CISCO’s Executive Director Celebrated for a Career of Building Bridges — and Communities
October 20, 2025
BURR RIDGE – The Italian American Labor Council (IALC) of Greater Chicago honored Construction Industry Service Corporation’s (CISCO) Executive Director Dan Allen with its prestigious Man of the Year Award during its annual Dinner Dance celebration Oct. 11, 2025.
In accepting the award, Allen expressed deep gratitude to the IALC leadership and to the many Union leaders, contractors, and community partners who have supported CISCO’s mission over the years.
“I am honored to receive this year’s Italian American Labor Council’s award,” Allen said. “I accept it on behalf of the entire CISCO organization. If you’ve ever attended a CISCO event, you’ve heard me say, ‘You are CISCO,’ and that has never been truer than tonight.”
Allen emphasized that CISCO’s success is a collective effort built on partnerships among Union affiliates, signatory contractors, associate members, workforce development partners, and community organizations. He also recognized CISCO’s Board of Directors, whose members volunteer their time and expertise “to advance the industry they love.”
A Family Rooted in Labor Values
Allen’s remarks reflected his deep family ties to the Labor movement. He acknowledged his siblings and extended family — including veterans and several longtime members of IBEW Local 134 — as well as his late parents, Tom and Irene Allen, who he said are “watching from the upper deck seating.” Both his father and grandfather were proud bricklayers and active in the Union movement.
He also paid special tribute to his wife, Sue Allen, a retired IBEW Local 134 electrician and former City of Chicago electrical inspector. Sue, a U.S. Army veteran, was one of the first women to earn a supervising electrician’s license in Chicago. In a humorous anecdote about their first days working together, Allen credited Sue for teaching him firsthand about the challenges faced by women in the trades — a lesson that shaped his lifelong advocacy for diversity and inclusion in Union construction.
“Diversity is our strength,” Allen said. “This award is about all the men and women who lace up their boots every day and, along with our Union contractor partners, who literally build America.”
Honoring the Legacy of Immigrant Workers
Allen’s speech also paid homage to immigrant Laborers — many of them Italian — who helped establish Chicago’s Union construction traditions and set the standard for craftsmanship and solidarity.
“We must never take for granted the sacrifices earlier generations made — many of them immigrants working long hours under dangerous conditions — to secure Union protections, fair wages, and pensions,” he said. “Because of their efforts, future generations of every heritage have been able to enter union careers that support a path to the middle class.”
He called Chicago’s Union building trades and their signatory contractors “institutions of dignity and opportunity” where a young person, regardless of background, can enter an Apprenticeship, learn a skilled trade, and build a life with security and purpose.
A Message of Justice and Human Dignity
In closing, Allen reflected on the words of Pope Leo XIV whose recent encyclical “I Have Loved You” urges communities to see every migrant and vulnerable worker as “Christ himself knocking at the door.”
“Pope Leo warns us against systems that permit wage inequality and marginalize the vulnerable,” Allen said. “He reminds us that caring for immigrants and workers is not an act of charity but a duty of justice.”
Allen noted that the same principles have long guided the Italian American Labor Council and the broader Labor movement.
“The infrastructure we build is much more than concrete and steel — it is an architecture of dignity,” he said. “As Pope Leo reminds us, a society that forgets the least among us weakens its very soul. We must continue to build communities worthy of human dignity.”
With characteristic humility and humor, Allen concluded his remarks by thanking his family, colleagues, and Union brothers and sisters.
“Thank you, from the bottom of my heart,” he said. “God bless you, your families, and our Union construction industry — as we continue to construct both buildings and communities worthy of human dignity.”
