governor, nine credit rating upgrades, paying down our bill backlog, having a rainy day fund – those aren’t the things that people always like to focus on, and I don’t think that the general public is, like, paying attention to the details of budgeting, but the budget is where it’s at because when you have – when you’re not putting on your money because you have higher credit ratings and you have paid down your bill backlog and so you’re not wasting by sending money to, you know, to interest rates and – you know, because of the interest rates you’re not paying – making interest payments. You can take that money and invest it in communities, and I think that’s one of the things that we have tried to talk a lot more about because I don’t – what I always try to say, it’s just like in your house: There’s a certain amount of money that’s coming in and there’s a certain amount that you have to spend each month and you want to make sure it’s balanced and that you’re not overspending, but also that if you have any kind of surplus, which we fortunately have been able to have in the last couple years, you can use that for something that is worthwhile. And some of that is not something that people always – you know, people pay attention to social issues and of course it’s a very divisive time in government, a very polarized time in politics, and so a lot of that is what turns people away from paying attention. But I think for those who are wondering, there has been so much good that has been done that impacts everyday lives: raising the minimum wage, you know, making so many more people, especially people of color, women of color, raising their wages, paid family leave for all, making sure that people don’t get fired from their jobs for taking time off to care for their kids or their parents or because they’re sick, things like the investments we’ve made through Rebuild Illinois. People may not make the connection about the government, but they know that the campus looks better or that the roads have been rebuilt or that the bridges are stronger and more sturdy. That’s – you know, so I don’t look at it as – you know, what I think, Mary, is that people are focused on their day-to-day lives and they may not pay as much attention to the inner workings of government and that’s OK because people are dealing with a lot of things. But our job is to make sure that whether they know where it came from or not, they are feeling and seeing and experiencing the improvements because we are using taxpayer dollars to improve their lives, which at the very core is what government is all about.
Mary Morten: That’s right. I appreciate you referencing the budget, and of course, as someone who’s on the board of a nonprofit, I remember a previous administration where we didn’t have a budget for a number of years. And what we often say when we’re talking to organizations with strategic planning and things of that nature is that your budget is a moral document, right? It really tells you what is most important and what you are lifting up, what you’re focusing on, and if anyone looked at our budget, for the state of Illinois, I think it is clear, to your point, what you have focused on, what is important to lift up.
And so we’re going to take a short break. You’re listening to “Gathering Ground,” and I’m excited to be talking with Lieutenant Stratton. And when we come back, we’re going to talk about an exciting new initiative that everyone should know about and we’re going to get people really excited about, so we’re going to take a short break. We’re back in a moment. This is “Gathering Ground.”
Hi, everyone; thanks so much for joining me on “Gathering Ground.” We want to hear from you. If you have any questions about your work in nonprofits or any of the topics that we've covered here on “Gathering Ground,” send them on in; send them to mary@gatheringgroundpodcast.com. That's mary@gatheringgroundpodcast — all one word — dot com. We look forward to hearing from you.
So welcome back, everyone. You’re listening to “Gathering Ground.” I’m Mary Morten, and I’m talking today with Lieutenant Governor Juliana Stratton. And we’re going to dive deeply into a new initiative you have called We Thrive. Tell us what that’s all about.
