About
KARINA VILLA
Born and raised in West Chicago, Illinois, Senator Karina Villa is a lifelong resident of Illinois’ 25th district. Elected to the Senate on November 6th, 2020, Senator Villa is the first Latina to represent her district. She uses her strong ties to family and love for her community to advocate on behalf of children and families in Springfield.
STRONG COMMITMENT TO FAMILY
Earning her master’s degree in social work from Aurora University, Karina pledged a lifelong commitment to helping children in need. As a result, she became a school social worker, working in the West Chicago and Villa Park school systems. Growing up as a child of immigrant parents, Karina grew up with a strong commitment to family. Her family has been small business owners within the community for many decades, leaving a strong impact not only on herself, but within the community as well. Their family grocery store opened doors for members within the community, assisting people with advice and job referrals. Working at her family’s store gave her insight that social responsibility and hard work are essential to any undertaking.
As an active participant within the community, Senator Villa served as the Vice President of the West Chicago District 33 Board of Education, where she worked to maintain a balanced budget for the school district, while negotiating equitable teacher contracts and providing increased services to students. When Karina was elected to the Illinois House of Representatives in 2018 she used her social work background, leadership, and life experience to ensure effective representation in the 49th District.
As an elected official, Karina has tackled many issues that have impacted her district, in order to better serve her constituents. This includes fighting for manufacturing employee rights during the height of the COVID pandemic, championing increased access to mental health services, and ensuring quality of care is improved for our senior community. Senator Villa currently serves as Chair of the Public Health committee, and is on the Agriculture, Appropriations, Behavioral and Mental Health, Special Committee on Pensions, Human Rights, and Health and Human Services Committees.
HER DOOR IS ALWAYS OPEN
With Karina’s social work background, she wants to ensure that everyone knows that they can contact her office, which is why her office has an open door policy and her staff is readily available to assist you with any concerns, thoughts, or resources you may need. In partnership with Representative Hirschauer, Senator Villa has advisory committees, which are made up of constituents and experts within the field to provide insight and concerns regarding the community. The four advisory committee hearings include: Education, Environment, Mental Health and Seniors. If you are interested in joining, you can email or call Senator Villa’s Office.
