SPRINGFIELD - 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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GUARDIANSHIP AND ADVOCACY COMMISSION
Sonni Choi Williams will serve on the Guardianship and Advocacy Commission.* Williams currently works as the City Attorney at the City of Lockport providing advice and direction to the City, its public officials, and employees at meetings of the City Council and selected boards and commissions. Previously, she was the Deputy Corporation Counsel along with a variety of other roles at the City of Peoria. In addition, she was an Assistant Public Defender at Tazewell County Public Defender’s Office. Williams is involved in professional organizations such as the Asian American Bar Association of Chicago, the Illinois Local Government Lawyers Association, and the Illinois Institute for Continuing Legal Education (IICLE). She has received awards such as the 2015 Illinois State Bar Association’s Diversity Leadership Award. She graduated from University of Iowa with a Bachelor of Arts and from Northern Illinois University College of Law with a Juris Doctor.
MEDICAL DISCIPLINARY BOARD
Aja Carr-Favors will serve on the Medical Disciplinary Board.* Since 2018, Carr-Favors has served as the Associate General Counsel at the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA). Prior to this role, she served as the ELCA’s Director of Trust Administration and the Director of Regulatory Compliance. Carr-Favors also worked as an Attorney at Office of the Standing Chapter 13 Trustee and Favors Law Firm LLC. Carr-Favors earned her Bachelor of Arts in History at University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, her Master of Arts in Theology and Ethics from Garrett-Evangelical Theological Seminary, her Juris Doctor from Valparaiso University School of Law and her Master of Arts in Public Policy and Public Administration from Northwestern University.
SERVE ILLINOIS COMMISSION ON VOLUNTEERISM AND COMMUNITY SERVICE
Ayoka Samuels will serve as the Director of the Serve Illinois Commission. She previously served as the Director of the Gary Comer Youth Center in Chicago’s Grand Crossing community since 2006. She has been an active member of the Illinois non-profit community since 1993 and has also worked at the Boys & Girls Clubs of Chicago, the Boys and Girls Clubs of America, BR&R Communications, Muntu Dance Theatre of Chicago, New Concept Development Center, and as a consultant for Malcolm X College’s Kwanzaa Committee. Samuels is also involved in her local civic community, volunteering her time to organizations such as After School Matters, the Chicago Park District, the Illinois Afterschool Network, and the Alliance for Strong Families and Communities. She graduated from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign with a degree in Agricultural Communications & Education. She later received her Master of Science in Non-Profit Management from the Spertus Institute of Jewish Studies.
* Appointments pending confirmation by the Illinois Senate.
