Building on a strong team of diverse experts in their fields, Governor JB Pritzker announced the following appointments in his administration:
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CONCEALED CARRY LICENSING REVIEW BOARD
Inger Burnett-Zeigler will serve on the Concealed Carry Licensing Review Board.* Burnett-Zeigler is a licensed clinical psychologist and Associate Professor in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Feinberg School of Medicine at Northwestern University. She received her undergraduate degree from Cornell University, her Doctorate from Northwestern University, and she completed a post-doctoral fellowship at the University of Michigan. Burnett-Zeigler is passionate about eliminating mental illness stigma and assuring that all individuals have access to high-quality, evidence based mental health care. Burnett-Zeigler’s research has been funded by the National Institutes of Health (NIH), Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ), Veteran’s Health Affairs (VHA) and the Greer Family Foundation. She is a sought after expert on disparities in mental illness and treatment and her op-eds have been featured in The New York Times, TIME magazine, The Hill and Chicago Tribune. She is on the board of directors for several large healthcare non-profits including Heartland Alliance Health and Thresholds.
Renai Rodney will serve on the Concealed Carry Licensing Review Board.* Rodney practiced as an Assistant United States Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois for nearly 12 years, investigating and prosecuting federal offenses involving illegal weapons, human trafficking, and health care fraud. For a two-year period, she served as the Regional Director for the Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces’ seven state Great Lakes Region. In July 2019, she stepped into the role of First Assistant Corporation Counsel at the City of Chicago’s Law Department. In this position, Rodney assists the Corporation Counsel in directing litigation and transactional matters, along with developing and implementing legal policies and procedures. She also coordinates legal strategy of major cases with city departments, government agencies, and legal organizations. Rodney earned her Bachelor’s degree from Dartmouth College in 1999 and her Juris Doctor from Northwestern’s Pritzker School of Law in 2004.
GUARDIANSHIP AND ADVOCACY COMMISSION
Rep. Thomas Bennett will serve on the Guardianship and Advocacy Commission.* Bennett worked at State Farm Insurance Companies as an IT Service Manager, Technical Trainer and Course Developer before retiring in 2015. Prior, he worked at Melvin-Sibley Community School District and Big Hollow Middle School teaching science. In addition, he has served in the Illinois General Assembly as a State Representative of the 106th district since 2015. Barnes previously served on the Parkland Board of Trustees, the Association of Community College Trustees, and the School Boards for Gibson City and GCMS K-12 school districts. He is the former President of the local GCMS Education Foundation and the-School Board, as well as the Illinois Community College Trustee Association. Bennett earned Bachelor’s degrees from both Eastern Illinois University and Illinois State University, his Master’s of Business Administration from Illinois State, and a Doctorate in Business Administration from Nova Southeastern University.
ILLINOIS CRIMINAL JUSTICE INFORMATION AUTHORITY
Carla Barnes will continue to serve on the Illinois Criminal Justice Information Authority.* Barnes was appointed to the position of Chief Public Defender of McLean County in October, 2014. She is the first African-American to lead the office, as well as the first African-American administrator for McLean County. Barnes graduated from Illinois State University in 1993 with a Bachelor’s degree in Criminal Justice and John Marshall Law School in 1998. Barnes was employed in private practice after graduation for a brief time, until she accepted a position with the Cook County State’s Attorney’s Office in their Child Support Division. After several years, Barnes decided to return to McLean County, where she became a member of the State’s Attorney’s Office. Barnes was hired as an Assistant Public Defender in 2001, and has worked in the McLean County Public Defender’s Office since then. Her initial position was in the traffic division, before supervising the Misdemeanor Division while maintaining a felony caseload. Barnes is a member of the Criminal Justice Coordinating Council, a board member of the Juvenile Justice Council, and Treasurer for the Illinois Council of Chief Defenders. In addition, she is an active member of the McLean County Truancy Committee, the McLean County Veterans Court of the 11th Judicial Circuit, as well as the McLean County Drug Court. Barnes is a board member of the Great Plains Life Foundation, the Illinois State University Foundation Board, and the Children’s Discovery Museum in Bloomington. Governor Bruce Rauner appointed Carla to the Illinois Criminal Justice Coordinating Council.
