Sara Knizhnik

SPEAKER | LEAGUE OF WOMEN VOTERS OF ILLINOIS, ISSUES BRIEFING 2023

Sara Knizhnik holds a BA from Northwestern University and an MA from the Middlebury Institute of International Studies at Monterey. She served as a university-level, English-as-a-Second-Language Instructor at various universities in the Chicago area for 17 years before becoming a professional gun violence prevention (GVP) and criminal justice reform advocate.

She has served in recent years as the Organizer of the Illinois Gun Violence Prevention Coalition and then as Director of Community Engagement for Newtown Action Alliance (NAA), a national gun violence prevention GVP organization founded in the wake of the Sandy Hook tragedy. She also served as the Director of Constituent Affairs for State Representative Bob Morgan (IL-58).

Sara is currently Chair of the Gun Violence Prevention Initiative at the Lake County (IL) State’s Attorney’s Office. In November 2022, she was elected to the Lake County Board and represents District 18, which includes Vernon Hills, Buffalo Grove, Hawthorn Woods, Kildeer, Long Grove and Lake Zurich.

Sara believes passionately in local government and in the power of grassroots activists to build a better America. Sara lives in Vernon Hills, Illinois with her husband and two children.