Jacqueline Collins is a long-time social justice advocate and a former state lawmaker. She views justice and equity through an inclusive lens as evidenced by her body of work while serving the 16^th District in Springfield as a State Senator and Assistant Majority Leader. Collins forged paths of change as a member of the Governor’s Racial Profiling Task Force, the Human Trafficking Task Force and as Chairperson of the Criminal Law and Financial Institutions Committees. Her major legislative accomplishments include making Illinois the first in the Midwest to ban “ghost guns”; the historic Predatory Loan Prevention and Payday Loan Reform Act; the Illinois Community Reinvestment Act; the Mortgage Rescue Fraud Act; and the landmark Sudan Divestment Act.  In recognition of more than two decades of legislative leadership, Senator Collins has been awarded the Gale Cincotta Visionary Award by Neighborhood Housing Services (NHS), the Outstanding Public Service Award by the Greater Auburn Gresham Development Corporation, the Rev. Dr. Martin L. King Jr. and President Lyndon B. Johnson Faith and Politics Award from RainbowPUSH and numerous other awards. Senator Collins majored in journalism at Northwestern University, holds a Master of Science from Spertus College, a MPA from Harvard’s John F. Kennedy School of Government, a Master of Theological Studies from Harvard Divinity School, and a Juris Doctorate from Loyola Chicago School of Law.