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* The 2022 Golden Horseshoe Award for Best Contract Lobbyist is a tie. Heather Wier Vaught…
smart, strategic. no bs. you can take her advice to the bank.
I might’ve used different punctuation and capitalization, but I nonetheless agree with the sentiment.
* And Liz Brown…
Hands down is Liz Brown. She’s everywhere all the time. She is the best at handling a roll call and actually being truthful with her clients and she knows her topic areas in and out. Just head and shoulders above the rest.
Agreed.
* The 2022 Golden Horseshoe Award for Best In-House Lobbyist goes to Khadine Bennett at the IL ACLU…
Khadine has a huge hand in making Illinois the reproductive rights haven it is now. She is knowledgeable and knows how to listen and address people’s concerns. She’s a first call for so many people in the state on major civil and reproductive rights issues. Just the best imho.
The vote and the intensity were pretty heavily in Khadine’s favor.
Congratulations!
* On to today’s categories…
Best Do-Gooder Lobbyist
Best Legislative Liaison
Do your very best to nominate in both categories and make sure to explain your votes. Thanks.
* And despite my fear of sounding like a broken record, please click here to help buy presents for LSSI foster kids. Together, we help make a difference in the lives of these children every Christmas season, and we are now entering our annual fundraising home stretch. Thanks!
posted by Rich Miller
Monday, Dec 12, 22 @ 10:56 am
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Best do gooder lobbyist: John Amdor. He has a strong reputation throughout the capitol and his account is the best follow on twitter.
Best liaison: Paul Ferrero from the Comptroller’s office. He is thorough and helpful and always goes the extra mile for constiuents, GA members and their staff.
Comment by Mocking Jay Monday, Dec 12, 22 @ 11:27 am
Liaison: Andi VanderKolk, at the Dept of Insurance, is amazing. She’s smart and thoughtful and ALWAYS helpful, even to folks that she’s working against. She’s always a pleasure to work with.
Do-gooder lobbyist: Niya Kelly, at Coalition for the Homeless. Niya has been a rock star for a while. She works on incredibly important issues that impact folks without political power, and she consistently delivers wins.
Comment by JoeMaddon Monday, Dec 12, 22 @ 11:44 am
Do gooder: Mike Ziri, tirelessly working on behalf of the LGBTQ community in the face of some truly scary bigotry
Liaison: Dani Mendez from HFS is so smart and responsive and absolute pleasure to work with
Comment by tatooine Monday, Dec 12, 22 @ 11:53 am
Best liaison: Andi Vanderkolk from DOI. She is thorough, responsive, knowledgeable, and just a deeply kind person. Always excited when I get to work with her.
Best do-gooder lobbyist: Mike Ziri from Equality Illinois. He is a workhorse who has been the secret ingredient for his organization to consistently bank legislative wins. He is particularly deserving this year because of how he has been on the frontlines of responding to the increasing hate incidents that have happened across the state targeting the LGBTQ community. He is dedicated, smart, and a wonderful person to work with.
Comment by Luckycharms Monday, Dec 12, 22 @ 12:32 pm
Best Legislative Liaison: Carl Gutierrez from IDFPR. He is kind, resourceful, and responsive.
Comment by ella Monday, Dec 12, 22 @ 12:32 pm
Kimberly Drew is hands down the best do-gooder lobbyist I’ve ever worked with. She makes things happen and she’s behind the scene on almost every major economic justice issue we have in this state.
Comment by Policy Girl Monday, Dec 12, 22 @ 12:34 pm
Kim Drew is definitely thee best do-gooder lobbyist In Springfield. She is laser focused and gets sh…… done. I’ve learned a lot from Kim Drew and just from her track record alone she should definitely win this award.
Comment by Kidd Friendly Policy Lover Monday, Dec 12, 22 @ 12:39 pm
Do-Gooder: John Amdor. SAFE-T Act trailer and expansion of the EITC doesn’t get done without his leadership and those are two big wins in any year, let alone two in one.
Liaison: Richard Sgro - a straight shooter who gets answers quickly and professionally
Comment by St. Nick Monday, Dec 12, 22 @ 12:46 pm
I second (or third?) Kim Drew. She’s smart, effective, and really committed. Definitely deserves best Do-Gooder.
Comment by Observer Monday, Dec 12, 22 @ 1:10 pm
Do-Gooder: Mike Ziri deserves it this and every year. The man is a force to be reckoned with in the capitol and has been consistently getting things done for his org since his first day.
