SPRINGFIELD – Youth participation in Illinois elections would increase under legislation that State Sen. Mattie Hunter voted for on Thursday.

The Illinois Senate passed a measure to create automatic voter registration for Illinoisans.

"Increasing youth participation will allow a necessary voice to be heard in our political system,” said Hunter, a career advocate for youth rights. “Today, we’re moving Illinois forward by making it easier for residents, especially young people, to exercise their voice and their right to vote.”

CHICAGO - Local students and residents attended an alternative, educational career fair hosted by State Sen. Mattie Hunter on Tuesday at VanderCook College of Music.

Sen. Hunter's Alternative Pathways Career Fair offered creative and diverse occupational opportunities including the military, cosmetology, massage therapy and the performing arts.

"We’re helping connect Chicago students with non-traditional post high school opportunities, as they create their own unique path to adulthood,” Hunter said. “In addition to empowering interested teens with the many alternative routes outside of a traditional four-year college experience, we’re also giving recruiters access to Chicago’s brightest youth. Encouraging young people to map out their plans following high school, is crucial in this day and age.”

The event was open to high school teens, parents and adults seeking alternative educational career opportunities.

CHICAGO – Elected officials, community leaders and youth to discuss nearly 90 percent unemployment rate for minority youth during an Illinois State Senate hearing at 1 p.m. on Thursday, April 28 at the Bilandic Building in Chicago.

"Our youth are the hardest hit when communities suffer from unemployment," said State Sen. Mattie Hunter, who organized statewide hearings in 2014 to create youth jobs. "We live in a state where nearly 90 percent of our black and brown youth are unemployed. We cannot pretend our youth are going unharmed by our dissolved social net, or that the budget impasse isn't causing our state to fail our young people."

Roughly 89 percent of Black males aged 16-19 and 87 percent of Hispanic males were jobless in Chicago in 2014, according to a study by the University of Illinois Chicago's Great Cities Institute.

CHICAGO, IL - On Tuesday, April 26th, from 9:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m., Illinois State Senator Mattie Hunter (D-Chicago – 3rd District) will host a career fair at VanderCook College of Music, located at 3125 S. Federal Street, Chicago, IL 60616. This free event, which is open to the public, will include workshops and will feature over 30 representatives from vocational and trade schools. The event is the sequel to a successful November 2015 college fair that brought over 200 local Chicago students out.

“We’re helping connect Chicago students with non-traditional post high school opportunities, as they create their own unique path to adulthood. In addition to empowering interested teens with the many alternative routes outside of a traditional 4-year college experience, we’re also giving recruiters access to Chicago’s brightest youth. Encouraging young people to map out their plans following high school, is crucial in this day and age,” says Hunter.

The event is open to high school teens, parents and adults seeking alternative educational and career opportunities. The Alternative Schools Network and VanderCook College of Music are the co-sponsors of this career fair. Attendees are encouraged to bring resumes and prepare questions for the vocational and trade school recruiters.

Confirmed participants include the African American Contractors Association; Dudley Beauty College; Cain’s Barber College; The Illinois Institute of Art; Community Insurance Center, a division of Inner-City Underwriting Agency Inc.; City Colleges of Chicago; St. Paul Church of God in Christ Community Development Ministries, Inc.; Coldwell Banker Residential Services; U.S. Armed Forces; The Soma Institute; Illinois Media School; Cook County Sheriff’s Police Training Academy; Chicago Police Education and Training Academy; MABMA Enterprises LLC: Chicago Security Training Concepts and many more.

For more information or to register for the event, please email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it., visit www.SenatorHunter.com, or call the District Office of Senator Mattie Hunter at (312) 949-1908 or the Springfield Office at (217) 782-0970. This event is free and open to the public.