HR1307 98TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY

HR1307 LRB098 23075 GRL 62049 r

HOUSE RESOLUTION

WHEREAS, State Representative Monique D. Davis and the members of the Illinois House of Representatives wish to congratulate the staff and administration of Chicago State University for the establishment and ribbon-cutting of the Global Institute of Sustainable Development and for the inauguration of the Institute's Africa Center, microfinance initiative, and Global Africa Partnership Forum; and

WHEREAS, The Global Institute of Sustainable Development was established as an ambitious problem-solving innovation to further the university's global citizenship mission, with particular interest in utilizing sustainability principles to stimulate university/community partnerships for cross-cultural exchange; the Institute also utilizes faculty/student interaction outside the classroom in order to promote community engagement in research and service learning in the age of globalization; and

WHEREAS, In an intellectually-charged and research-driven setting, the Global Institute of Sustainable Development challenges students to achieve academic excellence and innovation, promotes international cooperation for sustainable development of humans and environments through global social justice, leadership, and entrepreneurship, and strives to produce informed and effective global citizens; and

WHEREAS, The Global Institute of Sustainable Development has established the Africa Center to enhance geographically-targeted and thematic research in Africa, stimulate professional development, highlight the contribution of Africans and the African diaspora to global development, inspire mutually beneficial cross-cultural exchange, and promote service learning; and

WHEREAS, The Microfinance Center, an initiative of the Global Institute of Sustainable Development supported by PNC Bank, aims to stimulate leadership skills, financial education, and entrepreneurship in a practical learning approach that breaks generational dependency while also alleviating poverty among Chicago State University students and surrounding communities; the program seeks to empower future leaders to take control of their economic conditions by starting actions that would reshape and transform their financial future and break the cycle of poverty for future generations; by building a solid financial future, prospective student entrepreneurs build self-confidence and become responsible economic citizens that change adversarial history to chart a successful course for their communities and the global society at large; and

WHEREAS, The timely inauguration of the "Global Africa Partnership Forum", with the theme "Building Global Partnership for African Leadership and Sustainable Development", represents a step in the right direction to further discussions to enhance capacity-building for United States-Africa partnerships; the forum seeks to address pertinent issues of how to leverage international resources for leadership and development in Africa and engages the University's internal and external stakeholders, including, but not limited to, faculty, students, entrepreneurs, corporations, faith-based and community organizations, policymakers, researchers, public intellectuals, and the general citizenry in a dynamic discourse and debate about the broad issues surrounding the role of university-community partnerships and the wider African diaspora can play in building strong leadership and sustainable development for Africa; the forum goes beyond talk to match resources to identified needs and expose African resources to potential foreign investors; therefore, be it

RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE NINETY-EIGHTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we congratulate the staff and administration of Chicago State University for the establishment and ribbon-cutting of the Global Institute of Sustainable Development and for the inauguration of the Institute's Africa Center, microfinance initiative, and Global Africa Partnership Forum and wish them continued success in the future; and be it further

RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be presented to the Global Institute of Sustainable Development as a symbol of our esteem and respect.