Lisa Stone

Throughout her life, Lisa Stone has championed a number of human rights issues, often in the face of social stigma, attempts from others to silence her, and flat-out attacks on her character. One issue in particular that she cares deeply about is preventing heroin abuse. After witnessing a family member’s life derail while they were in the throes of heroin addiction, Lisa realized how dangerous the drug truly is.

Decades after her family member’s life was destroyed by heroin, Lisa became aware that the opioid crisis was hitting her community and that people, including the young adults of the community, were using powdered heroin. Lisa was asked to run for local political office at the end of 2008 by then Lake County Commissioner David Stolman and she accepted the bid to run with a specific goal in mind: to use her platform as effectively as possible in addressing the opioid epidemic and advocating for heroin reform and awareness.

While serving on the Buffalo Grove Board of Trustees from 2009-10, Lisa Stone worked to raise awareness of heroin abuse. At that time there was some opposition to discussing heroin abuse in public. However, true change can never occur unless we open up a dialogue about the issue at hand — and this is exactly what Lisa did. She considers herself a pioneer since she brought heroin specific drug forums to the Buffalo Grove community.

Although Lisa no longer serves in public office, she still supports raising awareness of the opioid epidemic. She talks with friends, family members, and community members about the issue. While Lisa is not directly involved in any local or national heroin abuse organizations, she is supportive of any organization that works to help those addicted to heroin.

There are many other issues that Lisa Stone cares about. In particular, she supports increased government transparency and safe water. Lisa learned a lot about the importance of transparency while serving in public office. Transparency ensures that human nature won’t undermine democratic society. Plus, it ensures that elected officials are held responsible for their actions. Unfortunately, Lisa found that transparency is often lacking in government. Therefore, it’s up to citizens to remain aware of their leaders and demand transparency.

Lisa Stone helped create the Lake County-Vernon Township Coalition for Safe Drinking Water in 2010. While serving as a Trustee, Lisa learned about noxious fumes related to water from a community member. As a member of the coalition, Lisa spoke out about water conditions in her community and encouraged public officials to act. She repeatedly faced criticism and opposition from her local government, who put more effort into covering their own tracks and trying to discredit Lisa than they did into improving the local water supply. This corruption ultimately led to Lisa’s recall from the Board, but she is still highly passionate about bringing this issue to light and helping to empower and enlighten locals.

When it comes to making a positive impact on society, Lisa believes that working with others and contacting your elected leaders are two of the most important steps to achieving success. It’s difficult to make change happen as an individual, but when like-minded individuals band together they can achieve change and make the world a better place.

Outside of her work as a Human Rights Activist, Lisa enjoys doing yoga, cooking, and spending time with her family.