Colleen Callahan Burns is an

agribusiness Agribusiness is the industry, enterprises, and the field of study of value chains in agriculture and in the bio-economy, in which case it is also called bio-business or bio-enterprise. The primary goal of agribusiness is to maximize profit ...

news reporter A journalist is a person who gathers information in the form of text, audio or pictures, processes it into a newsworthy form and disseminates it to the public. This is called journalism. Roles Journalists can work in broadcast, print, advertis ...

and Director of the

Illinois Department of Natural Resources The Illinois Department of Natural Resources (IDNR) is the code department of the Illinois state government that operates the state parks and state recreation areas, enforces the fishing and game laws of Illinois, regulates Illinois coal mines ...

. She was the Democratic nominee for

Illinois's 18th congressional district The 18th congressional district of Illinois covered central and western Illinois, including all of Jacksonville, Illinois, Jacksonville and Quincy, Illinois, Quincy and parts of Bloomington, Illinois, Bloomington, Peoria, Illinois, Peoria, and ...

in 2008.

Family

Callahan grew up on a farm near

Milford, Illinois Milford is a village in Milford Township, Iroquois County, Illinois, United States. The population was 1,158 at the 2020 census. The village's name comes from its location, where the Old Hubbard Trail forded Sugar Creek and where a gristmill st ...

and graduated as

salutatorian Salutatorian is an academic title given in Armenia, the Philippines, Canada, Afghanistan and the United States to the second-highest-ranked graduate of the entire graduating class of a specific discipline. Only the valedictorian is ranked higher. ...

from Milford Township High School in May 1969. Her family has long been active in politics in

downstate Illinois Downstate Illinois refers to the part of the U.S. state of Illinois south or outside of the Chicago metropolitan area, which is in the northeast corner of the state and has been dominant in state history, politics, and culture. Downstate Illinoi ...

. Her father, Francis Callahan, was chair of the Iroquois County Democrats. Her grandfather, Joseph R. Callahan, was in the

Illinois House of Representatives The Illinois House of Representatives is the lower house of the Illinois General Assembly. The body was created by the first Illinois Constitution adopted in 1818. The House under the constitution as amended in 1980 consists of 118 representativ ...

. Her uncle, Gene Callahan, was the administrative assistant and

press secretary A press secretary or press officer is a senior advisor who provides advice on how to deal with the news media and, using news management techniques, helps their employer to maintain a positive public image and avoid negative media coverage. Dutie ...

for

Lieutenant Governor A lieutenant governor, lieutenant-governor, or vice governor is a high officer of state, whose precise role and rank vary by jurisdiction. Often a lieutenant governor is the deputy, or lieutenant, to or ranked under a governor — a "second-in-comm ...

Paul Simon Paul Frederic Simon (born October 13, 1941) is an American singer-songwriter known for his solo work and his collaborations with Art Garfunkel. He and Garfunkel, whom he met in elementary school in 1953, came to prominence in the 1960s as Sim ...

(before Simon became a

United States senator The United States Senate consists of 100 members, two from each of the 50 U.S. state, states. This list includes all senators serving in the 119th United States Congress. Party affiliation Independent Senators Angus King of Maine and Berni ...

) and

chief of staff The title chief of staff (or head of staff) identifies the leader of a complex organization such as the armed forces, institution, or body of persons and it also may identify a principal staff officer (PSO), who is the coordinator of the supportin ...

for U.S. Senator Alan Dixon; his daughter, Cheri Bustos was the U.S. representative for the neighboring Illinois's 17th congressional district until 2023. Callahan and her husband Dick Burns live on a farm near Kickapoo, Illinois, between

Brimfield, Illinois Brimfield (formerly Charleston) is a village in Peoria County, Illinois, United States. The population was 868 at the 2010 census. Brimfield is part of the Peoria, Illinois Metropolitan Statistical Area. Geography Brimfield is located at (4 ...

and Peoria, where they raise

purebred Purebreds are cultivars of an animal species achieved through the process of selective breeding. When the lineage of a purebred animal is recorded, that animal is said to be pedigreed. Purebreds breed true-to-type, which means the progeny of l ...

Angus Angus may refer to: *Angus, Scotland, a council area of Scotland, and formerly a province, sheriffdom, county and district of Scotland * Angus, Canada, a community in Essa, Ontario Animals * Angus cattle, various breeds of beef cattle Media * ...

cattle. They have a grown daughter who became a practicing attorney in

Chicago Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

Career

After graduating from the

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign The University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (UIUC, U of I, Illinois, or University of Illinois) is a public land-grant research university in the Champaign–Urbana metropolitan area, Illinois, United States. Established in 1867, it is the f ...

in 1973, she moved to Peoria to work for

WMBD (AM) WMBD (1470 hertz, kHz) is a commercial radio, commercial radio station, the oldest in Peoria, Illinois. It broadcasts a talk radio, news/talk radio format, format and is owned by Duke Wright with the license held by Midwest Communications, Inc ...

until 2005. She was agribusiness reporter for

WMBD-TV WMBD-TV (channel 31) is a television station in Peoria, Illinois, United States, affiliated with CBS. It is owned by Nexstar Media Group, which provides certain services to Bloomington-licensed Fox affiliate WYZZ-TV (channel 43) under a local ...

and

WCIA WCIA (channel 3) is a television station licensed to Champaign, Illinois, United States, serving as the CBS affiliate for the Central Illinois region. It is owned by Nexstar Media Group alongside Springfield, Illinois, Springfield-licensed My ...

from 1974 to 1997. In 2003, she went on a study trip to

Afghanistan Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. It is bordered by Pakistan to the Durand Line, east and south, Iran to the Afghanistan–Iran borde ...

and

Iraq Iraq, officially the Republic of Iraq, is a country in West Asia. It is bordered by Saudi Arabia to Iraq–Saudi Arabia border, the south, Turkey to Iraq–Turkey border, the north, Iran to Iran–Iraq border, the east, the Persian Gulf and ...