Lt. Gov. Stratton: Well, really excited about We Thrive. It launched in December of 2023 and is really kind of getting underway for 2024 and it really is about the fact that, as we talked about earlier, I have traveled, you know, every corner of the state and I – (audio break) – Illinois Council on Women and Girls. I’m the first chair of the Illinois Council on Women and Girls that was established through legislation, and the governor appointed me our first year in office. From the moment we took office, the governor and I have been singularly focused on, again, uplifting working families, and a part of that has been making sure that Illinois is the best state in the nation for women and girls and there’s lots of ways that we have advanced policies to improve the lives of women and girls and We Thrive is just one more initiative to help towards that end. We Thrive is about the fact that when women thrive we all thrive, but honestly, Mary, when we think about things such as access to childcare or the fact that women are more likely to be caregivers or negotiating salaries or banking and investments or being in debt and how to eliminate debt or preparing for retirement – there are just so many systemic barriers that women face throughout our lives that do not allow us to be as, what I would say, financially healthy and well, that we don’t always have the confidence because, quite frankly, even in the year 2024, there are still so many barriers and stereotypes about what kind of information we have access to, what we know about, and are we the ones that can be financially free and in control of our own finances. And you hear this across the board. I mean, I talked earlier about things like access to childcare and the impact that that has on women in our career trajectory, the fact that, you know, women disproportionately have student loan debt and Black women in particular, or thinking about how close to half the women, studies show, half of women are prepared, really, for retirement. I mean, across our lives there are ways that, you know, we just don’t have the same access to information, resources, knowledge, and quite frankly the confidence that is really needed to make the kinds of decisions that are important for us to make to be financially well and to be financially whole. And so We Thrive is just that. It is going to be a real effort for us to go around the state, and I talked about the need to listen to women, so I’m going to be conducting what’s called We Chats all throughout the state to listen to diverse groups of women about what are some of those barriers, but more importantly, what are some of the solutions that we as government can help to facilitate to make sure that women can feel more confident – not just feel more confident but be more confident about our money. And then I think the other thing that we hope to accomplish is to make it easier for women to find these resources. The state has a lot of resources and things that we do that can be helpful for women that can impact them economically and make them more empowered. But if I were to ask so many women, do they know about the resources and do they know how to access them, not always. I mean it’s a big government and we want to make it more accessible. So one of the outcomes, we hope, is that whether it’s a state-based resource or a community-based resource that it will be collated into a portal where women will know, I want to know how to advance economically on whatever issue it is, and I can find it in one distinct place.
The second thing is we want women to think about their financial futures through the different stages of their life, what, you know, a 17-year-old thinking about paying for college has to think about, a 30-year-old who might be buying their first home, someone who is in their 60s or 70s thinking about retirement. We want to create a resource that will help women throughout the stages of their life to be able to think about the kinds of questions that they should be considering and how to, again, feel more confident about the decisions they make about their money. And I’m just so excited about this because I think about the conversations that I didn’t really have growing up and this is an opportunity to make sure that women know, you know, they can feel confident in these conversations, they can feel like they have the access to the resources, and most importantly that we all can continue to be uplifted. And women like to do this in community so we’re going to create a statewide community. Fifty percent of Illinois is women and I want every woman to feel that they are part of this initiative because when women thrive, we all thrive.
Mary Morten: That has been proven over and over again, as you know. When you’re working with a woman who is often the head of the household, right, you’re impacting the family, you’re impacting community, you’re impacting, you know, the state and all of those neighborhoods as well. So in – when you talk about the We Chats, what will that look like? Is that going to be a conversation/quasi-focus group kind of situation or how are you envisioning that?
Lt. Gov. Stratton: Well, I see it as a conversation with, when I say diverse women, what I know is that when I travel the state there are different issues for different groups of women. And there’s also so many different sectors of women. So, for example, if I’m sitting down with women in trades, women that are in, you know, in organized labor or in unions, they might have issues about some of the barriers that they face. If I sit with caregivers – which, by the way, I talked about my own experience as a caregiver but many people don’t know that two-thirds of caregivers are women, and most – they’re not getting paid. They are figuring out how to work or maybe not work or take off time from work to care for someone. That has a financial impact. It had a financial impact on me. And again, I would do it again but if I had a better understanding of the tools or could prepare better, then I would have known what to expect and then maybe could have planned financially for the kinds of things that I needed to help meet the needs of my own mother.
When I think about issues – you know, young mothers who are trying to access childcare and go back to work but feel that that’s cost-prohibitive. When I think about women in college – so we’re going to be thinking about some of the different categories or demographics of women whether it’s geographically diverse or demographically diverse. I want to talk to women from all walks of life about what we can do to better access the kinds of resources that they need.
And I think – you know, one of the things that’s important to just state is that when we talk about We Thrive, thriving is not just about having access to money. It certainly is something that, you know, when we think about the wage gap and that women make less than, you know, our male counterparts, when we think about the fact that Black women in particular and Latinas, when we look at the comparison of what they make or earn in comparison with non-Hispanic white males, we should not continue to see those types of gaps and we should – you know, for the same work we should be able to, you know, make the same amount of money and to close the wealth gap. And closing that wealth gap gives you opportunity to do some of the other things, such as when it comes to thinking about your own health, when you think about your stress level, when you even think about safety, quite frankly, Mary, when you think about financial abuse and what happens with gender-based violence and the ability for women to have more control over their money that actually can help put them in a safer environment. These are all the kinds of things that we’re going to be talking about through We Thrive, and it’s just going to be – you know, women are so excited. We had that kickoff in December that started with a roundtable where we brought together about 40-plus women leaders from women-serving organizations from all over the state to just hear what their issues were. And it ranged from women who are trying to start and grow a business not having access to capital, the same level of access to capital that men do. It is thinking about how we weren’t necessarily taught about money, about – you know, people shared stories about, we saw our mom sitting at the kitchen table writing out checks but it never translated to a conversation about how to save, how to invest, how to think about your future, and so so many of us have stories, our money story. We all have a story. What did you learn and also what did you not learn and how can we as women support each other and say, no matter what you learned or what you didn’t learn, we all can do better and we’re going to help you do better, and that’s the goal of We Thrive.
