Vote Our Water, Our Future

Government & Civic Engagement

• Has ten years of public service in municipal government.

• Currently serving three terms of public service as the Clerk for the Village of Hanover Park; practicing good governance, transparency, and active community engagement of diverse residents and businesses.

• As a three term elected board member, her leadership has strengthened Hanover Park’s legacy in environmentalism.

• She spearheaded Hanover Park’s Arbor Day program and the Tree City USA certification and ensured that the investment in sustaining a biodiverse urban forest is reflected in our municipal budget.

• Has experience in regional leadership throughout Cook County.

• As an appointed member of the Illinois Census Commission she has engaged with Hard To Count (HTC) Communities throughout the region in promoting Census participation and equitable distribution of resources to historically disenfranchised communities.

• Has served in regional municipal government organizations: Chicago Metropolitan Agency for Planning (CMAP) Human Relations Committee, Metropolitan Mayors Conference (MMC) Diversity Taskforce, and the Northwest Municipal Conference.

• Worked with organizations and participated in influencing legislative policies, researched best practices throughout the region, policy and lobbied Springfield on regional interests.

Environmental Equity

• Collaborated with the Hanover Park Public Works Forester to develop presentations to student environmental clubs, school wide assemblies, and spring plantings.

• Distributed saplings and tree planting education through the 4th Grade Foresters.

• Created kid friendly awareness campaigns regarding the Emerald Ash Borer and the importance of a biodiverse urban forest.

• Worked with ESL students in Hanover Park in rendering nature poems, honoring Nezahualcoyotl, Aztec poet of nature and the king of Texcoco and the most influential intellectual in a period of extraordinary cultural development.

• Collaborated with the Indian Consulate of Chicago to honor former Prime Minister A.P.J. Abdul Kalam for his effort to engage youth in protecting the environment.

• Worked with the Hanover Park Sister City of Cape Coast Ghana Africa and the United Nations Environment Program’s Billion Tree Campaign and honor Wangari Maathai was the founder of the Green Belt Movement and the 2004 Nobel Peace Prize Laureate.

Environmental Justice

Supported Hanover Park’s environmental leadership as a municipal government official by being an advocate and supporter of the following programs:

• The use of Video Gaming revenue to develop recreational land use in open spaces owned by MWRD and leased by Hanover Park.
• The nation’s first Community Apiary established in 2011, winner of a Hometown Governor’s Award.
• The Annual Hanover Park Recycling Event, winner of a Hometown Governor’s Award.
• Village of Hanover Park’s Gold designation in the SolSmart program.
• Hanover Park’s Resolution to endorse the Metropolitan Mayors Caucus’ Greenest Region Compact 2 on April 21, 2016.
• Year-round program to recycle household batteries and compact fluorescent light bulbs.
• Hanover Park’s Annual Drain Stenciling Day and the Annual River Clean-Up Day.
• The installation of a permanent pharmaceutical disposal box in the Hanover Park Police Department.

Personal Background

I am from a working-class immigrant family who have become entrepreneurs fulfilling the promise of the American Dream through perseverance, strong work ethic, dedication, and pride. I owe my commitment to serve my community with integrity and excellence to them.

I am named after my grandmother: Abuelita Eira. I am the daughter of Martha and Everardo Corral, who immigrated from Mexico in the ’80s. Our family first lived in the Pilsen neighborhood in Chicago and then moved to the Northwest Suburbs: Streamwood, Elgin and have called Hanover Park home for 28 years. 

I am married to Roberto “Bobby” Sepúlveda and I am the mother of a District 211 high school freshman son & a three-year-old daughter. Civic engagement is a family value for us and we actively engage all of our family members, even the littles ones. Our children have been registering voters since they were in the womb, walking petitions as babies, and riding bikes and strollers door to door. Our family motto is, “Mi Familia Vota, Our Family Votes!”

I know that black and brown neighborhoods are impacted by flooding in the region the most. And like many Cook County residents, I know what it is like to stand in my basement flooded in 2 feet of water after a bad storm. Being from a working-class immigrant family I understand the burdens navigating the insurance claim process and the unexpected financial and emotional costs that come with home floods.

To address the challenges of climate change I support a greater investment from MWRD in Green Infrastructure projects that engage our local neighborhoods. Furthermore, we need to ensure that projects prioritize equity across the region. As an MWRD Commissioner, I will promote public engagement to expand MWRD’s Pharmaceutical Takeback program.

Knowledge is Power

After graduating from Driscoll College Prep High School, I was accepted to DePaul University as a Steans Center Scholar. I was an engaged student leader in multiple campus organizations and volunteerism with Cristo Rey, Rainbow Push Coalition, Centro de Información, Latinos Progresando, ICIRR the Illinois Coalition for Immigrant and Refugee Rights, McCormick Scholars with the University of Chicago, and the United States Hispanic Leadership Organization.

My greatest leadership role was becoming a mom to a little boy in my sophomore year of college. As a single mom, I committed to finishing my college education in four years and providing for my son by working full time and being a full-time student.

I graduated with High Honors from DePaul University in 2007 and received a Bachelor’s Degree with a double major in Latino and Latin American Studies and Political Science and a double minor in Community Service Studies and Commercial Spanish.