INSPIRE

Thank you for joining us for INSPIRE!

Inspire marked its eighth year on Thursday, March 20th, 2025 at The Woman’s Club of Evanston (1702 Chicago Ave, Evanston). While serving as a fundraiser for the organization, the event also promotes learning and advocacy around the topics of homelessness, affordable housing, and poverty.

As a contribution to the community dialogue about zoning, this year's Inspire luncheon featured a keynote address by affordable housing expert Angela D. Brooks about how communities can work together to meet the housing needs of all residents.

Overcoming Housing Obstacles by Angela Brooks, FAICP

Speaker: Angela D. Brooks

Angela Brooks is the Director of the Illinois office of the Corporation for Supportive Housing and the Immediate Past President of the American Planning Association. She currently serves on the Chicago Board of Zoning Appeals, the Illinois Affordable Housing Advisory Commission, and is co-chair of the national Housing Supply Accelerator helping communities meet the housing needs of residents.

Suzanne B. Calder
Community Stakeholders Panel Discussion

Panelist: Brenda O'Connell

Brenda O’Connell is a Senior Policy Advisor at the Illinois Housing Development Authority (IHDA) working closely with the Illinois Office to Prevent and End Homelessness on statewide strategies to house every Illinois resident. O’Connell has 25 years of experience working in nonprofits and the government, where she has focused on homelessness, affordable housing, and other anti-poverty work. O’Connell served on the Illinois Community Advisory Council on Homelessness and has consulted with communities across the country on their housing goals.

Panelist: Sue Loellbach

Sue Loellbach is the Director of Advocacy for Connections for the Homeless. The advocacy program she leads, Joining Forces for Affordable Housing, focuses on changing policy at the municipal and state levels, community education, and community organizing. Joining Forces has conducted an Equitable Zoning Study of Evanston, supports grassroots housing advocacy in multiple municipalities, and has collaborated with other groups to address common advocacy goals. Sue has also served as the Director of Development at Connections and has worked in poverty-related non-profit organizations for over 20 years.

Panel Moderator: Donna Pugh

Donna Pugh is a partner with the law firm of Foley & Lardner in Chicago. Her practice focuses on obtaining land use and zoning entitlements for retail, office, residential, health care, and corporate clients. Donna also has extensive experience obtaining zoning approvals for homeless service providers, domestic violence prevention agencies, and other social service entities. As a consensus builder, Donna works to unite property owners, elected officials, and community groups to achieve approvals that maximize flexibility of future land use and benefit all involved stakeholders.