Mary Morten: There’s so many things you’ve said that resonate with me, but particularly this last piece around money and our comfort level with money because part of my work is around fundraising and really getting folks to understand that we have to become more comfortable, right, because if we don’t that 1 percent will continue to control most of the money. And you don’t get what you don’t ask for, at the end of the day, you know, and so getting folks, and in particular women, to understand that it is OK to ask is a really important opportunity. And I noticed that some of the goals include increasing the number of female entrepreneurs in Illinois, by 25 percent within the next five years, which is something I’m very interested in, of course, as an entrepreneur, as someone who’s had a business for over 20 years, which was not my plan, and I have to say I’ve done it without any capital, you know, and so those kinds of things that you just mentioned are all things that, as I’m talking to other women who are starting their businesses, I’m trying to give those directions, right? There are many resources and you just – this will be an enormous opportunity for people to hear about what’s available and it sounds as though – something that we used to do when I was the director at Chicago Foundation for Women, another organization that you’re involved with – (laughs) – I saw you at the luncheon – is to make sure that women understand that there are not only places but people that will talk to them about these concerns. There are resources available. And part of it is, to your point, this idea of having the confidence –
Lt. Gov. Stratton: Yes.
Mary Morten: – to ask, right, because that’s not necessarily how we’ve been socialized. And certainly as – more broadly, you know, thinking about women and our role in society, that’s not what’s been supported or encouraged.
Lt. Gov. Stratton: I don’t know what the exact year was and I don’t want to quote a year or incorrect statistic, but I know it was the ’70s, maybe ’73, ’74, women still had to get permission from their husbands to be able to get a credit card. You know, that is not that long ago. And so we think about – and we also think about how many women are the first or the only or one of a few when we look at women on boards, when we look at who’s in the C-suite. But I also don’t want women to think that this is just about those that are, you know, looking to be in those spaces. It is about everyday women who, as you mentioned, you know – you said you started your business and without capital, but there are resources and I’ve been to too many meetings where I say, how many of you – raise your hand if you know about the work that we have in our Office of Minority Economic Empowerment and you know that there’s resources for you to help start and grow your business, or how many of you knew about the fact that at the state of Illinois, if you can’t afford it you can get a free mammogram, or how many of you knew that – you know, that there’s money to help you to go to college, there’s MAP grants, if you didn’t know about it, if your student can’t afford it. How many of you knew that we now have free community college for those who are at or below the median income? And the list goes on and on. But if you are focused on your day-to-day life – and that’s why I say I have no – nothing negative to say about that. Every day you’re trying to make it, you’re going about your business, you’re trying to take care of yourself, go to work, maybe take care of a family. You’re dealing with real-life, everyday issues. Our job as government is to help figure out how to bring these resources to you, and that’s what I’m trying to solve with this initiative. It is not that a woman is sitting there constantly online trying to find it; we need to make it more accessible. And I think that as women recognize that these conversations are happening, these We Chats are happening and they find that there’s a community – because the other thing is, that I found, even from our launch in December, was that there’s still a level of embarrassment and of shame, Mary, around, I don’t know this. I don’t know the stock market; I didn’t know about access to capital and how to go to a banker and talk about this; I didn’t even know it was important to have a relationship with a bank. You know, there’s so many ways that, as you talked about, we’ve been conditioned as women, even in the year 2024 where, depending on what your family situation was growing up, depending – people talked about how immigration impacted and what they learned from the home country to how it impacted them being here in the U.S. There are just so many variations and variables, quite frankly, about what you know about money and how maybe your brother was taught versus how you were taught. And so we are trying to break down some of those barriers, but the first thing we need to do is understand what those barriers are, and so we’re going to be hitting the road and I’m going to be talking to women in every corner of our state to really just listen and to understand what they need. And as we have those conversations I believe that a lot of what they need already exists; we just need to be able to connect those dots for them.
