INSPIRE | Connections for the Homeless | Evanston, IL

We hope you left the event inspired by the combination of expertise, personal experience, and the
spirit of generosity. We're so grateful to all of our sponsors who made this event possible, and the
community we're building together at Connections.

Event Photos

Thursday, March 14, 12:00 – 1:30 pm

The Woman’s Club of Evanston, 1702 Chicago Avenue, Evanston, IL

Registration Opens: 11:30am

Luncheon and Speakers: 12-1:30pm

Optional Panel Discussion: 1:45-2:30pm

Luncheon Speakers

Dr. Andre M. Perry

Andre M. Perry is a Senior Fellow at Brookings Metro, a scholar-in-residence at American University, and a professor of practice of economics at Washington University. A nationally known and respected commentator on race, structural inequality, and education, Perry is the author of the book “Know Your Price: Valuing Black Lives and Property in America’s Black Cities.” Perry is a regular contributor to MSNBC and has appeared in numerous national media outlets, including The New York Times, The Nation, The Washington Post, TheRoot.com and CNN.com. Perry's research focuses on race and structural inequality, education, and economic inclusion.

Benjamin Oreskes

Benjamin Oreskes covers state and national politics for the Los Angeles Times. He graduated from Northwestern’s Medill School of Journalism in 2015. In 2021, the Los Angeles Press Club named him print journalist of the year honoring “his on-the-ground reporting of various homelessness issues during the pandemic.” In 2023, Oreskes and his colleagues won the Pulitzer Prize for breaking news.

Qwandra Drummer

Former Connections participant with lived experience who is now an attorney with her own practice.

Suzanne B. Calder Community Stakeholder Panel Speakers

Moderator: Robin Rue Simmons

Robin Rue Simmons is the Founder and Executive Director of FirstRepair, a not-for-profit organization that supports local reparations campaigns across the country. Previously, Rue Simmons was the 5th Ward Alderman for the City of Evanston, IL, when she led, in collaboration with others, the passage of the nation’s first government- funded Black reparations legislation.

Morris ‘Dino’ Robinson

By day, Morris (Dino) Robinson is the Production Manager at Northwestern University Press. Prior to joining Northwestern University Press, he held creative positions in advertising and operated his own design firm. His independent research led to the establishment of Shorefront, an organization he pioneered in 1995 that documents the African American experience on the North Shore. Within Shorefront, he has written three books, produces the Shorefront Journal, hosts lectures, has assembled several traveling exhibits, and has built its archives from a few news clippings to over 275 linear feet of photographs, documents and ephemera for public use.