Concerned Parents of Illinois hosted an invitation-only political gathering May 6 in downtown Glen Ellyn, drawing about 100 women as part of the organization’s effort to expand conservative organizing networks in Chicago-area suburbs.
Attendance at the event was limited through direct text-message invitations.
Concerned Parents of Illinois founder Kristina McCloy opened the event by describing the selection process for attendees.
“You are all hand-picked,” she said. “You all have consistently conservative voting records or you were invited by someone who has a consistently (conservative) voting record.”
McCloy also said organizers reviewed participants’ social media activity before extending invitations.
“We told a lot of people no,” she said. “So this is a really great conservative, trustworthy group here.”
The event comes as Concerned Parents of Illinois expands recruitment and fundraising efforts while building conservative organizing networks throughout Chicago-area suburbs.
McCloy’s remarks focused on local political and cultural issues in Glen Ellyn, including school board controversies, housing policy and community change.
“There are LGBTQ flags all over this entire town,” McCloy said.
She also referenced a July 5, 2025, incident at Glen Ellyn Sunset Pool involving a large gathering of teens and young adults that resulted in reports of illegal fireworks, underage drinking, drug use, disorderly conduct and an alleged assault of the pool manager. Police from multiple jurisdictions responded and one person was arrested.
“You guys had a teen takeover that was absolutely out of control, and you have all these moms making excuses for it,’ she said. “That’s crazy, that shouldn’t be happening in a town like that.”
McCloy also referenced Glen Ellyn pizzeria owner Joe Smith of Pie Life Pizzeria, who faced backlash last fall after posting political statements on social media.
“Then you have some guy that was running a little Democrat Party out of his pizza place here saying that he’s glad Charlie Kirk died and we are a bunch of Nazis,” she said. “Well, guess what? I reported on that and I decided to text message every Republican and everyone from this town to let them know that happened.”
Smith’s posts prompted calls for a boycott from some community members.
McCloy also discussed Glen Ellyn School District 41 Board President Robert Bruno, who drew criticism in February after sending an email to parents regarding an eighth-grade student and his father being held by ICE after entering the United States and having their asylum case denied.
“I don’t know if you guys saw that email. A school board president of the elementary school flew down to Texas. I’m sure we can look into that on your tax dollar as political theater,” McCloy said. “This illegal alien child that (Bruno) said was a ‘fabric of the community’ I think he said that quote, was in your school for about three months or so. He was taking resources from your kid.”
At the time, critics of Bruno’s message argued it was political and inappropriate for a school leader.
McCloy said the presence of immigrant students in local schools and efforts to support them affected district resources.
“(The student) and his family walked across this border illegally from Mexico to the United States, and were here in Glen Ellyn,” McCloy said. “And do you know how many moms I talk to that are so upset, especially moms who have children with disabilities? Because those kids that don’t speak English, they can’t write, they can’t read, they can’t do any of that, so they’re in special ed. So it’s taking limited resources, our hard-earned tax money, to go to those kids and not ours, and the most vulnerable of our kids, right?”
McCloy then shifted to local housing policy, warning of subsidized housing developments in Glen Ellyn.
“Then worse, you have Section 8 housing coming here,” she said. “I don’t know if you guys know that. You have Section 8 housing. Does anyone know what it entails? It’s a death spiral. So now you’re going to have people coming in from the city, you’re going to have illegal aliens here, and they don’t even really background check if they have criminal backgrounds.”
In January, the DuPage County Board approved a proposal allocating $1.75 million in federal HUD HOME funds toward a 42-unit subsidized housing development in Glen Ellyn as part of a larger $21.9 million project supported by tax credits and housing authority vouchers.
At the time, McCloy criticized the decision and questioned the project’s long-term impact on the community.
“Every single person on your village board voted for that,” McCloy said. “And then to make matters worse, it went to your county board. Every single county board member voted to fund that. Every Republican voted to fund that. That is unacceptable. So now, Glen Ellyn, because of your Republicans and your uniparty and your village board and the DuPage County Board, you have Section 8 housing now coming to your town.”
McCloy encouraged attendees to become more politically active locally.
“It’s time that you stand up and you take back your town,” McCloy said.
Speakers at the event encouraged attendees to become more politically active through school board participation, grassroots organizing and neighborhood-level outreach, arguing that many suburban residents privately share conservative beliefs but are reluctant to publicly engage politically.
Chelsie Leffelman, executive director of The Citizen Farmers, attended the event with her daughter who she brought to the front of the room as she delivered her comments.
“I have the world’s most adorable five-year-old holding my hand and I would be lying if I didn’t say that this is the reason why I am the executive director of the Citizen Farmers,” she said.
Chelsie Leffelman, with her 5-year-old daughter, speaks at a May 6 Concerned Parents of Illinois event in Glen Ellyn. (Kristina McCloy)
Leffelman said the organization focuses on voter mobilization and local organizing.
“We are a community of conservative people and we recognize that our state is on the wrong path,” Leffelman said. “Not just our state, but our entire republic. And it’s a republic, it’s not a democracy. We recognize that if we are going to start winning elections, if we’re going to start turning the tide, we have to take the Democrat playbook and turn it against them.”
She emphasized a strategy centered on local relationships and voter turnout.
“It’s not campaigns that are going to change the habit of voting,” Leffelman said. “It’s neighbors talking to neighbors. It’s people getting people re-engaged in the civic process.”
Leffelman also discussed the organization’s goals in DuPage County.
“There’s over 80,000 unreliable conservative voters in DuPage County, 80,000,” she said. “If we get a portion of those people to turn out to vote, suddenly your county is back to being red.”
Organizers promoted a strategy focused on increasing political participation among suburban mothers in DuPage County and neighboring collar counties.
Local participant Stacy Creswell also addressed attendees and encouraged civic involvement.
“There are 7,000 consistently conservative voters in Glen Ellyn,” she said. “What I want to do is I want to try to engage them, and I want to try and engage them just through you guys.”
Creswell encouraged attendees to participate in school board meetings and local elections.
“If you want to run for office, I want to help you,” she said.
Attendees were also encouraged to identify and mobilize politically aligned neighbors.
“If you just want to consistently show up, that’s all we’re asking,” Creswell said.
Stacy Creswell speaks at a May 6 Concerned Parents of Illinois event in Glen Ellyn. (Kristina McCloy)
The May 6 gathering is part of a broader series of events hosted by Concerned Parents of Illinois.
The organization previously hosted a January gala featuring conservative speaker Riley Gaines, who spoke about women’s sports, transgender participation policies and parental involvement in education, along with representatives from Judicial Watch.
