Dear Neighbors in the 45th Ward,

My name is S Gronkiewicz-Doran, and I hope that over the next year I can earn your trust and support to represent you in Chicago’s City Council as your Alderperson.  I am a 10 year resident of Jefferson Park, and with my husband Jason, a parent of two kids at Portage Park Elementary School.  I’m an experienced community organizer and volunteer, and I am passionate about finding ways to connect with my neighbors so that we can work together to solve our problems.

Growing up, both of my parents worked in government service jobs; my father with the VA and my mother as a disability claims examiner.  From them I learned the importance of treating people fairly, and about the responsibility to make sure that our government fulfills its obligations to the people relying on it.  I view the Alderperson’s job as making sure that the City delivers on its promises to us, both by distributing ward services fairly, and by making budget decisions that ensure we have the resources we need.

I’ve worked for the last 18 years as a corporate attorney, but I’ve dedicated almost 10 of those years to actively organizing in our neighborhoods in the 45th Ward.  In the wake of Donald Trump’s first inauguration, I joined with other neighbors to form the grassroots group Neighbors for Affordable Housing to fight for the construction of affordable housing in the Ward.  Since 2021 I have organized as part of, and past chair of, the independent political organization United Northwest Side.  I also serve as an elected community representative on the Schurz High School Local School Council.  

You’ll notice when reading about me that I use “they/them” pronouns, and of course I have an unusual first name.  The time during and after the pandemic was clarifying for me, as it was for many people, and over the past few years I have found a gender expression that feels comfortable for me.  There are so many experiences from the first 40 years of my life as a woman that remain meaningful to me, and I am also happy to be able to live in a time and place where I am free to choose to transition and live the rest of my life as a transgender person.  I know that for many people my age and older, learning to use unfamiliar pronouns may seem challenging, and that they may not have known any transgender people before.  I’m confident that as we meet and get to know one another better, we will learn that we have more things in common than differences.

I’m running for office now because we are facing some of the biggest challenges of my lifetime, and we need to work together if we are going to have a chance of overcoming them in our children’s lifetimes.  The cost of living is rising while billionaires keep more and more of the profits of our labor.  The Trump Administration is targeting Chicago with ICE violence while slashing funding that supports resources for all of us from children to seniors.  The harmful effects of climate change on our infrastructure from bridges to basements are only going to increase.  These are all challenges that can be used to scare and divide us, but what we need right now is bold leadership and energetic organizing to unite us.

I hope that this campaign will be an opportunity not just for me to meet many of you, but for you to meet one another.  Win or lose, I’m determined that we’ll all come out of this next year stronger, more organized, and readier to face what comes next for Chicago and for the 45th Ward.  I can’t wait to see you out in our community, and I’m grateful for the opportunity to seek your trust and support. 

In solidarity,

S Gronkiewicz-Doran