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Students and young people everywhere are demanding change. We hope to give them a space to come together and organize in the wake of harsh university policies on protest. Join us, either via zoom or in person for our Young Voters’ Congress: A Forum for Peace and Social Justice at the Institute of Cultural Affairs in Chicago on October 17th. Register: bit.ly/illinoiscongress

Register Here: https://actionnetwork.org/events/illinois-young-voters-congress

Illinois for a World BEYOND War, the Illinois chapter of the global World BEYOND War organization, is sponsoring an Illinois statewide “Young Voters’ Congress: A Forum for Peace and Social Justice” on Saturday, October 17 from 10:00am-2:00pm at the Institute of Cultural Affairs in Chicago.

The Congress aims to enable young people, first time voters, college students and Zoomers from Illinois to declare what issues are important to them as they become involved in upcoming elections. Their declared aspirations will be widely shared with elected officials, candidates for office, media, and electoral campaigns in Illinois and beyond.

Lunch will be provided. This is a hybrid event with an option to Zoom in if you can’t join us in-person in Chicago.

Endorsed by Asian Americans Advancing Justice – Chicago, Black Lives Matter Chicago, Chicago Area Peace Action, CODEPINK, Nonviolent Cities Project-Joliet, Pax Christi Illinois, and Youth Healing Chi.

Event Program:

10:00AM-10:20AM: Tabling, Networking, Coffee & Tea
10:20AM-10:40AM: Welcome Address by WBW Illinois Chapter Intern Annie James and WBW Board President Kathy Kelly & Spoken Word Performance by 3x Emmy-nominated poet Trey Baker
10:40AM-11:15AM: Keynote Address (To be announced!), moderated by WBW Illinois Steering Committee Member Madonna Wojtaszek-Healy
11:15AM-12:00PM: Panel: Militarism, Racism, Inequality, & Climate Collapse: The Tentacles of the War Machine, featuring Tree Palmeras, Director of Black Lives Matter Chicago, and Henna Ayesh, media liaison during DePaul University’s student encampment for Palestine, moderated by CODEPINK National Co-Director Danaka Katovich
12:00PM-12:45PM: Lunch, Tabling & Networking
12:45PM-1:45PM: Discussion Session: Declaring Our Aspirations: Envisioning a Peaceful & Just Future – Facilitated by Jerica Arents, Professor of Peace, Justice and Conflict Studies at DePaul University
1:45PM-2:00PM: Closing Words by Annie James and Kathy Kelly