# Event Details

- **Event Name**: 31st Annual H. Woods Bowman Public Service Lecture
- **Event Start and End Date**: Wed, 29 Apr, 2026 at 06:00 pm – Wed, 29 Apr, 2026 at 08:00 pm (-05:00)
- **Event Description**: Join DePaul's School of Public Service for our 31st annual lecture, featuring Michelle Morales in conversation with Tanya Watkins.About this EventDePaul University's School of Public Service welcomes you to join us for our 3`1st Annual H. Woods Bowman Public Service Lecture featuring Woods Fund Chicago President Michelle Morales in conversation with Woods Fund grantee Tanya Watkins, former Executive Director of Southisiders Organized for Unity and Liberation (SOUL). This annual lecture serves to honor the memory of SPS Professor H. Woods Bowman (1941 – 2015) and to allow the DePaul community to hear from someone who has made a significant impact on public service. Past keynote speakers have included former Illinois Governor Pat Quinn, former Presidential Chief of Staff Bill Daley, and Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle.Light refreshments will be served. Attend the lecture either in person at DePaul's Loop campus or virtually via Zoom.----Michelle Morales is the President of the Woods Fund Chicago and a first-generation U.S.-born Puerto Rican. Her career has been dedicated to youth development, alternative education, and educational justice. For 16 years, Michelle organized in Chicago’s Puerto Rican community, advocating for community development, educational and economic justice, Puerto Rican independence, and against the rapid gentrification of her neighborhood. She also co-coordinated an international campaign to secure the release of 14 Puerto Rican political prisoners held in U.S. prisons.At the Woods Fund, Michelle leads a team that has restructured the foundation’s infrastructure to center racial justice and adopt a trust-based philanthropy framework. Under her leadership, the foundation increased its payout to 11% in 2023 and currently pays out at 15%.Michelle draws on her diverse career experiences and her identity as a first-generation U.S.-born Puerto Rican woman to amplify awareness on critical issues, including the systemic marginalization of youth of color, the importance of community-driven decision-making, colonialism in Puerto Rico, and the diasporic experiences of colonized peoples in the United States. She is also a vocal advocate for racially equitable workplaces, urging organizations to apply a racial equity and justice lens both externally and internally.Michelle holds a B.A. in Latin American/Latino Studies from DePaul University, an M.Ed. in Special Education from the University of Illinois at Chicago, and an M.Ed. in Educational Leadership from Northeastern Illinois University. She was appointed co-chair of Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson’s transition team and to the Chicago Board of Education. She currently serves as the Vice Chair of the Board of Trustees at Northeastern Illinois University. Michelle is a mother, stepmother, wife, eldest daughter, and a "fur-mami" to two dogs.----Tanya Watkins (she/her) is a mother, writer, Black womanist, community organizer, and Pr*son abolitionist. Originally from Chicago’s South Side, she studied writing at Columbia College Chicago and served as a South Suburban Chicago elected official. Tanya began her organizing journey in 2010 as a leader with Southisiders Organized for Unity and Liberation (SOUL), a multi-issue, faith-based organization that helps residents build grassroots power in Chicago’s Southland. In 2016, she became the organization’s first Black woman Executive Director, during which time she was at the forefront of numerous campaigns to re-imagine community safety and transform the justice system, including leading SOUL in the fight to end cash bail in Illinois. In 2023, following the election of Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson, she served as Co-Chair of his Public Safety Transition Sub-Committee. In January 2025, Tanya transitioned from her role as Executive Director of SOUL and its sister organization, SOUL in Action, after serving in executive leadership for more than eight years. Today, Tanya is the Deputy Director of Capacity Building at the Illinois Community Power Fund.----In a professional career that spanned parts of six decades, Henry Woods Bowman (1941 – 2015) was a professor with DePaul University’s School of Public Service, a former state representative, and Cook County’s chief financial officer. He joined DePaul in 1995 and taught until his retirement in 2012. During his time at DePaul, Bowman drafted the first mission statement of the Management of Public Service program, which would become the School of Public Service in 2008. The School of Public Service named its annual lecture in honor of H. Woods Bowman in 2015.
- **Event URL**: https://allevents.in/chicago/31st-annual-h-woods-bowman-public-service-lecture/100001986946665965
- **Event Categories**: art, literary-art, dog
- **Interested Audience**: 
  - total_interested_count: 0

## Ticket Details

- **Ticket Price Range**: min: 0, max: 0, currency: USD

## Event venue details

- **city**: Chicago
- **state**: IL
- **country**: United States
- **location**: DePaul University - DePaul Center
- **lat**: 41.8780449
- **long**: -87.62743379999999
- **full address**: DePaul University - DePaul Center, 1 East Jackson Boulevard, Chicago, United States

## Event gallery

- **Alt text**: 31st Annual H. Woods Bowman Public Service Lecture
  - **Image URL**: https://cdn-az.allevents.in/events3/banners/486addb806f40b7cbfd9d6e71f7630e54134136df48b341be2d3d98372a01f73-rimg-w1200-h600-dc093fa1-gmir.jpg?v=1775693764

## FAQs

- **Q**: When and where is 31st Annual H. Woods Bowman Public Service Lecture being held?
  - **A:** 31st Annual H. Woods Bowman Public Service Lecture takes place on Wed, 29 Apr, 2026 at 06:00 pm to Wed, 29 Apr, 2026 at 08:00 pm at DePaul University - DePaul Center, 1 East Jackson Boulevard, Chicago, United States.
- **Q**: Who is organizing 31st Annual H. Woods Bowman Public Service Lecture?
  - **A:** 31st Annual H. Woods Bowman Public Service Lecture is organized by DePaul University School of Public Service.

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