Helen Shiller has been the Alderman of the 46th Ward since April 1987 and the Chairman of the Chicago City Council's Committee on Human Relations since October 2009. In City Council, she has sponsored and/or lobbied for many legislative acts that focus on improving the quality of life for the residents of her ward and the entire city. She fought for the passing of the human rights ordinance, recycling programs and city responsibility for public health and safety in the Chicago Public Schools. She initiated and passed a tough anti-apartheid ordinance in 1990, and her budget amendment tripled the city’s AIDS budget in 1992. She co-sponsored the domestic partners ordinance extending benefits for unmarried couples. Throughout her aldermanic career, Alderman Shiller has struggled in support of affordable housing and a city budget that makes Chicago a more affordable place to live.

Sustainability

A strong voice for sustainability and green technologies, Alderman Shiller took the lead on a voluntary pilot program for multi-unit residential building recycling and created a task force to improve the city's recycling program. She is an advocate for LEED certification in all Planned Developments as well as in other development projects throughout the city. 

Advocacy 

In 1989, Alderman Shiller sponsored a resolution creating a sub-committee on Domestic Violence. Since that time, the Chicago Police Department invested in a computerized domestic violence incident tracking system and allows for standing committees on Domestic Violence as part of the CAPS program. The city now funds domestic violence counseling centers and programs for supervised visitations.

Preserving Diversity

Helen Shiller has continuously struggled to keep the 46th Ward both economically and culturally diverse, while at the same time working to develop virtually every area of the ward. It is important to Alderman Shiller that the 46th Ward continue to be defined by its unique mix of people with very different economic and cultural backgrounds. She has worked on many models to retain this diversity and, with the City’s Department of Housing, developed the Planned Purchase Price Assistance Program (now called CPAN), which provides opportunities for home ownership for working families.

Hearing all Voices

She led a comprehensive and inclusive community planning process resulting in the development of a Tax Increment Financing (TIF) district and development plan for Wilson Yard in the heart of Uptown. Retail development, preservation of existing low cost housing as well as the creation of new affordable housing, job creation and support for local public schools are goals of the TIF. In 2010, Alderman Shiller looks forward to the opening of the Wilson Yard development, a LEED project which includes a two story, 180,000 square foot Target store, 178 apartments for both families and seniors, and over 25,000 square feet of other retail and office space.

Helen's History

Helen Shiller received her high school diploma from Woodstock Country School in Vermont in 1965. She attended the University of Wisconsin at Madison as a history major and received her BA in 1969. In 2005, she graduated from DePaul University’s School for New Learning’s Master’s Program where her focus was public policy.

Prior to becoming Alderman, Helen was President and CEO of Justice Graphics, Inc. from 1981 to 1987. From 1983 to 1984, she worked on Mayor Harold Washington’s Political Education Project. She taught GED to Stockton School parents during the 1981-82 school year. From 1979 to 1981, she was the Executive Organizer for the Employment Action Coalition, a project of the Community Renewal Society. From the mid-seventies until her election as Alderman, Helen worked as a freelance photographer and editor/reporter for local publications.