For the first time in Forest Park history, women are leading several of the main entities in town. Along with the first woman village government administrator, Forest Park’s District 91 elementary school board, the park district, the library and Chamber of Commerce are all woman-run.
“It took until 2024 for that to happen. That’s crazy,” said Rachell Entler, who in September became the first woman to hold Forest Park’s village administrator position. “It was really a pivotal moment. We like to preach that we’re a very diverse town, and it’s now showing in the leadership of the town, not just the people who live here.”
Jackie Iovinelli, who became executive director of the Park District of Forest Park in 2018, is the first woman to hold the position. Laurie Kokenes, executive director of the Forest Park Chamber of Commerce since 1992, also said she believes she’s the first woman to hold her position.
Kokenes credits part of her role as an early woman in the local leadership workforce to getting hired at the Forest Park Review, where her father, Bob Haeger, was the publisher and also ran the chamber. She took over her father’s role as the chamber’s executive secretary in the 1990s.
“Had I not worked for my father at the Forest Park Review, then I would not have been involved with the chamber, and then be in the position to take it over,” Kokenes said.
Additionally, Vicki Rakowski serves as executive director of Forest Park Public Library, Elizabeth Alvarez is superintendent of the D91 schools, and Bessie Karvelas is the interim superintendent of the District 209 Proviso High Schools. Shannon Wood is president of the D91 school board, and Amanda Grant is president of the D209 school board.
Entler said all of D91’s principals are women. She adds that all of the elected boards also have multiple women holding seats. Karen Dylewski is the longtime director of the Mohr Community Center.
Though Lorraine Popelka served as Forest Park’s mayor in the 1980s, and other women have held various leadership roles in town, there are more women than ever involved in our local government.
Iovinelli recalls attending a special recreation board meeting around 15 years ago, when she was the superintendent of recreation for the Park District of Franklin Park.
“I remember sitting around the table, and I was the only female,” Iovinelli said. “Today, I sit on the same board. We share the same association as my previous district. I sit around the table and the women outnumber the men.”
Part of the reason for an increase in women in leadership positions can likely be attributed to societal norms and that there are now more opportunities for women than there were before.
“I think it was just the way it was,” Kokenes said about growing up with fewer women in the workforce. “Along the way, people realized women can do just as good of a job.” She added, “You get a woman in a leadership position and maybe she brings something different to the table.”
“You get people with different interests and different experiences,” Entler said of hiring women, though she adds, she doesn’t think that’s why she was hired as the first female village administrator.
“The mayor (Rory Hoskins) is really big on inclusion and representation,” said Entler, who is Filipino. “Not that he was necessarily looking for a female or a person of color to hire for that position, but it kind of just happened that way.”
Iovinelli agrees. “I think they hired me because of my skills, because I’m Jackie,” she said. “I don’t think they hired me because I’m a female.” She adds that she largely developed her leadership skills by networking with female mentors.
“It’s nice to now see women getting the opportunity, just because they have skills and have been put in the position where they can get those skills,” Iovinelli said.
Though Forest Park has never had this many women in leadership roles, there’s room for improvement when it comes to hiring people of color in these positions.
“We probably have a long way to go when it comes to ethnic diversity,” Entler said. “There’s still room to grow.”