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Karen Lewis Loved the Children: How I realized my daughter's power

Bud Billiken parade 2015, Zora with Karen Lewis and Brandon Johnson.

As a CTU field rep, I once roused the ire of CTU President Karen Lewis. She questioned my tactics against an abusive principal. I knew I messed up and was waiting to be summoned to her office. The phone rang and it was her assistant.


"Joey, President Lewis would like to see you in her office now." My heart immediately palpitated with tension. My mind raced as I walked that long corridor lined with framed student art work. Maybe this was it, maybe I was going to be fired.


Karen started with a compliment, “I appreciate your passion for justice. This principal is a real problem, I know all about her.”


"OK," I said to myself, "this is going better than I thought it would."


Then she laid into me, “This is real f*cked up Joey. I mean you were out of line. What the hell were you thinking?”


I wasn’t sure if she actually wanted a response or if this was a rhetorical question. My strategy was to say as little as possible and let her air out her anger towards me. Apparently, after pausing for 5 seconds she wanted me to respond.


“I’m waiting Joey.”


“Karen, there’s not much I can say to justify my actions. We had a member who publicly outed another member on an all school email. She told her,

'If you actually cared about children, you would do your job instead of running to the union every time you're asked to do something.'

I was so offended by this I pulled my car over and wrote an email. I regret sending that email, I was wrong and I apologize for my actions. In retrospect I should have cooled down and waited.”


“Hell yeah you were wrong…” After a few more minutes of chastising, she ended with, “Don’t be mad at me, I am not the bad guy here. I’m being very understanding with you. You need to write an apology to that member, and tell the school I will be coming out next week for a union meeting. We need to make this right, and we need to send that principal a message.”


“Ok Karen, no problem.”


“And the next time your children are in this office,” Wait, now she has an issue with my children? “You better bring them to see me.”


The compliment sandwich/burger.

This was the beauty of Karen’s leadership. She could build you up, hold you accountable and still see your humanity. She was the epitome of the compliment sandwich. It was hard to stay mad at her, especially when she forgave others so easily.


The next time my daughter came to the office, within ten minutes I got a call from Karen’s office. I knew why she called and answered, “I’m on my way now Karen.”


Zora was always welcomed at CTU Offices.

When we got there Karen had a bowl of candy offerings and asked, “What does your father have planned for you Zora?”

“We’re going to Navy Pier, but we have to walk (2 miles). My daddy says it’s too expensive to park.” Ah, the things kids say!

“Tell your dad to stop being so cheap, he gets paid very well. Come on over here.” Then she pulled $20 from her purse. “Take this and tell your father to drive you to Navy Pier.” She kissed Zora on the cheek and Karen was now her hero.



Karen’s humility, kindness and grace set her apart from most leaders. She was willing to speak with anyone and could converse about anything. There's been many times over the last few years I wish she was still with us. She had a way of rising above and keeping the dialogue dignified and respectful. She was a once in a generation leader.


I also learned that anytime I got on Karen's bad side to interject Zora into the conversation. Karen's soft side truly emerged when the topic was children. My daughter was a powerful person in that manner and she helped the quality of my work life.

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