Mary Morten: Exactly. And you know, one of the other areas that you’ve mentioned, in terms of some of the goals and objectives, is to really look at addressing the mortality rate, the maternal mortality rate. It makes no sense that in this country Black women are three times as likely to die from pregnancy-related issues than white women, in 2024, right? And we know that many of the things you’ve mentioned, you know, not having access to information, not having quality health care, structural racism – these are all reasons why, right, women are not getting the access that they need and the maternity rate – the mortality rate is just – it’s continued to increase, and so I know that’s another area that you want to address.
Lt. Gov. Stratton: Absolutely, and one of the things that I do is I host conversations each month called Tea with the LG, and towards the end of last year we hosted a group of doulas, Black women doulas, whose real role is to really think about that issue of the Black maternal mortality and morbidity rate and to really think about how birthing people can have a safer birthing experience, a more healthy birthing experience. And it was just so enlightening to think about, one, how to connect them with what we’re doing in the state government, to make sure that their voices are included as part of the solutions, but secondly, Mary, to talk about all of the different ways that that issue is connected to issues that I’m focused on, and our administration is focused on. So one of them was the issue of access to – well, first of all, I just want to acknowledge that Illinois was, I believe, the first state in the nation to expand Medicaid for a year postpartum. I believe we were the first state in the nation to expand that so that women can continue to be covered, which is important, to have that Medicaid expansion. But the second thing is things like housing insecurity – that was a big issue that we heard, particularly not just for Black women but for some of the teens and young women that were pregnant and thinking about that, and I think about the work that we’ve done in the state of Illinois to really just provide access to assistance around housing, and we in fact appointed, the governor appointed the first homelessness czar to address issues of homelessness and housing insecurity and we have a Home Illinois anti-homelessness initiative in our Illinois Department of Human Services, and we put $350 million to get started on really developing a comprehensive plan. But it was important for the doulas to know how that connects to their work and to make sure that as we think about homelessness now, after connecting them with the doulas, we’re now going to also have a particular piece that is related to maternal mortality and how to reduce that.
Food insecurity – I lead an initiative called Ag Connects Us All, and that really comes from the fact that agriculture is our state’s largest industry. It is – you know, it’s an industry that when people hear agriculture they kind of have this sort of stereotypical vision of this is just about someone downstate on a farm, on a tractor, but agriculture is so much more than that. But unfortunately, in an industry that quite honestly my ancestors and so many others, who have been a part of agriculture, who farm the land, who, you know, even had to leave the South often and come to a community like Bronzeville, which is where I live today – you know, we were cut off from systemic racism in the USDA and racist policies. We were cut off from the land and the wealth that it produced. And so when I see things like urban agriculture and ways that our communities can continue to help give access to healthy, nutrient-dense foods that can help women who are pregnant and others, those are all the kinds of things that I think that we need to start, again, bringing that connectivity around what are the issues and what are we doing and how do we say these issues don’t happen in a silo or in a vacuum; these issues are interrelated. And we have to think about how we can connect especially our most marginalized and more vulnerable communities to the resources that can help them be uplifted as well.
Mary Morten: Well, agree with all of those points, and I want to point out that I appreciate you – you were responding initially to what I said, that you used the term birthing people. I think language is really important and I appreciate you saying that because we all know that it’s just not women who are having children or who need abortions, in some cases, around reproductive justice, and so we just have to keep talking about language because it evolves over time, right? I mean, I started my work in the women’s community, if you will, in the reproductive rights movement, and it’s really amazing to see how that has evolved over time. And I particularly appreciate that when I see you out speaking, generally when you’re introducing yourself, you’re using your pronouns, and I think it’s a wonderful example to set for other people and it also, as you know, it’s not about you, it’s about making other people comfortable who may feel that there’s no place for me in this room, and actually what you’ve just done is said, absolutely, there’s a place for you.
