Lori Turner
FROM:
I grew up in Columbus, Ohio, but feel attachment to all the places I've lived, including: Grecia, Alajuela (Costa Rica); Charlottesville, Virginia; Los Angeles, California; Chicago, Illinois
HEROES:
Martin Luther King, Jr., Marian Wright Edelman, Benjamin Wolf (supervising attorney), Harvey Grossman (legal director)
PROUDEST ACCOMPLISHMENT:
I recently attended the high school graduation of one of my former students I taught when she was in second grade. She attributed her academic persistence to her second grade teacher.
SOMETHING YOU MIGHT TEACH AT THE SUMMIT:
Using impact litigation as just one advocacy tool for social change in combination with several other moving parts.
SOMETHING YOU HOPE TO LEARN AT THE SUMMIT:
How others are promoting and encouraging social change through a multitude of disciplines. Leadership skills and qualities. Effective community organizing that genuinely integrates multiple stakeholders.
SOMETHING YOU ARE STRUGGLING WITH IN YOUR WORK:
Balancing the demands of multiple cases in various stages.
SOMETHING THAT MAKES YOU HAPPY:
My nieces and nephews, running outside on a trail or path, cooking with my husband, a great book
SOMETHING THAT MAKES YOU ANGRY:
The lack of attention or action around our failing public schools.
TELL US ABOUT YOUR FAMILY:
My mom is a saint, my dad a riot, and my two older brothers and I could not be more different (politically, philosophically, emotionally), but there is a great deal of shared respect and love in our family. My parents did a beautiful job creating a strong foundation for the three of us, taught us to work hard, and encouraged us to explore our own paths. They are celebrating their 41st wedding anniversary this August.
AN IDEA TO MAKE THE 30SUMMIT EVEN BETTER:
Time for informal networking and socializing
BIOGRAPHY:
Lori Turner is a staff attorney in the Institutionalized Persons Project at the Roger Baldwin Foundation of ACLU of Illinois working to protect the rights of vulnerable persons in Illinois--from children in the child welfare system to adults with disabilities warehoused in nursing homes. Lori spent her first two years at the ACLU as an Equal Justice Works fellow working to assure that children in foster care have access to an adequate and stable education and receive appropriate mental health services. This work has continued and expanded through the ACLU's efforts to stem the so-called school-to-prison-pipeline, including involvement in the national Dignity in Schools Campaign. Before coming to the ACLU, Lori was an elementary school teacher in public schools in Los Angeles. Her teaching experience was the impetus for her to go to law school to become a more effective advocate for children and to work for equity in public schools.
