Karen Yarbrough
Encyclopedia
Karen Yarbrough is a Democratic
Democratic Party (United States)
The Democratic Party is one of two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Republican Party. The party's socially liberal and progressive platform is largely considered center-left in the U.S. political spectrum. The party has the lengthiest record of continuous...

 member of the Illinois House of Representatives
Illinois House of Representatives
The Illinois House of Representatives is the lower house of the Illinois General Assembly, the state legislature of the U.S. state of Illinois. The body was created by the first Illinois Constitution adopted in 1818. The state House of Representatives is made of 118 representatives elected from...

, representing the 7th District since 2001. In 2006 Yarbrough became the Democratic Committeeman of Proviso Township by defeating incumbent committeeman Eugene Moore, the Cook County Recorder of Deeds.

Early life

Yarbrough's father, Don Williams, is a State Farm insurance agent and former village president of the Village of Maywood.

Yarbrough earned a bachelor’s degree in Business Administration from Chicago State University
Chicago State University
Chicago State University is a state university of the U.S. state of Illinois, located in Chicago.-History:Cook County Normal School was founded in 1867, largely through the initiative of John F. Eberhart, the Commissioner of Schools for Cook County...

 and a master’s in Inner City Studies from Northeastern Illinois University
Northeastern Illinois University
Northeastern Illinois University is a public state university located in Chicago, Illinois. The main campus is located in the community area of North Park with three additional campuses in the metropolitan area. Tracing its founding to 1867, it was first established as a separate branch of a...

.

Yarbrough is the founder and CEO of Hathaway Insurance Agency, where she has worked for thirty years.

Public service

For eight years, Yarbrough served as the first female president of the Maywood
Maywood, Illinois
Maywood is a village in Proviso Township, Cook County, Illinois, United States. It was founded on April 6, 1869 and organized October 22, 1881. The population was 26,987 at the 2000 census.-Overview:...

 Chamber of Commerce. She established the Gold Card Program, which provided opportunities for business and education to work together to provide scholarships for deserving students.
Yarbrough also served as a board member of the United Way of Suburban Chicago and the Oak Park YMCA
YMCA
The Young Men's Christian Association is a worldwide organization of more than 45 million members from 125 national federations affiliated through the World Alliance of YMCAs...

.

State Representative

Yarbrough was first elected in 2000, defeating the appointed incumbent Wanda Sharp. Her term began in January, 2001.

Yarbrough is committed to helping families. She pushed for All Kids which ensure that all children in Illinois get affordable health care. The All Kids program will provide working families that make too much for KidCare, but not enough to afford private insurance, with affordable health insurance.

In addition, Yarbrough sponsored a bill to support challenged children. The bill provides funding to train teachers and school administrators to recognize and be sensitive to the special needs of students who are pregnant or living in abusive environments.
As a member of the Illinois House of Representatives, Yarbrough serves on seven committees: Housing and Urban Development (Chairwoman), House Insurance Committee (Vice-Chairwoman), Environmental Health Committee, Appropriations: Public Safety, Computer Technology, Illinois Legislative Black Caucus
Illinois Legislative Black Caucus
The Illinois Legislative Black Caucus is an American political organization composed of African Americans elected to the Illinois Legislature. There are no Republicans in this group.-Priorities:...

, and the Governor’s Safety and Re-Entry Commission.

Personal life

Representative Yarbrough’s husband, Henderson Yarbrough is Mayor of the Village of Maywood. They have seven grandchildren.

External links

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.  The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.
 
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