Lt. Gov. Stratton: Well, Mary, I appreciate you bringing up the issue of reproductive freedoms and you know here in Illinois we have made it clear and have done everything that we can and will continue to do everything we can to protect reproductive freedom. That is an issue that connects to Black women’s maternal mortality. The fact that people should have bodily autonomy and the ability to decide for themselves what’s best for themselves, their bodies, and their futures, and the fact that that’s under attack and the fact that LGBTQ+ rights are under attack and the fact that there’s efforts to ban books and all of those things that in this administration and under this governor’s leadership, under Governor Pritzker’s leadership, we’ve been able to take a very strong stand on these issues, and to me that comes back to what we talked about at the beginning. That is restorative justice in action. That is saying that we are listening to the wisdom in the room, we’re listening to not just those that are in, quote/unquote, “seats of power” but those that are in communities all across our state, those who are living out, you know, the consequences or living with the consequences of some of these decisions and we as government have to figure out how we can help them, and we do so with their voices leading the way. And so, you know, this issue of reproductive freedom is tied to so much, and by the way, it is also, when we talk about We Thrive, it is an economic issue because forced births and people not having autonomy about deciding if and when they want to start a family is an economic issue, because guess what. Having children is expensive – (laughs) – and I can say that as somebody who has four of them. (Laughs.)
Mary Morten: And again, I appreciate your continued sort of diligence around that issue. We have to keep lifting that up and, to your point, connecting the dots.
You’re listening to “Gathering Ground,” and I’m talking today with Lieutenant Governor Juliana Stratton and we’ve had a wide-ranging conversation and we’re going to just bring it all together now by asking if you have any lessons that you can share in terms of how you navigate leadership in these complex environments.
Lt. Gov. Stratton: Well, Mary, I think that – I want to just – I think I’d start responding to that question with sort of three grounding questions, and this is “Gathering Ground,” so I think grounding questions are very appropriate, under the circumstances. There’s three questions that, you know – one of my self-care practices is meditation and one of the things that I’ve come to learn is three questions that sort of ground me, especially when I’m feeling like things are kind of moving really quickly, things are all over the place. And by the way, that’s a feeling I have quite often – (laughs) – so those three grounding questions are, who are you, where have you been, and what do you know? And I think when I come back to those questions it settles me because, first of all, when I think about who am I, I am not just the lieutenant governor of Illinois, although that is part of me and that is my role, but I think about, you know, my family. I think about my community. I think about my friendships, my sisterhood. I think about, you know, the fact that I’m Hank and VK’s daughter. All of those things help settle me to know, who are you, and being clear on that. And I think that is a lesson that I have learned, to always know who you are and don’t let other people define who you are.
The second question of where have you been, and again, you know, I shared earlier about how, you know, I wasn’t sure, you know, in a very diverse state – which, by the way, most of the state is not like the city of Chicago but I grew up on the South Side of Chicago and, you know, Chicago has its own history around neighborhoods and how they were created and the segregation of neighborhoods, and so does the state of Illinois, quite frankly. And so the question of how I would be received around the state, what would happen, but where have you been and to talk about where I have traveled around the state, communities that I have gone into, businesses I’ve gone into, people I’ve had conversations with, people who have invited me into their homes or maybe even other places around the country or other countries, and every place that I’ve been I’ve learned something. And I found ways to connect to my own experience, even if it’s quite different from wherever I’m visiting. So where have you been is a good question to ground around you’re more than just where you are today. Look back; you’ve been so many places and you’ve learned from all of those places. And there’s some rooms you’ve been in, by the way, where you might have been the only one and you did quite well. You had that idea; you had that suggestion; you had that solution.
And then finally, what do you know? And you know so much, and what you know didn’t always come from a book; what you know didn’t always come from some kind of, you know, some lesson you learned or sitting in a classroom. You know stuff because you have lived life and you have dealt with some things and you have figured some things out, and all of that comes back to, you are the right person at this time. So I think what happens a lot of times is that in leadership and navigating these spaces it – oftentimes, and I say this especially for BIPOC women – may feel like questioning, do I belong here? Is this really where I’m supposed to be? How did I get here? You are there because it’s exactly where you’re supposed to be, and it’s because of who you are, where you’ve been, and what you know that you’re supposed to be there at that very moment and bring your full, authentic self into that space, because the world needs you to show up just as that.
Mary Morten: Absolutely. Well, in keeping with that, what would you say to someone who’s thinking, I’d like to run for office, I’d like to, you know, really be in the public service field, yet I’m not sure it’s for me? How did you know that this was for you, when you started as a state rep, for instance?
