Juliana Stratton

Juliana Stratton (née Wiggins; born September 8, 1965) is an American lawyer and politician, serving as the 48th lieutenant governor of Illinois since 2019. She previously served as a Democratic member of the Illinois House of Representatives from 2017 to 2019. She is the first African-American woman to become Illinois' lieutenant governor, and the state's fourth woman lieutenant governor overall, after Corinne Wood, Sheila Simon, and Evelyn Sanguinetti. Early life and education Stratton was born to a schoolteacher mother and doctor father, and raised in the South Side of Chicago, where she attended Kenwood Academy. Stratton earned a Bachelor of Science from the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign and a Juris Doctor from DePaul University. Earlier career Juliana Stratton started her own consulting firm focused on alternative dispute resolution and served as a mediator, arbitrator and administrative law judge for several government agencies. Stratton previously served as the director for the Center for Public Safety and Justice at the University of Illinois at Chicago, Executive Director of the Cook County Justice Advisory Council, and as a Deputy Hearing Commissioner for the City of Chicago Department of Business Affairs & Consumer Protection, all with a focus on improving public safety and building stronger communities. She was also a founding board member of the Chicago's Children's Advocacy Center and served the Board of Directors of the Juvenile Protective Association. Illinois House of Representatives In 2016, Stratton challenged Ken Dunkin for the fifth district seat in the Illinois House of Representatives. She received an endorsement from President Barack Obama, as well as support from several unions due to her support for "child care, labor, and home care".