Skokie Caucus Party Announces Its 2021 Slate

Khem Khoeun — For Trustee

A leader in the immigrant and refugee community, Khem Khoeun has served as Skokie Park Board commissioner since 2017. When voted in, she became the first Cambodian American woman to be elected to any position in the United States.  Khem currently serves as vice president of the Skokie Park Board and has helped lead the expansion of Park District programs and resources. She also holds the position of president of the National Cambodian Heritage Museum & Killing Fields Memorial.  Khem has been a successful advocate for expanding participation and opportunities for immigrant communities. In entering local politics, she broke a glass ceiling, seeking to remedy how immigrant communities historically have sometimes feared and distrusted government.

At only 6-months-old, Khem arrived in the United States from a Thai refugee camp where her family lived after escaping the Khmer Rouge genocide.  She received her Bachelor of Science degree in social work from Loyola University in 2003 with a minor in political science. She also has a background in health informatics and technology. She and her husband live with their two children in Skokie.

Alison Pure-Slovin — For Trustee

Alison Pure-Slovin serves as the Midwest director of the Simon Wiesenthal Center, an international United Nations-accredited Human Rights NGO, which fights against all forms of hate and bigotry.  In her tenure there, the Center’s Midwest division has created educational partnerships and opportunities for hundreds of thousands of students, community leaders and business professionals covering topics of hate, racism and anti-Semitism.  Alison raised the necessary public and private funds to design, build and implement the Mobile Museum of Tolerance based on the Simon Wiesenthal Center’s preeminent Museum of Tolerance in Los Angeles. The state-of-the-art retrofitted “museum on wheels” travels throughout Illinois educating individuals of all ages on the ramifications and negative impact of hate and what can be done to build a better and more equitable tomorrow.  For the first time in more than 140 years, the private Standard Club elected Alison as its President in 2012 where she served for more than three years. Her career also included service as the director of the American Committee for Shaare Zedek Medical Center; executive producer of the Jewish Broadcasting Network and producer for WMAQ-TV.

Dr. Keith A. Robinson — For Trustee

Dr. Keith A. Robinson has dedicated his life and career to education and service. His commitment to social justice, equity and access has been the light that has guided his personal and professional work.  He currently serves as the associate principal of educational services at Evanston Township High School. Keith spent the first part of his career teaching and coaching in his native Indiana before becoming dean of students at Niles West High School. He then worked as Niles North High School assistant principal of operations where he oversaw the day-to-day operations of the school.  Keith earned his Master of Education Administration and Supervision degree from Roosevelt University and his Educational Leadership doctorate from National Louis University.

Giving back to the community and helping inspire people have been priorities throughout his life.  He served as a board president of Foundation65, a local organization that supports arts and literacy programming in the local elementary school district. He currently is a board member of FAN (Family Action Network) and Teacher’s College Advisory Council at Ball State University.  Keith currently serves on the Skokie Plan Commission.  Keith and his wife of 22 years, Sharon, a pediatrician at Evanston NorthShore University HealthSystem, live with their two daughters — teenagers Taryn and Kari.

Mayor George Van Dusen

George Van Dusen served as a Skokie Village Board Trustee from 1984 until he became Mayor in 1999.  He and his wife, Susan, have lived in the Village for nearly 45 years. The Mayor also has served in various regional positions including President of the Northwest Municipal Conference and Chairman of the Solid Waste Agency of Northern Cook County.  He served on the staff of Congressman Sidney Yates and recently published through the University of Illinois Press a book about those years in Washington D.C.  As Mayor, he is responsible for bringing to Skokie visionary economic development projects and innovated many significant community programs.  Mayor Van Dusen serves as an adjunct faculty member of Oakton Community College teaching U.S. History and Government and is a member of Temple Beth Emet.

Clerk Pramod Shah

Pramod Shah served as a Skokie Village Board trustee before he was elected Skokie Village Clerk in 2013.  In his role as clerk, the community has come to know Pramod as a friendly, useful and knowledgeable public servant. He has helped countless residents with information about voting locations, finding community resources, obtaining passports and real estate transfer stamps and accessing village resources.  Pramod and his wife, Usha, have lived in Skokie for more than 40 years — their two children having both graduated from Niles North High School. Before his time on the Village Board, Pramod was appointed and then elected Niles Township collector and was elected Niles Township Government trustee in 2004.  A native of Gujarat, India, Pramod moved to the United States in 1971 and has served as executive director and president of the Indo-American Democratic Organization. He is currently a member of the Jain Society of Metropolitan Chicago and the Gandhi Memorial Trust Board. Pramod served as vice chair of the Skokie Caucus Party and worked as a manager for Cyberbridge International, a Skokie-based software and information technology consulting company.

Trustee Ralph Klein

Ralph Klein, a lifelong village resident and successful small business owner, was elected Skokie Village Board trustee in 2013 and is now completing his second term. Previously, he served a dozen years as chairman of the Skokie Zoning Board of Appeals and before then, as a member of the Skokie Fine Arts Commission and the Skokie Northshore Sculpture Park Board.  Ralph has a long history of volunteer service, including to the Niles Township Food Pantry and the Village’s Home Delivered Meals program.  Ralph was the founding president of Open Hearts for Handicapped Children and a former President of the Rotary Club of Skokie Valley, was active with several Skokie school foundations, volunteers with Just Harvest Community Kitchen and the annual community-wide Winter Coat Drive.  Ralph and his wife, Lillian, have been married for over 30 years, raised their children in Skokie.

Trustee Edie Sue Sutker

Edie Sue Sutker is a lifelong resident of Skokie. She became a Trustee in 2004. Edie served on the Skokie Plan Commission for nearly 10 years prior to becoming Trustee. As a Trustee, Edie serves as the liaison to the Commission on Family Services and the Public Safety Commission, where she was instrumental in implementing several community policing initiatives including Many Cultures, One Community – Keeping Skokie Safe, Chat with the Chief, Coffee with a Cop and Text-A-Tip.

Edie is a member of Ezra Habonim/Niles Township Jewish Congregation, NA’AMAT USA and Hadassah. She is also a member of the Niles Township Democratic Organization. Edie holds a master’s degree in social work and is a practicing Licensed Clinical Social Worker at JCFS Chicago. She is a member of the National Association of Social Workers. She also worked as an investment professional for more than a decade, giving her an extensive background in finance and budgeting, which has been useful during her service on the Skokie Village Board. In her spare time, Edie enjoys speed walking at the Skokie Sculpture Park and spending time with her husband, David Richmond, and their extended family.