We are honored to have Bernadette Freeman provide the keynote address at this year's symposium.  She will speak about how – through effective harnessing and managing of “connections” – she has  been able to move within our society at all different levels to accomplish her dreams and goals, while overcoming some serious roadblocks and personal challenges. 

Bernadette Freeman is the managing partner for the Barrister One Law Firm, a minority women-owned general law firm.  With over 40 years of experience, she has provided business leadership for AT&T, Lucent Technologies, and National Cash Register (NCR) corporations within the U.S. and internationally.  After 30 years of corporate leadership, she helped to establish the U.S. division of the Marketing Process Company, L.L.C., an international strategic marketing consulting firm where Bernadette provided strategic marketing consultation to Fortune 500 firms and U.S. colleges.  She served as the Executive Clerk for Court Operations and Administration for the Circuit Court where she brought her unique brand of professional leadership to the Cook County court system.

Bernadette holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Industrial Marketing from DePaul University and a Jurist Doctorate from IIT-Chicago Kent School of Law.  Bernadette sits on the Executive Board of the Women's Bar Foundation.  She continues to receive many awards and recognition for her support of women and minorities in the area of business and law.  Her awards include the Proviso/Leyden NAACP Medal of Freedom, the Department of Homeland Security  “Women Inspiring Hope and Possibilities” Award, the AT&T “Power of One” Award, and the Negro Business & Professional Women's Clubs “Hall of Fame” Award. 

We are fortunate to have the opportunity to showcase the accomplishments of one of our very own alumni, Tonya Francisco.  She will be talking about things that women can do to increase their presence and value in their workplaces to make them more successful in the future, using examples from her own career.

Tonya Francisco joined CLTV in December of 2002, she can be seen each weekday morning anchoring the CLTV Morning News. In 2006, Tonya was nominated for an Emmy for her work on the documentary, "Englewood Speaks." She has served as mistress of ceremonies for a number of community events and has helped to raise funds for area not-for-profit organizations.

Tonya began her television career as a desk assistant at WLS -TV in Chicago. She moved on to WOOD-TV in Grand Rapids, Michigan to become a reporter/associate producer. After a year, it was on to WJRT - TV in Flint. While there, Tonya worked her way up from general assignment reporter to weekend anchor.  She also earned a Michigan Broadcasters Association award of merit and a National Association of Black Journalists second place finish for a documentary on "Idlewild."

Tonya was born and raised on Chicago's west side. She's a graduate of Whitney M. Young Magnet High School and has a degree in Mass Communications from the University of Illinois-Chicago. Tonya is a member of Alpha Kappa Alpha.