Beth Akeson is currently President-Elect of the Peoria Medical Society Alliance and serves on the boards of the River Valley Foundation and the Associate board of Lakeview Museum.
Previously she has served on the boards of Lakeview Museum, Peoria Symphony and Crittenton Center and has helped the George Washington Carver Center as a Development Cabinet member. As chair or co-chair of numerous fund raisers she helped raise thousands of dollars for local organizations such as: Lakeview Museum, Peoria Historical Society, Peoria Civic Opera, Peoria Zoological Society and the Junior League of Peoria.
When her children were young she served as a Hines School PTO president. She spearheaded an effort to raise the number of volunteers and increase parental involvement. She has been a volunteer at Washington Gifted Middle School, Peoria Academy and has given time and resources to the Peoria Notre Dame High School Golf Program.
Beth was appointed to the Heart of Peoria Commission by Mayor Dave Ransburg and re-appointed in by Mayor Jim Ardis. She was elected unanimously by her fellow commissioners to be the Vice-Chairperson. Working with city staff she played a leading role in the first major change to Peoria's zoning code since 1991 known as the Land Development Code with four Form Districts.
She was designated as the Commission's liaison to the Museum group to communicate the commission's design concerns. She wrote the Glen Oak School Position Paper which was officially presented to the Peoria City Council, District 150, the Peoria Park Board on behalf of the Heart of Peoria Commission. The information Beth delivered played a part in the decision to keep Glen Oak School at its current location.
The City Council voted to disband the Heart of Peoria Commission-a decision she felt was premature.
Beth has been married for 34 years to Jeff, an orthopaedic surgeon. They have lived Peoria since 1985 and have four children together: Tyler, 28; Eric, 25; Todd, 22 and Scott,19. They moved to Peoria from Seattle in 1985 after living one year in Toronto, Canada where Jeff did his orthopaedic fellowship training.
Before moving to Peoria, Beth had a career in the field of retail working as a Divisional Manager for Federated Department Stores and as a Merchandise Buyer for Frederick and Nelson, a division of Marshall Fields, now Macy's. She managed and was responsible for millions of dollars of company revenue and inventory.
In 1972 Beth went to Whitman College, a small liberal arts school in Walla Walla, Washington where she majored in political science and economics. In 1976 she enrolled in the University of Washington where she studied business and art history. Beth is a native Midwesterner growing up just outside Detroit and was born in Ann Arbor, Michigan.
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Paid for by Citizens for Beth Akeson
A copy of our report is (or will be) available for purchase from the State Board of Elections, Springfield, Illinois
Copyright 2009. Beth Akeson. All Rights Reserved.
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