Liaison: Andi VanderKolk keeps working her tail off for DOI. She’s kind, smart, and easy to work with. Give her that horseshoe, Maximum Warp.
Comment by Boy Blunder Monday, Dec 12, 22 @ 1:22 pm
Do-gooder: mark me down for Mike Ziri. He’s the Energizer rabbit - always on the go, relentless, and has been defending the LGBTQ+ community from horrible attacks.
Comment by Proud Papa Bear Monday, Dec 12, 22 @ 1:24 pm
Niya Kelly is not here for any of your nonsense. She is in Springfield to advocate for the community she cares about and she has the facts and figures to back up her strategic advocacy. She’s been in the game for a long time now and she is a force.
Wendy Butler is the best liaison. She’s got relationships on both sides of the aisle, she’s organized, and she’s a content expert who knows how to boil it down for lawmakers. She makes it simple to understand, and there’s nothing simple about things CMS does (procurement, personnel, etc.)
Comment by Who else Monday, Dec 12, 22 @ 1:40 pm
Do-Gooder: Laura Anderson. She’s represented a broad-based coalition the last three years trying to improve Illinois’ disability services. There have been successive years of major investments that has kept the doors open during the pandemic. Fighting the good fight folks don’t often talk about.
Liaison: Amanda Eliot ISBE- super hard worker, super responsive, is here to help. Very pleasant to work with to boot.
Comment by Waffle Fries Monday, Dec 12, 22 @ 2:14 pm
Do Gooder - I will jump on the Amdor train. He is quiet and humble (rare traits for lobbyists) and works hard.
Best Liaison- Matt Berry at ICCB– who wears many hats including the Chief of Staff. Matt is smart, knowledgeable and doesn’t just rely on policy only when making choices. He understands the big picture. He is a big asset to Gov Administration!
Comment by BowTie Monday, Dec 12, 22 @ 2:23 pm
Liaison - Andi VanderKolk from DOI - Just an incredibly hard worker who knows how to work across agencies and groups to build consensus on some very difficult legislative areas. Also, just one of the absolute best people in the state.
Do gooder - Mike Ziri from Equality - Another incredibly hard worker who has fought hard against the negative attacks around LGBTQ people that seem to be on the rise. Probably one of the hardest workers under the dome.
Comment by Westsider Monday, Dec 12, 22 @ 2:33 pm
Do-Gooder Lobbyist: Niya Kelly with Chicago Coalition for the Homeless is the ultimate do-gooder lobbyist. She is strategic, smart, committed, funny, always prepared, and gets the job done. She makes sure that her sponsors are prepped and have the support that they need, she works a roll call like nobody’s business, and supports fellow do-gooders, and people who come to Springfield to do good, in whatever ways that she can. Beyond her work ethic, I appreciate how caring she is. She knows the names of almost every LA, and remembers the names and special events of those who cross her path.
Legislative Liaison: Amanda Elliot with ISBE is one of the most effective LL’s I’ve had the pleasure of working with. She is my go to person for anything education related. If she doesn’t know the answer, she gets it to me in record speed. She cares about the work, and is willing to work collaboratively to make a policy work, versus just having it pass. On top of that, she has demonstrated her ability to multi-task multiple times during zoom hearings!
Comment by DMB Monday, Dec 12, 22 @ 2:58 pm
Do gooder: Cannot top the aforementioned accolades of Mike Ziri and add my vote to the list!
Liaison: Additional support for Andi Vanderkolk. Most insurance companies have one in-house person and a team of 3+ contract lobbyists. Last session, Andi’s leg director went on loan to the Gov’s Office and she single-handedly managed the DOI’s entire agenda - while playing all sorts of defense along the way. It’s a job I don’t think anyone would want to do solo, and she managed it with perseverance, grace and success.
Comment by 4D1 Monday, Dec 12, 22 @ 2:59 pm
Do gooder - Definitely Mike Ziri! He is a major reason Illinois has advanced so many pro-LGBTQ bills in recent years. He is respected by electeds and fellow lobbyists.
Comment by Super Fan Monday, Dec 12, 22 @ 3:09 pm
Legislative Liaison: Andi VanderKolk. Andi has spent most of her time as liaison in the turbulence of irregular covid sessions but she operates like a seasoned GA veteran. She’s incredibly quick yet thorough in her responses to questions and has built a wealth of knowledge in an incredibly complicated subject matter.