MEDICAL DISCIPLINARY BOARD
Dr. Sreenivas Reedy will serve on the Medical Disciplinary Board.* Reedy is a Board-Certified Vascular Interventional Radiologist and founder of Vein and Vascular Centers, SC in Hinsdale, IL. His experience involves academic affiliations with Northwestern Medicine – Delnor Hospital and adjunct Assistant Professor in the Department of Radiology at the Indiana University School of Medicine. He is currently a trustee of the Chicago Medical Society, President of the American Association of Radiologists of Indian Origin and the past president and chairman of the board of directors of the Indian American Medical Association, Illinois. Reddy was the recipient of Leadership awards from three esteemed organizations including the “Outstanding Leadership Award” from the Honorable Congressman Danny K Davis (2018). He was also the 2017 Distinguished Physician of the Year Awardee at Northwestern Medicine-Delnor Hospital. Reddy was appointed as a Member of the Board of Directors of the Cook County Health Foundation (2020-2023) and holds active medical licenses in two states, including additional certifications in Radiology.
Dr. Umang Patel will serve on the Medical Disciplinary Board.* Patel is an Internist practicing Primary Care in DuPage County since July, 1986. He is the founder of Woodridge Clinic. At present, Woodridge Clinic has ten Primary Care Providers servicing at three locations to communities of varying ethnic, economic and educational backgrounds. He is on medical staff at Advocate Good Samaritan, Adventist Hinsdale and Bolingbrook and Edward-Elmhurst Hospitals. During this span, he became Medical Director of Advocate PHO, Medical Staff President of Advocate Good Samaritan Hospital, and a member of various committees and governing councils. Patel served as the President of DuPage County Medical Society and Chairman of the BOT of DCMS. He earned his Bachelor’s degree from Gujarat University in 1975, and his Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery from Smt. N.H.L Municipal Medical College in 1980.
STATE UNIVERSITIES RETIREMENT SYSTEM
John Atkinson will serve as Chair of the Universities Retirement System.* Atkinson currently serves as a Managing Director for Willis Towers Watson in Chicago headquartered in the iconic Willis Tower. He previously served as the managing partner of Thilman Filippini, one of the nation's top 100 privately held risk management brokers, through 2006 when he led the integration and merger of his firm into HRH and subsequently into Willis Group in 2008. Atkinson serves on the board of Catholic Charities of Chicago, Cradles to Crayons, the Kennedy Forum of Illinois, Loyola University Chicago, One Million Degrees, Organizing for Action and World Business Chicago. He was previously a visiting faculty member of the University of Maryland Erickson School of Aging Services. He earned his Bachelor’s degree from Benedictine University and Associate’s from the College of DuPage.
TEACHERS’ RETIREMENT SYSTEM
Devon Bruce will serve as Chair of the Teachers’ Retirement System.* Bruce previously served in various public sector roles as the Chairman of the Illinois State Board of Investment, which oversaw approximately $18 billion dollars of pension funds, in addition to service on the University of Illinois Board of Trustees and the Metropolitan Pier and Exposition Authority. Bruce has previously served as a visiting professor at the University of Illinois College of Law and the Trinity College, Dublin, School of Law. He currently serves on various public and charity boards including Navy Pier, the American Ireland Fund, the Irish Fellowship Club of Chicago and Car 553. He is a partner at the law firm of Power, Rogers & Smith. Prior to joining the firm in 1994, Bruce was a law clerk for Justice Moses Harrison II on the Illinois Supreme Court. Since joining the firm, Bruce has represented victims of accounting malpractice, embezzlement, banking negligence, medical malpractice, construction negligence and other types of personal injury cases. Bruce earned undergraduate degrees from University College Cork-Cork in Ireland and the University of Illinois Champaign-Urbana, as well as his Juris Doctor from the University of Illinois College of Law.
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