Alice Phillips (Oak Brook)
President Emeritus
Alice
Phillips is President of Government Affairs Specialists, Inc. a
bi-partisan, female-owned public affairs consulting firm based in
Springfield, Illinois. GASI
represents a diverse base of clients ranging from institutions of higher
learning to not-for-profits to municipalities to corporate entities.
Before founding GASI in 1997, she served for 10 years as Director
of Government Relations for Chicago Title Insurance Company, a national
corporation with offices in 49 states, which she still represents in her
current capacity.
Prior to her government relations career, Alice was
employed by Continental Bank as an officer in the Public Finance Department,
where for she managed public funds accounts and developed municipal bond
business, and also managed the mortgage closing and secondary marketing
divisions of the Real Estate Departments.
She has also worked in many areas of government, including several years
on staff in the Illinois House of Representatives.
Alice was the 1996 Speaker of the Illinois Third House, the
association of registered lobbyists, and the first woman to serve in that
capacity. From 1986
until 1997, she served on the Board of Directors of Prairie State 2000 Authority
and as its Chair from the spring of 1990, to which board she was appointed by
Governor James R. Thompson and confirmed by the Illinois Senate.
She was also appointed by Governor Jim Edgar to the Illinois Economic
Development Council and the Commission on the 75th Anniversary of Women's
Suffrage and served on his Task Force on the Illinois Workforce Preparation and
Development Initiative and the Governor's Housing Conference Steering Committee.
She also served several years on the Secretary of State’s Motor Vehicle
Review Board.
Alice is a Founder and Past President of the
Illinois Lincoln Excellence in Public Service Series, a training program for GOP
women interested in seeking public office.
She currently serves as the Chair of its Advisory Board.
She is on the Board of Directors of the Chicago Area Public Affairs
Group. She is former Treasurer of
the Republican Women's Political Action Committee, served on the Advisory Board
of Leadership Illinois and has been active in Chicago Real Estate Executive
Women, Chicago Women in Government Relations, and the Women's Legislative
Network. She is a Past President of
the Illinois Republican Committeewoman's Roundtable, Illinois Women in
Government and National Women's Political Caucus of Greater Chicago.
Alice served on the Board of Directors of the
DuPage Children’s Museum, and is a past member of the Board of Trustees of the
Taxpayers Federation of Illinois.
Following her passion for the fine arts as a painter and photographer, she
served several years as Treasurer of the DuPage Art League of which she is a
life member. She is also a
regular volunteer at the Art Institute of Chicago.
The DuPage County YWCA named her 1999 Woman of the Year in Government,
Politics and Community Affairs.
Alice was a speaker for the September 2007
World Women’s Forum held in Seoul, Korea.
She spoke on Women in Politics, Advocacy, Lobbying and Mentoring.
The Forum was attended by over 1,000 women representing over 30
countries.
She currently lives in Oak Brook and was a resident of
Wheaton for over twenty years.
Prior to 1971, she was a resident of Springfield, where she was also very active
in politics and government and served as a member of the Sangamon County Board
of Supervisors. Alice has three adult daughters, five
grandchildren, and two
perfect great-grandsons.
