For Immediate Release:
Wednesday, July 16, 2025

Contact:
Dan Kovats, Executive Director
dan@ildcca.org

Democratic County Chairs Announce Party Builder Honorees
Illinois Women’s Institute for Leadership Training Academy & Terry Redman Named to Class of 2025

SPRINGFIELD, IL – Today, the Illinois Democratic County Chairs’ Association (IDCCA) announced the remaining members of the Class of 2025 Party Builder Award honorees to be honored at the 2025 Annual County Chairs’ Brunch on Wednesday, August 13th at the BOS Center in Springfield. The Party Builder Award was established eight years ago to thank those who have shown exceptional dedication to strengthening the Democratic Party.

The newest Party Builder Award honorees are Terry Redman, Chair of the DeWitt County Democratic Party, the Vice President of the IDCCA, and the State Central Committeeman for the 15^th Congressional District, and the Illinois Women’s Institute for Leadership (IWIL) Training Academy, an organization that prepares and trains Democratic, pro-choice women to run for elected office, seek public appointments, and govern at all levels in Illinois.

“The Party Builder Award is a small way for us to say thank you to those who have dedicated so much to the Democratic Party, and these two recipients truly deserve our thanks” said Mark Guethle, President of the IDCCA. “Terry Redman has been a stalwart in central Illinois Democratic and Organized Labor politics. And IWIL has been the launching pad for so many incredible political careers and public servants across our entire state. Due to the efforts of Loretta Durbin, one of the co-founders of IWIL, we have seen graduates go on to serve in local offices, the state legislature, and all the way to Congress. Democrats in Illinois owe Terry and IWIL a debt of gratitude.”

Terry Redman was raised in a working-class, union family. His mother was a union steward for the Machinists, and his father was a member of Laborers Local 362. Terry has been a union steward for UFCW Local 881, SEIU Local 73, and most recently a member of the Teamsters Pro-Tech Division until his retirement. Terry also served on his local village board for over ten years. Today, Terry is the Chair of the DeWitt County Democratic Party and the State Central Committeeman for the 15^th Congressional District of the Democratic Party of Illinois. Outside of politics, Terry has many accomplishments he’s proud of, including working to bring safe and affordable housing to developmentally disabled adults, working to stop the disposal of the chemicals above the Mahomet Aquifer, and assisting in the development of a wind farm in DeWitt County. Terry is most proud of his family, including his wife Camille and his supportive children, Echo, Charleah, and Logan.

The Illinois Women’s Institute for Leadership (now IWIL Training Academy) began in 2000 when Loretta Durbin was considering ways to get more women elected to public office. At the 2000 DNC convention, she put out the call to women who would commit to help develop a training program to prepare women for public office and over 30 Illinois women leaders responded. With a volunteer staff, seed money provided by Senator Dick Durbin and Organized Labor, and under the leadership of Margaret Blackshere, the organization was launched. Throughout the last 25 years, that small group of dedicated Democratic women has grown into a formidable organization that is led by a distinguished Board of Directors and a paid professional staff. To date, IWILTA has trained more than 260 women, 60% of whom have run for elective office. Those alumnae have run in over 600 races, achieving a 78% success rate. Alumnae elected officials include Members of Congress, Lt. Governor, numerous members of the State Legislature and many County and Local Government officials–including 4 County Chairs.

Terry Redman and IWIL join the ranks of earlier 2025 Party Builder Honorees Ben Head, Co-Founder, Operation Swing State; Robin Kelly, Congresswoman, Illinois 2nd; Joe Power, Founding Partner, Power Rogers Trial Lawyers; and Ram Villivalam, State Senator, 8th District, 39th Ward Democratic Committeeperson. A full list of all IDCCA Party Builder Award honorees can be found at https://idcca.org/about/honorees/.

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