Chicago's Women's History Month

Women’s History Month is dedicated to celebrating the often-overlooked achievements and contributions of women throughout history. The City of Chicago honors notable women who have pioneered a path of excellence in their given fields. Crafting this list was an impossible task, as many women have been trailblazers in their own right. Join us in recognizing them and celebrating their achievements.



Community Highlights

Avgeria Stapaki

Avgeria Stapaki
Executive Chef-Partner

Avgeria Stapaki is the Executive Chef of Nisos | Mediterranean. Through her personal interpretations of nature, art, fashion, and food, Avgeria Stepaki has forged a style of her own. Greece-born photographer turned Chef, she has absorbed her cultural heritage and that of her global travels and now follows her intuition as she draws on her inspiration from storytelling and experiences.

Stapaki has cooked in kitchens throughout the Mediterranean including Michelin-starred Hytra and created the menu for the renowned restaurant Principote Mykonos.

Cooking is in her DNA. Not only does she create colorful, bold dishes, but she evokes a sense of intimacy with every dish and every experience.  “Cooking for someone is an act of love, after all.”

 

Dr. Eugenia Cheng

Dr. Eugenia Cheng
Mathematician & Pianist

Dr. Eugenia Cheng is a mathematician and concert pianist. She is Scientist In Residence at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago and won tenure at the University of Sheffield, UK. She previously taught at the universities of Cambridge, Chicago and Nice and holds a PhD in pure mathematics from the University of Cambridge. Alongside her research in Category Theory and undergraduate teaching her aim is to rid the world of "math phobia". Eugenia was an early pioneer of math on YouTube and her videos have been viewed over 20 million times to date. She has also assisted with mathematics in elementary, middle and high schools for 20 years. Her first popular math book "How to Bake Pi" was featured on the Late Show with Stephen Colbert; "Beyond Infinity" was shortlisted for the Royal Society Science Book Prize 2017; she has also written two children's books, and her books have been translated into 17 languages. She writes the Everyday Math column for the Wall Street Journal, and has completed mathematical art commissions at Hotel EMC2, 6018 North, the Lubeznik Center, the Cultural Center, Chicago, and EXPO Chicago. She is also a composer, and has been commissioned by GRAMMY nominated soprano Laura Strickling, and in 2022-2023 is a composer for Lynx Project Amplify, which commissions songs setting poetry by primarily non-speaking autistic poets. Eugenia is the founder of the Liederstube, an intimate oasis for art song based in Chicago. Her next book "Is Math Real?" will be published in 2023.

eugeniacheng.com

Megan Jeyifo

Megan Jeyifo
Executive Director

Megan Jeyifo (she/her) is a mama who has had abortions and the Executive Director of the Chicago Abortion Fund (CAF). She is an expert in navigating onerous restrictions and barriers to abortion care across the country, informed by conversations with thousands of CAF callers and her own experiences obtaining care, and supports people with tenacity and softness.

Under her leadership CAF has grown more than tenfold: in size, staffing, budget, scope and impact. Practically, the CAF budget grew from $300K to $4.5 million, and from two to fifteen full-time staff. CAF now attempts to support over 800 callers each month. Megan has driven CAF’s commitment to comprehensive individualized case management and logistical support for CAF callers, as well as the establishment of WEsearch and Movement Building Departments. She has expanded the fund’s culture change strategies, and continued on CAF’s legacy of building the leadership of people who have had abortions through community support circles.

Megan is a We Testify storyteller and has spoken publicly about her experiences accessing abortion as a young person navigating parental consent laws and by plane. She has been quoted in outlets such as The New Yorker, Washington Post, PBS, Reuters, National Public Radio, The Nation, and the Chicago Tribune.

Sandra Delgado

Sandra Delgado
Writer, Actor, & Producer

Sandra Delgado is a Colombian-American writer, performer and producer born and raised in Chicago, hailed as “her own brand of triple threat” (New City Chicago). She writes plays inspired by underknown Chicago histories centering Latine lives. She is best known for her play with music, La Havana Madrid, which enjoyed sold-out runs at Steppenwolf and Goodman Theatre, and most recently in a co-production with Teatro Vista and Collaboraction. It was featured in the New York Times and CNN, received recognition as one of the best plays of 2017 by New City Chicago and Time Out Chicago, the Time-Out Audience Award for Best New Work, and the Alliance of Latinx Theatre Artists (ALTA) Award for Best Production. Her new play, The Boys and the Nuns is about the fight for the rights of LGBTQ people and women religious in 1980s Chicago Sandra is also a respected veteran of the stage, with a career spanning ove two decades. In addition to her work at artistic homes, Teatro Vista and Collaboraction, she has been seen on stages across Chicago including The Goodman Theatre, Lookingglass Theatre, Victory Gardens and About Face. Recent highlights include the titular role in La Havana Madrid, La Ruta at Steppenwolf and starring off-Broadway in the Public Theatre’s production of Oedipus el Rey as Jocasta. Sandra was recently named #11 in the Top 50 Players of Chicago Theatre by New City Chicago, is a 2021 United States Artists Fellow, serves on the board of the Chicago Public Library, served on the City of Chicago’s Cultural Advisory Council (2019-2021) and is a resident playwright at Chicago Dramatists. She is an Illinois Arts Council Fellow in Literature, a recipient of the 3Arts Award, the Joyce Award, The Theater Communications Group (TCG) Fox Foundation Resident Actor Fellowship in the Extraordinary Potential Category, a three-time Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs and Special Events grantee, a 3Arts 3AP Project Grantee, and received the 2017 Latina Professional of the Year Award from the Chicago Latino Network. Ms. Delgado is is one of the twenty women of Chicago arts and culture honored in Kerry James Marshall's mural Rushmore on the facade of the Chicago Cultural Center. Her audioplay, if you belong to me as I belong to you, is currently streaming on Audible as part of a collaboration with the Oscar-nominated film, Women Talking. www.sandradelgado.net