WomenIn Legal Speaker Bios

Chief of the Juvenile Justice Bureau, Cook County State’s Attorney’s Office Maryam Ahmad is the Chief of the Juvenile Justice Bureau for the Cook County State’s Attorney’s Office. Maryam is a former Cook County Circuit Court Judge, former Cook County Assistant Public Defender, and former senior academic administrator for several universities. She has also served as the City of Chicago’s Sexual Harassment Officer. Maryam received her B.A. from Chatham College, her M.A. from Bucknell University, and her J.D. from DePaul University College of Law in 2000. Maryam began her professional career in higher education. She served as Assistant Director of Admissions at Bucknell University; Director of Minority Recruitment at Yale University; Assistant Dean of Multicultural Affairs and Affirmative Action at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, and Special Assistant to the President on Diversity at DePaul University. She is also a former Sexual Harassment Officer for the city of Chicago, conducting investigations and training for the City of Chicago’s workforce of over 36,000 employees (the third largest workforce in the City of Chicago) relating to sexual harassment, EEO/diversity and workplace violence. Maryam became a licensed attorney in 2000. She began her legal career as an associate attorney specializing in corporate, civil, Title VII, and intellectual property litigation. She transitioned to criminal law, representing Cook County’s indigent residents facing misdemeanor and felony charges at 26th and California. She subsequently switched to representing the interests of victims, becoming a Cook County Assistant State’s Attorney. As a prosecutor, Maryam initially represented Cook County’s child victims of abuse and neglect, then ultimately, became an adult criminal prosecutor for Cook County at Markham Courthouse and 26th and California. In 2014, the Illinois Supreme Court appointed Maryam Circuit Court Judge. She served on the bench until December 2016, hearing civil and criminal cases in the Circuit Court of Cook County. In February 2017, the Cook County State’s Attorney appointed Maryam to lead her Juvenile Justice Bureau where she oversees the State's Attorney's Child Protection and Juvenile Delinquency operations. Maryam is the current President of the Chicago Bar Association, one of the nation’s oldest and largest metropolitan bar associations with over 18,000 lawyers and judges as members.

Commissioner, Illinois Commerce Commission In 2017, Sadzi Martha Oliva was appointed to the Illinois Commerce Commission. She is the first Latina to serve as an ICC Commissioner in the State of Illinois. Commissioner Oliva is a member of the National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners (NARUC) and Chair of NARUC’s Select Committee on Regulatory and Industry Diversity. She serves on the Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI) Advisory Council, Financial Research Institute (FRI) Advisory Board, Gas Technology Institute (GTI) Public Interest Advisory Committee, National Utilities Diversity Council (NUDC) Board of Directors, and as Vice President for the Mid-America Regulatory Conference (MARC). She served as Illinois’ representative on the Organization of MISO (Midcontinent Independent System Operator) States (OMS) Board of Directors from 2018 to 2020.

Mary Catherine Marubio is a Judge in the Circuit Court of Cook County. She was appointed as an Associate Judge in 2016 and was recently elected as a Circuit Court Judge in 2020. Judge Marubio is assigned to the Pretrial Division at the Leighton Criminal Court and previously served in the Domestic Relations Division. Judge Marubio is the President of the Alliance of Illinois Judges whose mission is to promote and encourage respect and unbiased treatment for LGBTQ+ individuals as they relate to the judiciary, the legal profession and the administration of justice. Judge Marubio is a Board Member of the Illinois Judges Association, an organization of over 1200 active and retired Judges working to provide Illinois with a fair and independent judiciary. She also serves on the Illinois Judicial Ethics Committee, a collaborative effort with the IJA, ISBA and CBA to answer any state judge’s ethics questions, and publish written IJEC Ethics Opinions. Judge Marubio trains news judges in judicial ethics and is a frequent speaker on the importance of a diverse judiciary. She has co-produced two short films promoting the role of the LGBTQ+ community in the judiciary. Prior to her appointment she was an Administrative Law Judge and the Ethics Officer for the Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation (IDFPR). Just prior to that, she was a Bureau Prosecutions Chief at IDFPR where she prosecuted licensed professionals for violating professional standards and harming consumers. For 15 years, Ms. Marubio was in private practice concentrating in state and federal criminal defense. Judge Marubio received her B.A. and J.D. from DePaul University.

Dean and Professor of Law, Depaul University College of Law Now in her second term at DePaul and thirteenth year as a law dean, Jennifer Rosato Perea has served as dean of DePaul University College of Law since 2015. A nationally recognized leader in legal education, Dean Rosato Perea brings a wealth of experience to DePaul as an experienced administrator, a longtime advocate of student engagement and professionalism, and a respected legal scholar. One of only a small number of Latina law school deans in the nation, she has been recognized and honored for her commitment to diversity through her presentations on implicit bias, mentoring, and creation of innovative programs. Most recently, Dean Rosato Perea received the Aguila award, the highest honor bestowed by the Hispanic Lawyers Association of Illinois. She also has presented nationally and regionally on the future and challenges of legal education before a variety of organizations, including the Association of American Law Schools and the American Bar Association. Dean Rosato Perea is an accomplished scholar and expert on family law, bioethics and legal ethics, having published extensively on a variety of legal issues affecting children and families. Prior to joining DePaul, she served as dean of Northern Illinois University College of Law for six years.