"Speak Out: Reclaim America for Life" "Speak Out: Defend Life and Family"

2012 Conference Speakers

Allan Carlson
Allan Carlson is the founder and president of the Howard Center for Family, Religion & Society. He is the author of ten books on the family, the culture and population issues.
Carlson has extensive experience on international panels and university faculties, researching and lecturing on the impact of cultural change on family dynamics. In 1988 President Reagan appointed him to the National Commission on Children ("The Rockefeller Commission"), where he played a key role in crafting its 1991 final report, Beyond Rhetoric.
During the 2008-10 academic years, Carlson has also served as Distinguished Visiting Professor of Political Science and History at Hillsdale College, Hillsdale, Michigan and as Visiting Professor at The John Paul II Institute for Studies on Marriage and Family at Catholic University of America, Washington, DC.
He has lectured for Colgate University, Moscow Lomonosov University, St. Benet's Hall—Oxford University, City University (Sweden), Pontifical Catholic University of Puerto Rico, Grove City College, University of Wisconsin, the North American College (Rome), Wabash College, Hastings College, Brigham Young University, Georgetown University, the Swedish Employers Federation, the Children's Defense Fund, the Kellogg Foundation, the North American Bishops of the Roman Catholic Church, the Australian Family Association, the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines, and The Civic Institute (Czech Republic). He has prepared commissioned research papers for the Institute of Medicine, National Academy of Sciences and the U.S. Department of Education, and has consulted for the U.S. Departments of Justice and Health and Human Services.
Carlson received his B.A., magna cum laude, from Augustana College (1971) and his Ph.D. in Modern European History from Ohio University (1978). He is married and has four children.
Tom Ciesielka
Tom Ciesielka is president of TC Public Relations, and has worked in public relations, marketing and business development for more than 25 years and has enjoyed working with clients ranging from law firms to distinguished authors to national and local companies. He feels privileged to have established trusting working relationships with these clients and values every opportunity he gets to help businesses grow.
Tom believes in bringing his Christian values to his role as a public relations expert, helping to introduce the media to organizations and leaders who advocate for life and family.
He regularly educates his clients on the use of social media, the importance of knowing what you want to communicate in a press release and building relationships with members of the media.
Tom's pro-life clients in the Chicago area include the Pro-Life Action League and the Thomas More Society. He has also consulted with pro-life organizations across the country advising them on the most effective ways to attract media attention.
John Paul Deddens
John-Paul Deddens is the founder and Executive Director of Students for Life of Illinois. He has been featured in publications such as Our Sunday Visitor and has appeared as a guest on various radio programs discussing life issues.
In addition to mentoring pro-life college students, John-Paul also serves on the board of Illinois Federation for right Life. His goal is to see effective and active pro-life groups on every college campus in Illinois.
Francis Cardinal George
His Eminence Francis Eugene Cardinal George, O.M.I., eighth Archbishop of Chicago, was born in Chicago to Francis J. and Julia R. McCarthy George on January 16, 1937. He is the first native Chicagoan to serve as Archbishop of Chicago.
He studied theology at the University of Ottawa, Canada, and was ordained a priest by Most Rev. Raymond Hillinger on December 21, 1963 at St. Pascal Church.
Cardinal George earned a master's degree in philosophy at the Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C. in 1965 and a doctorate in American philosophy at Tulane University, New Orleans, Louisiana, in 1970. In 1971, he received a master's degree in theology from the University of Ottawa in Canada. During those years, he also taught philosophy at the Oblate Seminary, Pass Christian, Mississippi (1964-69), Tulane University, New Orleans, Louisiana (1968) and at Creighton University, Omaha, Nebraska (1969-1973).
Pope John Paul II appointed him Bishop of Yakima on July 10, 1990. He was ordained and installed as the fifth bishop of Yakima on September 21, 1990 in Holy Family Church, Yakima.
He served there for five and a half years before being appointed Archbishop of Portland in Oregon by Pope John Paul II on April 30, 1996. He was installed on May 27, 1996 as the ninth Archbishop of Portland in St. Mary's Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception, Portland.
Less than a year later, on April 8, 1997, Pope John Paul II named him the eighth Archbishop of Chicago, to the See left vacant by the death of Joseph Cardinal Bernardin on November 14, 1996. His installation by the Most Rev. Agostino Cacciavillan, Apostolic Pro-Nuncio, took place at Holy Name Cathedral on May 7, 1997.
As Archbishop of Chicago, he has issued two pastoral letters: on evangelization, "Becoming an Evangelizing People," (November 21, 1997) and on racism, "Dwell in My Love" (April 4, 2001). His book, The Difference God Makes: A Catholic Vision of Faith, Communion, and Culture, was published in October, 2009, by The Crossroad Publishing Company. It is a collection of essays exploring our relationship with God, the responsibility of communion and the transformation of culture. His most recent book, God in Action: How Faith in God Can Address the Challenges of the World, was published in May, 2011, by Doubleday Religion. In this collection of essays, he reflects on the significance of religious faith in the public sphere and underscores the unique contributions of religion to the common good.
He is a member of the American Catholic Philosophical Association, the American Society of Missiologists and the Catholic Commission on Intellectual and Cultural Affairs. In addition to English, he speaks French, Italian, Spanish and some German.
