Fra Noi Embrace Your Inner Italian
The Joint Civic Committee of Italian Americans presented ABC7 Vice President and News Director Jennifer Graves with its prestigious Dante Award at its annual media luncheon. The honor is bestowed each year on a member of the media who lives up to Dante Alighieri’s call to be no timid friend to truth.
A member of the ABC7 team since 1992 and its news director since 2001, Graves has earned numerous journalism awards. She has been a major contributor to the station’s cutting-edge technological advances, including the recent installation of ABC7’s state-of-the art news set; an all-digital newsroom; high-definition news; and the development of the historic broadcast facility, the State Street Studio.
Lissa Druss Christman of Serafin & Associates will receive the third annual Filippo Mazzei Award at the luncheon. Named after the Revolutionary War patriot who inspired the phrase “all men are created equal,” the award is presented to a person who shows extraordinary skills in the world of public affairs.
A regular contributor on Chicago television and radio stations, Christman spent 21 years in broadcasting as a nine-time Emmy award-winning news and sports television producer. She ended her television career as the executive producer at Comcast SportsNet Chicago, winning the 2009 Chicago Journalism Award in Sports.
