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100 Years of Women’s Suffrage: A Celebration with Alderwoman Maria Hadden
August 26, 2020 @ 7:00 pm – 8:30 pm
Living History is Back!
Join Our first Virtual Program
On August 26, 1920, after the turmoil of World War I and a global pandemic that swept the nation, final ratification of the 19th Amendment granted the vote to women nationwide, a landmark event in American history.
Join us online via ZOOM to mark the centennial with 49th Ward Alderman Maria Hadden and celebrate the important role women play in politics and government in 2020.
About the Speaker:
Alderwoman Maria Hadden has found a community in the 49th Ward through her activism and engagement with her neighbors. Originally from Columbus Ohio, she moved to Rogers Park when she arrived in Chicago in 2004. Like many, Maria chose Rogers Park because of the diverse and welcoming community, its proximity to the lake, its culture, and its affordability.
As an activist, when the housing bubble burst, she organized her neighbors to save their homes. She’s a founding board member of The Participatory Budgeting Project where she led participatory budgeting processes in Chicago and across the country to build community power through the democratic process and to ensure all voices are engaged and represented in decision-making. Before becoming Alderwoman of the 49th Ward, she founded and served as the Executive Director of the national non-profit, Our City Our Voice. This nonprofit worked across the country to redesign democracy for more empowered and equitable participation.
Maria is the first openly LGBT woman on City Council as well as one of the first Black Aldermen to serve the north side of the city. She currently sits on eight committees at City Hall, including the Committee on Housing and Real Estate and the Committee on Zoning, Landmarks and Buildings. On these committees, she is focused on working with colleagues on environmental issues, comprehensive COVID recovery, reinvestment in people through services, programs, and resources, and finding innovative paths to home ownership and affordable housing for all Chicagoans. In the wake of the COVID-19 crisis, she formed the Rogers Park Community Response Team to help connect neighbors to food and rent assistance.
Maria lives with her wife, Natalia, and their two dogs in a cooperative apartment in the heart of Rogers Park.