Lt. Gov. Stratton: Well, I knew it was – (laughs) – that’s funny because the first thing I said is somebody should run and I didn’t think it was me, and then it became that it was me. But I think that what I hope more people realize is that there’s more than just running for office. Everyone is not going to run for office, although I want more people who are good people who are going to really pursue these types of values that really respect people and for people to live their best lives and to do good, and who aren’t about playing games. I want more people like that to run. We need good people who are of integrity to run for office. So I encourage you to do so, and there’s lots of programs that can help you to do so and there’s lots of elected people who will sit down with you and help you think through that path. But then also realize that serving is so much broader than that. You know, like, when people talk about my being lieutenant governor, it’s almost as if they think this is when I started my path of public service. And as I mentioned, (whether ?) my career it’s been in public service. I’ve always worked in some governmental entity or nonprofit entity, or the work that you do in community, not even tied to your work but the ways that you serve, the way that you’re in community, making sure your community is better. It’s a block club or it’s volunteering at the library, or whatever it is you do, it all matters. And I think that the thing that people should just think about is, what exactly is the kind of change that you want to see in the world and what is the best vehicle to help you effectuate that change? When I first ran, what I knew was that I wanted to stand up for our most vulnerable. I did not – it wasn’t that I just didn’t appreciate; I was not going to stand for our seniors and our most vulnerable children not having what they needed and deserved, and if I could be a voice and an advocate, then I was going to step up and do that, and I did. And similarly with lieutenant governor, you know, I’m very interested in issues of making sure that we have a more just state of Illinois. And, you know, the governor, when he asked me to be his running mate, to his credit, when I said, look, I don’t want to just come in and do the things that you don’t want to do; I want to have a real voice on these issues, and to his credit, he said, I wouldn’t have it any other way; that’s what I want. And so I think it’s about understanding what kind of change you want to effectuate, and then thinking about the pathways to be able to do it. But one thing you can’t do is just sit on your hands or sit on the sidelines and say, I’m just going to watch and see what happens. We need you. We need you in elected office; we need you in government; we need you in community-based organizations; we need you volunteering. Whatever your path – we need you behind the scenes in the political world. Whatever your path is, there is space for you and there’s space for your voice and your talents and your skills, and I hope you won’t wait for someone to find you; I hope you will find the path that you should go.
Mary Morten: Wonderful advice and great words to leave us with.
How can we get involved and be supportive of your projects, particularly the We Thrive initiative?
Lt. Gov. Stratton: Well, as I mentioned, We Thrive is going to take me all around the state so I would love for you to be involved. First of all, please follow me on social media; I’m on X, I’m on Facebook, I’m on Threads, LinkedIn, Instagram, and as you know, X is formally Twitter, and you can just follow me. Just search Lieutenant Governor Juliana Stratton and you will find my handle. Every day we’re updating on the things that I’m doing but on Wednesdays we have We Thrive Wednesdays where you can get some good information that will help as we try to educate about these financial issues. And then if you go to my website, which is ltgov.illinois.gov, you can find the We Thrive page and learn more information about the initiative. But also contact us. If you want to invite me someplace where I can come and talk about the initiative, or if you have a group of women that might benefit from this kind of conversation, I’d love to do that. And then finally, my email is ltgovstratton@illinois.gov. Please send something; put in the tag line, on the subject line “We Thrive,” and let us know how you’d like to either contribute or get involved. We would love to have you as a part of this process.
Mary Morten: Wonderful. Thank you, thank you, thank you. You know, I just want to say that we’ve, through Morten Group, had an opportunity to work with the governor’s office and the state agencies in a number of different ways, and each time – and I’m not just saying this because you’re on – (laughs) – it has been a really positive experience, whether we were working on the racial equity workshops that we did for all of the executive team members or whether we were working with the governor’s office on early childhood development or on the strategic plan. I’ve just met some of the smartest, most committed folks, and I’m just so excited for all that you’ve done and for all that you’re going to continue to do. So thank you so much on behalf of many, many of us here. Thank you.
Lt. Gov. Stratton: Thank you, Mary. It was a pleasure to chat with you.
Mary Morten: Thanks again to Lieutenant Governor Juliana Stratton for sharing her journey, her insights, and her commitment to transformative policies. You can find out more about Lieutenant Governor Stratton’s efforts at ltgov.illinois.gov. Again, that’s ltgov.illinois.gov. Remember, your unique voice matters and your individual story is important. Together we can shape a more just and inclusive future. Keep gathering ground. Until next time, I’m Mary Morten.