Kelly could become the state’s first Black, female treasurer
She’s the first Black female chief-of-staff for a statewide elected office, and she’ll make history again if voted in November as the next state treasurer.
Robin Kelly, current chief-of-staff to Illinois State Treasurer Alexi Giannoulias, said when talks surfaced about her boss going after the U.S. Senate seat that Roland Burris now holds, she decided that she’d go after the treasurer’s post.
Kelly won the Democratic nod to vie in the general election for Giannoulias’ seat and he picked up the party’s nomination for the Senate.
“I came to the office to help the treasurer put everything together — staff, programs and policies,” Kelly told the Defender.
As chief-of-staff, she serves as the treasurer’s primary advisor on all policy, political and operational matters as well as directly supervises and oversees all departments under the treasurer’s directorship.
“When he told me of his decision to run for the Senate, I supported his decision. Then I decided the right thing to do was to stay in this office and carry on the foundation we built,” said the New York native who received her bachelor’s and master’s degrees from Bradley University in Peoria, Ill. and her Ph.D. from Northern Illinois University in DeKalb, Ill.
Kelly said she knows local and state government and her background makes her “uniquely qualified” to take helm of the office.
Prior to coming to the treasurer’s office, Kelly had just been elected to a third term as state representative of the 38th District in the south suburbs. During her tenure, she sponsored and co-sponsored many bills to protect victims of consumer fraud, help build economic development, extend the voter registration period, protect victims of domestic violence, heighten public safety and improve mass transit throughout the Chicagoland area.
Before coming to the Illinois General Assembly, she spent 13 years as the director of community affairs for the south suburban village of Matteson.
“I’m a proven leader who is effective and honest. Should I be elected the next state treasurer, it will be a pretty seamless transition,” she said.
The treasurer’s office is more efficient and accessible under Giannoulias and his team, Kelly said.
“We’ve also tweaked a few existing programs, such as Bright Start,” she said.
The educational college funding program received widespread criticism for money lost by parents who’ve bought into the program.
“It’s one fund out of 21 funds and we were able to stay ahead of the ball by partnering with the Illinois Attorney General’s office and retrieve a lot of the funds lost,” she said.
Kelly said the fund was near the bottom of the list, ranked 49th. Now it’s one of the top five funds that has the lowest fees in the nation, she said.
“We’ve grown the account and people are still joining,” Kelly added.
The treasurer’s office manages approximately $17 billion in local and state funds and administers programs to promote the fiscal health of the residents.
Copyright 2010 Chicago Defender
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