Planned Parenthood® Action Center

The Honorable Dawn Clark Netsch graduated first in her class from Northwestern University School of Law and joined the law school faculty in 1965 as one of the first women law professors in the United States.  From there, Netsch made her mark in Illinois politics, winning her first political campaign for state senate in 1972, where she served for 18 years. In 1990, she was elected state comptroller, becoming the highest-ranked woman in Illinois state government and the first elected to state constitutional executive office. Netsch remains active in the struggle for government ethics reform in Illinois, campaign reform, tax reform and adequate funding for education. She is a strong supporter of women wanting to enter the political arena.

David Axelrod is a former Democratic political consultant who recently served as Senior Strategist to President Obama’s successful re-election campaign.  After leading then-Senator Obama’s historic 2008 campaign, Axelrod worked in the White House as Senior Advisor to the President until February 2011.  In 2004, when Obama was an Illinois State Senator, Axelrod helped him defeat six other Democrats in the primary and go on to a landslide victory in the general election for United States Senate. In January of 2013, Axelrod will begin serving as the Inaugural Director of the recently launched Institute of Politics at The University of Chicago.