Robert Gilligan
Robert Gilligan has served as the Executive Director of the Catholic Conference of Illinois since January 2003. He is responsible for coordinating and implementing the Conference's public policy and legislative agenda at the State Capitol in Springfield. Acting in accordance with the principles of Catholic social teaching, the legislative agenda touches on a broad range of public policy issues seeking to protect life at all stages of development, provide a voice for the poor and marginalized, promote the family unit, and call for sound stewardship of the earth and natural resources.
Prior to being named Executive Director, Bob was Associate Director for Social Services at the Catholic Conference for six years. Before coming to the Catholic Conference, he served as the Chief of Legislative Services for the Arizona Department of Economic Security and worked at the political consulting firm of Jamieson and Guiterrez in Phoenix, AZ.
Bob is a member of the National Association of Catholic Conference Directors and is currently acting as Vice President of the organization. He served on the Child Welfare Advisory Committee for the Department of Children and Family Services and the Family Self Sufficiency Advisory Committee for the Department of Human Services. He also serves on the Adoption Registry Council, is on the Board of Directors for the Illinois Catholic Prayer Breakfast orgainzation and is the Chair of the Public Policy team for the Illinois Conference of Churches.
In addition to his work at the General Assembly, Bob acts as spokesman for the Catholic Conference, handling media inquiries. He has a monthy radio program on AM-950 and has appeared on Chicago Tonight, Fox News Sunday and has been interviewed by the New York Times, Chicago Tribune, Chicago Sun Times, Daily Herald, Crain's Chicago Business as well as many other local newspapers.
Bob is a graduate of Marquette University with a degree in Business Administration. He earned a Master of Public Administration degree from Arizona State University in Tempe, Arizona. Bob and his wife, Colleen, reside in Chicago and are members of St. Juliana's Parish. Bob is also the past Chairman of St. Michael's Parish Pastoral Council. He was a member of Greater Leadership Chicago's class of 2008.
Abby Johnson
Abby worked and volunteered for Planned Parenthood for eight years. In September 2009, she saw something that forever changed her mind on the issue of abortion. Abby was asked to assist in an ultrasound guided abortion procedure. On the ultrasound screen she saw a 13 week baby in the womb fight for its life, only to lose the battle in the end.
Not knowing where to go, Abby turned to a local pro-life resource group, The Brazos Valley Coalition for Life. She explained the events that she had witnessed and swore that she would begin to advocate for life in the womb, instead of destroying it. On October 6, 2009 she resigned from the largest abortion corporation in the nation, Planned Parenthood.
Even though she had not intended on being a public figure, God had different plans. For the last year of her employment, Christ had been working on her heart. Although she didn't understand why, Abby had begun to question her work and the motivations of the company she had dedicated herself to for eight years.
When Planned Parenthood found out about Abby's change of heart, they were frightened that others would hear her story and then change their minds about abortion. Their defense was to silence her with a temporary gag order and eventually take her to court. Planned Parenthood thus inadvertently turned Abby's resignation into national news.
Abby's testimony is documented in her book, Unplanned, and her newly released DVD with the same title. She lives in Texas with her husband and daughter.
Ralph Rivera
Ralph Rivera is a state lobbyist for Illinois Citizens for Life and Illinois Family Institute. Ralph has lobbied for Pro-Life and Pro-Family issues for over 37 years and over 28 years full-time at the State Capitol. Every pro-life and anti-life bill introduced in the State Capitol since the Illinois Abortion Law of 1975 was handled by Ralph for pro-life.
Ralph is also President of Illinois Citizens for Life, PAC and sits on the board of directors of Illinois Federation for Right to Life. Ralph resides in Chicago with his wife, Cindy, where they have home schooled all of their six boys.
David Smith
Before coming to IFI in 2004, Dave Smith, a lifelong resident of Chicago, spent seven years working as an Aide to an Alderman of the Chicago City Council, serving the blue-collar communities on the City's south side.
Dave is nationally known, however, as a leading expert on national decency issues. During a four-year period, David filed 70 complaints with the Federal Communications Commission against radio shock jock Erich "Mancow" Muller's show for his broadcast of sexually graphic material. As a result, Mancow's bosses, Emmis Communications, paid $300,000 for violating the federal broadcast law. (Mancow has since been fired from his Chicago station.)
Dave led the 2006 Protect Marriage Illinois project that was launched in June 2005. On May 8, 2006, more than 30 citizens from across Illinois joined Dave in filing more than 65,000 petitions sheets with more than 347,000 names at the Illinois State Board of Elections (SBE) in Springfield. The purpose of the petition drive was to put an advisory referendum on the November ballot asking if the General Assembly should amend the Illinois Constitution to declare that "marriage between a man and a woman is the only legal union that shall be valid or recognized in this State."
Dave has a burden for our culture, and a strong desire to effect positive change. He has been bold speaking out on moral issues, including abortion, homosexuality and, of course, the prevalence of obscene and indecent material in the public square.
An alumnus of the Family Research Council's Witherspoon Fellowship, Dave graduated from the University of Illinois at Chicago with a B.A. in Political Science in 1998. He and his wife of 15 years are the parents of five young children.
Updated 9/28/11