By Nicole Cisneros McKeen

In his decade at the highest level in American politics, political consultant John Balduzzi ’01 has learned there is one overriding factor that makes a successful candidate.

First and foremost, the candidate needs to be a nice person. “Charac­ter is key,” says Balduzzi, who serves as president of The Balduzzi Group, dividing his...

By Nicole Cisneros McKeen

The words of Frank Sinatra’s famous song reflect the sentiments of Tammy Mayberry ’97 who agrees that Chicago is “My Kind of Town.”

She is devoted to the Second City, and it’s not because she hasn’t been anywhere else. On the contrary, she spent most of a decade working in the nation’s capital. It’s just...

By Nicole Cisneros McKeen

With a name like Sam Adams, people may wonder if you’ll go into politics. “I always had an overarching goal to one day be the guy the people turn to in tough times for political or policy guidance,” says Samuel Coye Adams ’11, who is actually a distant relative of his namesake, the revolu­tionary journalist behind the Boston...

By Nicole Cisneros McKeen

Les Bernal ’91 is executive director of Stop Predatory Gambling. He’s out to educate the public...

By Nicole Cisneros McKeen

Georgia Bills ’74 had no intention of being in politics. She majored in music education at IC and was a mu­sic teacher. But a letter from the U.S. Army Reserve Office and an ill-timed resignation gave Bills the opportunity to serve as acting state representa­tive while Jerry Parisella, the elected state representative, was deployed to Iraq for 11...