Iliana Mora became Advocate Condell Medical Center’s president on Nov. 3 after serving as executive vice president and COO of Sinai Health System in Chicago. Overseeing the entire operation, she knows precisely who she serves — the community.
Mora said her role as the chief executive at Condell goes beyond overseeing the operations of the 275-bed hospital, which is the largest healthcare provider in Lake County and its only Level I Trauma Center.
“I see my role as helping people and being a leader in my own community,” she said. “My job is empowering people to be the best they can be.”
Mora, Lori Suddick, Lorraine Hocker and Muriel Adams were honored as “Green Goddesses” for their contributions to the community during the Lake County Chamber of Commerce’s annual Women’s History Month event on Friday in Long Grove.
Suddick is the president of the College of Lake County; Adams is the CEO and executive director of One World Shared Future, an environmental organization focused on water resources; and Hocker is the CEO and executive director of the Lake County Housing Authority.
Shaunese Teamer, the executive director of the chamber, said the organization has long provided a platform for female business leaders to “connect, collaborate and engage around community development and leadership. Green Goddess recognition lauds their effort.
“Green represents many things,” Teamer, one of the many people at the event wearing green, said. “It stands for growth, wealth and spring.”
During the program, Teamer posed several questions to Mora about her career as a healthcare professional and how she achieved success. Mora said initially taking advise her father gave her and then modifying it helped her succeed as a woman in a heavily male-dominated world.
“He told me to get a good education, so I would be in a position ‘to tell your husband to go to hell.’ He also told me to take a serious tone,” Mora said. “‘If you don’t, the men will never take you seriously.’ I feel people need to be cared for and loved. I could be myself.”
Learning that 80% of the jobs in the healthcare field were held by women but they only held 20% of the leadership roles, Mora said she made it part of her mission to empower women to strive to be the best version of themselves they could.
“There is something wrong with that,” she said, referring to the employment-leadership ratio. “I tried to elevate as many women as I possibly could. I helped them become part of the program.”
After Adams received her award as a Green Goddess, Teamer beckoned her to remain near the podium for another presentation — a $1,200 check for her organization. The amount has a special significance for the group’s flagship program, A River Runs Through It.
Adams said A River Runs Through It is an effort to educate adults between the ages of 20 and 40 about the importance of fresh water in an urban environment like the “tri-cities” of Waukegan, North Chicago and Zion.
“It’s about water education,” Adams said. “It includes the impact of AI on fresh water. Water is scarce, and the cost of it is increasing. Some people call it blue gold. People who complete the (30-hour, five-week) program get a stipend of $600.”
Hocker came to head the Lake County Housing Authority in 2018 with years of experience helping individuals find affordable housing. She said the voucher system is now essentially utilized at approximately 97%.
“We’re trying to create more affordable housing units by selling our existing scattered-site stock and using it on new public housing,” Hocker said.
Suddick, the president of CLC since 2018, was not at the event. Ali O’Brien, the school’s vice president of community and workforce partnerships, accepted the award for Suddick. O’Brien said she is impressed by the “quiet, consistent ways she centers our students.”
“She has this incredible knack for making sure students aren’t just the subjects of our decisions, but active participants in our celebrations and progress,” O’Brien said. “To Lori, leadership is about staying rooted in that core purpose, and that’s the quality I appreciate most in her.”
Suddick said in an email Friday that serving the community is her daily purpose. In many ways, she said she likens the presidency to being a “mom” to the school, leading with heart to “ensure needs are met” and “providing the tools to learn.”
“By leaning into these strengths of mentorship and support, we have reached the highest student success outcomes in our history,” she said. “To me, that is the most powerful demonstration of what women-led leadership can achieve.”
