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Amy Rueff

Amy Rueff

Amy Rueff lives in Decatur and is a community activist. She grew up in Wapella, Illinois as the youngest of 19 children and has worked her entire career as a union member.

Amy is the Resource Director for the Illinois AFL-CIO where she has worked since 2004. This job allows her the opportunity to work with unions representing nearly 900,000 members throughout the state of Illinois. Her duties include development of educational trainings, seminars and conferences for the state organization as well as involvement in mobilizing around community and political campaigns. She works closely with the 22 central labor councils and 20 building and construction trades councils in Illinois. She is 35-year union member.

Prior to her employment at the Illinois AFL-CIO, Amy began her career in 1986 working for Illinois Power at the Clinton Nuclear Power Station where she worked as a Word Processor Operator and Administrative Clerk. She was a member of IBEW Local 1306 and served as chief steward, unit 

recorder, vice president, executive board member and was the youngest President ever elected at the age of 28. In 1996, she was selected to serve as the AFL-CIO Community Services Liaison with United Way and Decatur Trades & Labor Assembly promoting union involvement in philanthropy and volunteerism. She continues to serve as an officer of Decatur Trades & Labor Assembly and coordinates activities such as Workers Memorial Day, NALC Food Drive, Labor Day activities and various fundraisers. She is currently a member of Laborers Local 362.

She attended Parkland College, Richland College and the National Labor Academy focusing on Labor Studies and recently graduated from the Illinois Women’s Institute for Leadership (IWIL) Training Academy in 2018.

Notable recognition includes serving as Grand Marshal in the Decatur Labor Day parade; Decatur’s Top 50 Leaders by the Herald & Review in 1999; YWCA’s Woman of Excellence Labor Award in 2000 and Labor’s Lifetime Achievement Award in 2004. She co-founded and chairs the Michael E. Shampine Memorial Scholarship and We Are One Community, a charitable giving organization for working families in Macon County. She is also an elected official, finishing her second term as Decatur Township Trustee.

Ms. Rueff works in Springfield and lives in Decatur with her husband, Rick. She has two sons, three step-daughters and twelve grandchildren.

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