Leadership
About IFT


Karen GJ Lewis

Executive Vice President
Karen GJ Lewis was elected by acclamation to a three-year term as Executive Vice President of the 103,000-member Illinois Federation of Teachers at the union’s 2010 Convention. Lewis also serves as president of the 30,000-member Chicago Teachers Union, Local 1.

Lewis is a veteran educator who taught high school chemistry in the Chicago Public Schools for 22 years. She has been a member of the Chicago Teachers Union (CTU) and IFT since 1987. At the CTU, she previously served as a member of the House of Delegates and a high school functional vice president.

At the American Federation of Teachers (AFT) 2010 Convention, Lewis was elected vice president on the AFT Executive Council. She also sits as a member of the AFT Human Rights and Community Relations Committee.

She is a former member of the Illinois State Certification Board and herself earned prestigious certification as an outstanding educator from the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards in 2002.

Lewis grew up in a family of educators -- her father, mother and husband were all members of Local 1 and teachers in the Chicago Public Schools.