with the Islamic Center of Naperville , felt she couldn’t stay silent in October 2014 when a man later found not guilty by reason of insanity vandalized the Etz Chaim synagogue in Lombard.

As she heard of violence and vandalism against Muslims across the country, she shaped an idea she calls “fight hate with ATE,” which stands for amend, train and educate.

In March 2015, Covert hosted an anti-hate crimes educational symposium at Benedictine University in Lisle.

Then she started reaching out to lawmakers about flaws she saw in the state’s hate crimes law.

A hate crime is defined as one committed because of a bias against someone in a Constitutionally-protected class because of their race, ethnicity, religion, gender, sexual orientation, ancestry, disability, physical or mental status, or national origin.

But Covert said the Illinois law prohibiting hate crimes was “not providing effective relief for victims and their families and doesn’t have an educational component.”

That’s why, working with Kifowit and state Rep. Linda Chapa LaVia of Aurora, Covert drafted legislation called HB2390 to help educate and rehabilitate those who are found guilty of hate crimes. In addition to mandated community service hours, perpetrators now will be required to enroll in an in-person course about the specific community or group their crime affected.

“When people have more understanding, they’re less likely to hate or commit a crime,” Covert said.

Kifowit said she envisions cultural nonprofit organizations will step up to offer diversity education.

“Sometimes people engage in hateful outbreaks against other minorities just because they might not understand or have a working knowledge of individuals’ different genders, different religions, different mannerisms — just the differences between us,” Kifowit said. “The educational component is very needed and a good alternative to sentencing alone.”

Covert and Kifowit both said they hope the amendment to the hate crimes law will increase dialogue about preventing such offensive and violent acts. Further, they hope the dialogue will encourage victims to come forward and decrease the underreporting of hateful actions.

“It’s key to effectively monitor hate and bigotry in Illinois so we can actually address it,” Covert said.