Personal PAC President & CEO Retiring, but that won’t stop us from protecting women’s reproductive rights in Illinois!
On March 17th, the Personal PAC Board of Directors announced that longtime President & CEO Terry Cosgrove will be retiring from his post after giving his all to the 2022 elections. Under his guidance, Personal PAC has surpassed the vision of its founders and has delivered upon its mission of improving access to reproductive healthcare, transforming Illinois into a 100% pro-choice state. Terry has been a critical player in the decades long fight to protect women’s reproductive rights in Illinois.
“It has been the greatest honor of my life to serve as President and CEO of Personal PAC for the past 33 years and to be able to devote my life to protecting the reproductive rights and the ability of all women to shape their lives, dreams and aspirations in the same manner as men. Reproductive rights are fundamental human rights, without which we cannot claim to be a real democracy.” – Terry Cosgrove
The leadership transition at Personal PAC will not distract us from the critical work ahead. We must ensure we elect pro-choice candidates to state and local office in the 2022 elections to guarantee that Illinois remains a safe haven for reproductive healthcare in the Midwest. Women’s reproductive rights in Illinois are on the ballot, but we are ready to fight back against the anti-choice extremists seeking to undo all of the progress we have made.
Terry has set the groundwork to ensure that Personal PAC remains an unmatched leading force for reproductive rights in Illinois and a powerful voice in Springfield. With that foundation in place and your continued support, we can be stronger than ever as we look to the future of protecting reproductive freedom for tens of millions of women who desperately need us to be here for them.
Please consider a generous donation to support our critical fight this year, honor the incredible career of our tireless leader Terry Cosgrove, and commit to Personal PAC’s next chapter.
Together we can protect Illinois and win in 2022!
Below is Terry’s full response to the news which you can also find here.
A personal note from Personal PAC President & CEO, Terry Cosgrove (March 17, 2022):
It has been the greatest honor of my life to serve as President and CEO of Personal PAC for the past 33 years and to be able to devote my life to protecting the reproductive rights and the ability of all women to shape their lives, dreams and aspirations in the same manner as men. Reproductive rights are fundamental human rights, without which we cannot claim to be a real democracy.
Leading Personal PAC over the past 33 years has allowed me to work side by side with the most extraordinary and committed people to take Illinois from a state openly hostile to reproductive rights in 1989 to one of the most fiercely pro-choice states in the country today. I am deeply grateful to the Personal PAC Board of Directors, many of whom have served for decades, for their commitment, leadership, friendship and kindness.
Equally important has been the amazing generosity of our countless donors, whose financial contributions have been the engine of our success. Several partner organizations and their phenomenal leaders as well as deeply committed candidates and elected officials (you know who you are!) have been critical to the enormous progress we have made since 1989. Everyone who has stood with us has made a meaningful contribution to protecting reproductive rights for the women of Illinois, and I am honored to have worked with all of you. Together, we have improved the lives of so many people.
I will be serving as President and CEO through January of 2023, which coincides with my 70th DOB, in order to focus on the 2022 election, the most consequential election in this state in over 50 years. During the next few months, my fervent hope is that everyone who supports Personal PAC and cares about reproductive justice will significantly increase their financial support of our work so that the State of Illinois and Personal PAC will be able to protect reproductive freedom against the formidable challenges in the coming decade. For all the women from other states around the country who need us to be here now more than ever and the next generation, we simply can’t do anything less!