, paid for at her own expense, at the invitation of the U.S. Secretary of Agriculture. She started her own business, Colleen Callahan Communications, in 2003. At the beginning of 2003, she changed employers from WMBD in Peoria to WGFA in

Watseka, Illinois Watseka is a city in and the county seat of Iroquois County, Illinois, Iroquois County, Illinois, United States. It is located approximately west of the Illinois-Indiana state line on U.S. Route 24. The population of Watseka was 4,679 as of th ...

; she has been agribusiness director at both stations. In 2008, she ran for U.S. Representative for

, a seat open by the retirement of

Ray LaHood Raymond H. LaHood ( ; born December 6, 1945) is an American politician who served as the 16th United States Secretary of Transportation from 2009 to 2013 under President Barack Obama. A member of the Republican Party, he previously served in the ...

. She won the Democratic nomination, but lost the November 4 general election to Republican

Aaron Schock Aaron Jon Schock (born May 28, 1981) is a former American politician who was Republican Party (United States), Republican United States House of Representatives, U.S. Representative for from 2009 until 2015. The district is based in Peoria, Illi ...

, 59% to 38%, with 3% going to Sheldon Schafer. On 13 June 2009, Callahan began work as

United States Department of Agriculture The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) is an executive department of the United States federal government that aims to meet the needs of commercial farming and livestock food production, promotes agricultural trade and producti ...

Illinois State Director of

Rural Development Rural development is the process of improving the quality of life, quality of life and economic well-being of people living in rural areas, often relatively isolated and sparsely populated areas. Often, rural regions have experienced rural povert ...

. In 2017, Colleen Callahan was named by

J. B. Pritzker Jay Robert Pritzker (born January 19, 1965) is an American businessman and politician serving since 2019 as the 43rd governor of Illinois. A member of the wealthy Pritzker family that owns the Hyatt hotel chain, Pritzker has started several vent ...

the co-chair of the latter's Agriculture Transition Committee. Once Pritzker had become governor, Callahan became Director of the

on March 1, 2019. Callahan stepped down as department director on January 16, 2023, and was succeeded by former state legislator and IDNR's deputy director Natalie Phelps Finnie.

Civic participation

Callahan has served on the boards of many local organizations, including: * Peoria

YWCA The Young Women's Christian Association (YWCA) is a nonprofit organization with a focus on empowerment, leadership, and rights of women, young women, and girls in more than 100 countries. The World office is currently based in Geneva, Swit ...

Nature Conservancy The Nature Conservancy (TNC) is a global environmental organization headquartered in Arlington, Virginia, United States. it works via affiliates or branches in 79 countries and territories, as well as across every state in the US. Founded in ...

Great Rivers Regional Board * Youth for a Cause * The Children's Home in Peoria * University of Illinois ACES Alumni Association (President) * Morton Community Bank She has also served as a member of the St. Francis Medical Center Women's Health Services Public Relations Committee, and is a member of the

National Association of Women Business Owners The National Association of Women Business Owners (NAWBO) is an organization in the United States founded in 1975 that has the purpose of networking the approximately 10.6 million women-owned businesses so as to provide mutual support, share resou ...

. She has been heavily involved in the National Association of Farm Broadcasters (NAFB), was its first female president, and was chairman of the NAFB Ethics Committee. She has also been active in local

Catholic school Catholic schools are Parochial school, parochial pre-primary, primary and secondary educational institutions administered in association with the Catholic Church. , the Catholic Church operates the world's largest parochial schools, religious, no ...

s, serving on the education board at St. Mary's grade school in Kickapoo and assisting Peoria Notre Dame High School.

References

External links

Colleen Callahan Consultancy
— official website * — official 2008 campaign website *
Colleen Callahan's blog
from 2008 political campaign *
Colleen Callahan 08
on

YouTube YouTube is an American social media and online video sharing platform owned by Google. YouTube was founded on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim who were three former employees of PayPal. Headquartered in ...

*
Campaign contributions
at OpenSecrets.org {{DEFAULTSORT:Callahan, Colleen Year of birth missing (living people) Living people American motivational speakers American women motivational speakers American radio reporters and correspondents American television reporters and correspondents American women television journalists Candidates in the 2008 United States elections Catholics from Illinois Farmers from Illinois Illinois Democrats Journalists from Illinois Natural resources ministers People from Milford, Illinois People from Peoria County, Illinois Radio personalities from Illinois School board members in Illinois United States Department of Agriculture officials University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign alumni Women in Illinois politics American women radio journalists 21st-century American women

Family

Career

Civic participation

See also

References

External links