Citizens Club of Springfield

A panel of journalists will discuss the results and what's ahead.

The Citizens Club of Springfield met in September to hear from the Independent Coalition for our Neighborhoods (ICON), a non-profit organization which advocates for cleaner, safer and healthier neighborhoods throughout Springfield. President of the group Mark Mahoney spoke to the crowd to explain how the organization advocates for improved city policy and procedures. He also shared video messages from ICON Board Members Polly Poskin and Jill Steiner.

Gray, who came to Springfield in 1966, helped launched the club in 2005.

The Citizens Club of Springfield held a meeting on Aug. 23, which featured CEO of the YMCA of Springfield Angie Sowle. Sowle shared her personal history with the YMCA, how the organization reaches out to the community, and how the YMCA of Springfield will celebrate 150 years in the community.

The Citizens Club of Springfield held a presentation in April titled “Artificial intelligence: How AI Impacts Our Community.” The discussion was moderated by Rob Kerr, Executive Director of Innovation and Opportunity at the University of Illinois Springfield (UIS), and featured Dr. Neetu Singh, Associate Professor of Management Information Systems at UIS, and Josh Smith, Software Engineer and Computer Science Faculty Member at UIS. They discussed what AI is, how AI is trained, bias in AI and the future of education.

The January Citizens Club of Springfield meeting examined the impact of the pending health professional shortage on the Springfield Community. The discussion featured Dr. Jerry Kruse, Dean and Provost of Southern Illinois University’s School of Medicine and the CEO of SIU medicine. The conversation was moderated by Dr. Stephen Stone, professor emeritus at SIU school of medicine.

Doris Turner, Illinois State Senator; and Mike Coffey, Illinois State Representative discuss how legislative work impacts the capital and central Illinois in their appearance before the Citizens Club of Springfield.

Sheila Walk, retiring executive director, Springfield Area Arts Council, and Gus Gordon, executive director, Hoogland Center for the Arts, join Randy Eccles in a Citizens Club of Springfield/NPR Illinois collaboration to examine the role of the arts in our community.

Mike Murphy, President and CEO of the Greater Springfield Chamber of Commerce and former owner of Charlie Parker's diner, recently spoke at the Citizens Club of Springfield forum. He provided an update on the business community and shared how state and local politicians are addressing business people's needs.Update: In a previous version of this forum Springfield's "second lake project" was discussed. The deadline to submit public comments ended on Sept. 25, 2023.

This Citizens Club of Springfield program features Ashley Earles, Birth to Five Illinois Regional Council Manager for Region 51, and Monique Nally, a member of the Birth to Five Family Council and a Parent Educator at Riverton Families First Birth to Three Program, who discuss the region’s strengths, gaps, and challenges, as well as recommendations for improvement.