Do-gooder: John Amdor. His Twitter wit and sidekick Cricket usually garner the most attention, but as other commenters noted, John has been working behind the scenes on most of the major legislative wins in recent years and is deserving of the Golden Horseshoe.
Comment by Anonymous Monday, Dec 12, 22 @ 3:15 pm
Do-Gooder: Not john amdor he makes me go on long runs for no reason is late with first and third breakfast never gives enough dinner and interrupts naps it’s time for a late lunch k?
Comment by Cricket Monday, Dec 12, 22 @ 3:24 pm
Legislative Liaison: Like many others before me, Andi VanderKolk. She does an excellent job of balancing all of the varied interests in the issues she works on (including that of her own agency) and does so with professionalism and grace. She single-handedly navigated an extremely ambitious legislative agenda thrust upon her during a shortened session and still managed to remain as responsive and as accessible as she always is. And to top it all off, she is a just a genuinely kind and warm human that no matter how tough the issue, or what side of it one is on, you still want to have coffee or hang out with her and talk about the day, the week or just life in general.
Do Gooder: Again a completely unoriginal nomination, but I’ll add my nod to John Amdor as well. He proactively reaches out to discuss concerns - even on bills that aren’t dealing with “big ticket” issues. Plus his Twitter account is just really enjoyable to follow.
Comment by Merry Mod Monday, Dec 12, 22 @ 4:03 pm
Do-Gooder: Khadine’s colleague Ben Ruddell with the ACLU of Illinois. Ben is a unique blend of a lobbyist, policy expert, and grassroots advocate. If there’s a challenging legislator that needs to be talked to, he’ll be there. If there’s a complicated legal question that needs to be researched, he’ll be there. If four people in a town 200 miles from his house are getting together on a Saturday night in August to learn about a bill, he’ll be there. There aren’t many people I’ve ever met who work so hard.
Liaison: I often lament that every state agency’s reaction to any idea or suggestion for new or different ways to serve the public is to immediately push back about why it’s impossible to change. Andi Vanderkolk at IDOI is a shining exception to that. She’s laser-focused on helping her agency perform its duties effectively while still being open to taking input from advocates.
Comment by Ben n' Andi Monday, Dec 12, 22 @ 4:31 pm
Do Gooder Lobbyist: Kimberly Drew! Kim gets things done and she’s fantastic to work with. She’s behind every economic justice victory in Illinois.
Comment by Policy wonkette Monday, Dec 12, 22 @ 4:32 pm
Do-Gooder- Juan Rangel from Empower Illinois. He fights for kids every day. He’s impacted the lives of tens of thousands of students across the state over his career. He’s an astute strategist, knowledgeable on the issues, and grassroots guy who has successfully brought together a colorful coalition including Blacks, Latinos, whites, Catholics, Muslims, Jews and secular folks. He can bring down hundreds of people to the Capitol on any given day. We nee more uniters like Juan.
Comment by Deep Dish Monday, Dec 12, 22 @ 4:43 pm
Do Gooder: Kim Drew! She gets things done and is amazing to work with. She’s behind every economic justice issue in the state.
Comment by Policy wonkette Monday, Dec 12, 22 @ 4:46 pm
Do-gooder: Echoing the comments for Niya Kelly. Adding to what others have said, in her work to end the root causes of homelessness, she works successfully across sectors in ways that many don’t - from criminal justice to education and human services along with budget advocacy on top of all of that. She’s smart, committed and responsive to everyone - from her grassroots members, to colleagues, staff and lawmakers.
Liaison: Second Amanda Elliot. Smart as they come and has a no-nonsense approach to finding solutions that will work for everyone.
Comment by Jojo Monday, Dec 12, 22 @ 5:25 pm
dogooder: Niya Kelly is amazing. Someone above talked about her kindness and just her basic caring about people. That’s real. Combine that with her really, really caring about the issues that she works on, her work ethic, her smarts, etc? She’s a force that keeps getting big real things done.
Liaison: I’ll give another vote for Andi V at Insurance! She’s truly great.
Comment by CapObserver Monday, Dec 12, 22 @ 5:59 pm
Legislative Liaisons: Tie between Vivian Anderson at the Office of the Secretary of State and Mason McDaniel at Department of Employment Security/Lottery. Both are very responsive and knowledgeable.
Do-gooder: Lots of good ones, including the ones mentioned here. But we are getting on the John Amdor bandwagon. He’s funny and we love his dog.
Comment by Up Northerners Tuesday, Dec 13, 22 @ 11:04 am