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2008 OCLRE
Law & Citizenship Conference Presenters Biographies
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Jennifer Brunner |
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As Ohio’s first woman to serve as secretary of state,
Jennifer Brunner brings a unique perspective and
exceptional credentials to be Ohio’s top election
official. Her prior service as Legislative Counsel for
the Secretary of State’s Office, 13 years of election
law private practice experience, her years of service as
a Franklin County Common Pleas Court Judge, a past
experience as a member of the Franklin County Board of
Elections and work as a special prosecutor for election
fraud clearly demonstrate her ability to be an effective
and fair Secretary of State.
Jennifer Brunner has pledged elections for Ohio that are
free, fair, open, and honest. She has made it a top goal
to ensure confidence in Ohio’s elections. Among her
stated four goals for office are to ensure business
filings that are quick, efficient and easy to retrieve,
to protect social security numbers from disclosure, and
create and to maintain a life quality index to better
the lives of all Ohioans.
Brunner received a B.A. in sociology-gerontology, cum
laude, from Miami University, Oxford, Ohio, and later a
J.D. from Capital University Law School in Columbus,
Ohio with honors. She and her husband, Rick, also an
attorney, have three adult children and live in
Columbus.
In 2008, Brunner was awarded the John F. Kennedy Profile
in Courage Award, the nation's most prestigious honor
for elected public servants. |
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Congressman
Dennis & Elizabeth Kucinich |
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Dennis Kucinich graduated with a Bachelor of Arts and a
Masters in Speech Communications from Case Western
Reserve University, Cleveland, Ohio in 1974. Having
been elected to Cleveland’s City Council at age 23,
Dennis J. Kucinich was well-known to Cleveland residents
when they chose him as their mayor in 1977 at the age of
31. At the time, Kucinich was the youngest person ever
elected to lead a major American city.
In addition to being Mayor of Cleveland, Kucinich has
served on the Cleveland City Council (1970-75, 1981-82);
served as the Clerk of Courts for the Cleveland
Municipal Court (1976-77); been an Ohio State Senator
(1994-96); and in November 2004 was elected to his fifth
term as a Member of the United States House of
Representatives (1997-present).
Representative Kucinich has been a tireless advocate for
worker rights, civil rights and human rights. Most
recently, Congressman Kucinich was a Democratic
candidate for President.
Mrs. Elizabeth
Kucinich completed a B.A. in Religious Studies and
Theology and M.A. in International Conflict Analysis at
University of Kent, U.K. She has completed vocational
training in U.N. Human Rights Fieldwork, disaster
response, and in child protection. Elizabeth is also
credentialed in conflict transformation studies through
the University of Amsterdam in The Netherlands, in
Appreciative Inquiry at Case Western Reserve University
in Cleveland, Ohio, and in Peace and Reconciliation
Studies at Coventry University, in the United Kingdom.
Before coming to America, Mrs. Kucinich was a volunteer
British Red Cross refugee caseworker and a support
worker for detained asylum seekers, while working for
the 150-year-old nonprofit organization, the Mission to
Seafarers.
Mrs. Kucinich has a strong dedication to service and
social justice. She is engaged in policy and
humanitarian issues such as human and animal rights as
well as showing how businesses can be agents of positive
change in the world. Elizabeth is actively involved in
the Congressional Human Rights and Holistic Health
Caucuses in the House of Representatives.
Together Dennis & Elizabeth share the same vision: to
provide leadership to a more peaceful world, to see the
rights of all living beings and environmental
sustainability as guiding principles. |
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Rev.
Dr. C.T. Vivian |
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Rev. Dr. C. T. Vivian is a living legend of
the Civil Rights Movement and he continues his activism
today, tirelessly working for the progress of African
Americans and the civil and political rights of all
peoples. An uplifting speaker, he has addressed
audiences in 42 states, 10 countries, and on countless
campuses nationwide on the issues of civil rights,
non-violence, racism and Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. with
whom he worked for many years.
A Baptist minister, his first use of non-violent direct
action was in 1947, to end Peoria's segregated lunch
counters. Later he founded the Nashville Christian
Leadership Conference, organizing the first sit-ins
there in 1960 and the first civil rights march in 1961.
Rev. Vivian was a rider on the first "Freedom Bus" into
Jackson, Mississippi, and went on to work along-side Dr.
Martin Luther King Jr. on his Executive Staff in
Birmingham; Selma; Chicago; Nashville; the March on
Washington; Danville, Virginia; and St. Augustine,
Florida. During the summer following the Selma
Movement, Rev. Vivian conceived and directed an
educational program, Vision, and put 702 Alabama
students in college with scholarships. The program
later became Upward Bound.
Rev. Vivian has been featured as an activist and an
analyst in the civil rights documentary, "Eyes on the
Prize," and has been featured in a PBS special, "The
Healing Ministry of Dr. C. T. Vivian.” He has made
numerous appearances on "Oprah" as well as the "Montel
Williams Show" and "Donahue.” Rev. Vivian is the focus
of the biography, Challenge and Change by Lydia Walker
and he is author of Black Power and the American Myth,
which was an Ebony Book Club Selection.
His leadership positions include Chairman of the
Southern Organizing Committee Education Fund, the
Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC), the
Black Action Strategies and Information Center (BASIC),
and the Center for Democratic Renewal.
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