Dear Reader,
Looking through this year’s annual report, I am energized by the many ways our incredible staff and pro bono partners rose to the challenges of 2021. Civic Consulting Alliance continues to work collaboratively, creatively, and indefatigably with public and social sector clients across our region to ensure an equitable recovery. I encourage you to explore the examples of this critical work highlighted throughout the report – including on the Virtual Conversations page, which features recordings of our ‘Getting Big Things Done’ conversation series, an exciting new initiative we created to bring our impact to life through the voices of our clients.
When I wrote to you in Civic Consulting Alliance’s 2020 Impact Report, I expressed our determination to be part of the transformative change needed to rebuild our regional systems to be more just, equitable, and resilient in the future. To realize this vision, our Board has since focused in particular on two goals: embedding our commitment to equity within our governance and management structures and processes; and growing and diversifying our revenues to increase our impact.
In June 2020, the Board launched a Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) Committee to advise our CEO Rebekah Scheinfeld and her team on DEI strategies. In its first year, the Committee has worked with staff to operationalize a robust racial equity lens in Civic Consulting Alliance’s project selection, scoping, and execution. This is an important step to ensure we take specific actions to fulfill our mission of making the Chicago region a great place for everyone to live in and work. At the same time, our Nominating and Governance Committee refreshed its goals and processes for recruiting and engagement to increase the diversity and inclusivity of our Board and to increase the Board’s capacity to grow the scope and scale of our impact.
In 2021, we celebrated an exciting fundraising milestone: for the first time, 100% of our Board members made a personal philanthropic contribution to Civic Consulting Alliance. As a result, our Board’s fundraising efforts reached its highest level to date, growing 15% over the past two years. At the same time, we expanded our development team to launch a new initiative to reach more civic, corporate, and philanthropic leaders. Our Board and staff will continue to collaborate closely to grow this community of investors who share a passion for our mission.
I am immensely proud of my fellow Board members for stepping up in these and myriad other ways to support our organization. Civic Consulting Alliance’s sustained flexible capacity and expertise is a critical component of our region’s civic infrastructure, and these contributions enable our organization to support the region during this time of hardship and renewal. As a Board, we must maintain momentum and accelerate these efforts in the years to come.
Moreover, I am grateful for and inspired by all of our Board and Advisory Council members, staff, clients, pro bono, and philanthropic partners, with whom we collaborate every day to make the Chicago region a great place for everyone to live in and work. Together, in the past year alone, we invested $17.5 million in our region’s thorniest challenges. I hope that you will read on and appreciate this incredible list of individuals and organizations.
Thank you for your invaluable contributions that continue to make our work possible.
Sincerely,
Deborah L. DeHaas, Chair
Civic Consulting Alliance
Our Board
Our Board—comprised of executives from Chicago’s most prominent corporate, nonprofit, and philanthropic organizations—is vital to maintaining the scope and scale of Civic Consulting Alliance’s impact. These leaders provide invaluable resources—including pro bono teams and fellows, philanthropic support, access to new networks, and strategic counsel—that maximize the impact of our work. The following members served on our Board in FY2021 (July 1, 2020 – June 30, 2021).
Deborah L. DeHaas | Chair
Chief Executive Officer, Corporate Leadership Center
Paula Allen-Meares, PhD
Chancellor Emerita, University of Illinois
John Corbally Presidential Professor
Emerita, Professor of Medicine,
UIC Chicago College of Medicine
Larry A. Barden
Partner and Chairman of the
Management Committee
Sidley Austin LLP
Ricardo Bekin
Chief Executive Officer and Chief
Investment Officer
Ativo Capital
Bram Bluestein*
Co-Founder
Bluestein Ventures
James B. Coleman
Chicago Office Managing Director,
Products Operating Group
Managing Director
Accenture
Michael Collins*
Partner and Chief Financial Officer
Bain & Company
Michelle L. Collins
President
Cambium LLC
Francesca Cornelli
Dean
Kellogg School of Management
Matthew C. Crowl
Partner
Riley Safer Holmes & Cancila LLP
A. Steven Crown
General Partner
Henry Crown and Company
Gillian Darlow*
Chief Executive Officer
Polk Bros. Foundation
Aarti Dhupelia
Vice President for Undergraduate Education and Dean of the Undergraduate College
National Louis University
Michael C. Evangelides
Principal
Deloitte
Charles L. Evans
President and Chief Executive Officer
Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago
Michael Fassnacht
President & CEO, Chief Marketing Officer for the City of Chicago
World Business Chicago
John Garabedian^*
Senior Advisor
BCG
Sunil Garg
Phunhousian in Chief
DNS Capital
Brent Gledhill
President
William Blair & Company
Larry J. Goodman, MD*
Retired CEO of Rush University Medical Center and President Emeritus of Rush University
Rush University Medical Center
Graham C. Grady*
(DEI Committee Co-Chair)
Partner
Taft Stettinius & Hollister LLP
David Hackett*
(Development Committee Co-Chair)
Partner
Baker McKenzie LLP
Lori Healey
Senior Vice President, Operations and Implementation Lead
The Obama Foundation
Kish Khemani
Partner
Kearney
Tom Kilroy
Senior Partner
McKinsey & Company
Liam Krehbiel
Founder + Chair
A Better Chicago
Anne Ladky*
Former Executive Director
Women Employed
Bruce Lubin
Vice Chair
CIBC US
Paul C. Maranville
Managing Partner
Lantern Partners
John W. McCarter, Jr.*
Chair, Board of Regents
Smithsonian Institution
Dorri McWhorter
President and Chief Executive
Officer
YMCA of Metropolitan Chicago
Cindy S. Moelis
President
The Pritzker Traubert Foundation
Laurence Msall
President
Civic Federation
David Narefsky*
Partner
Mayer Brown
Christopher A. O’Herlihy
Vice Chairman
Illinois Tool Works Inc.
James D. Pajakowski
Executive Vice President, Strategy and Quality
Protiviti
John Petrovski^
Retired Senior Managing Director,
Commercial Real Estate
BMO Harris Bank
Curtis Reed, Jr.*
(Development Committee Co-Chair)
Managing Director and Region Manager - Chicago
JPMorgan Chase
Kedra Newsom Reeves*
Managing Director and Partner, Chicago
BCG
David Reifman
President, Chicago Business Unit
and Partner, CRG
Clayco
Robert G. Reiter, Jr.
President
Chicago Federation of Labor
E. Scott Santi+
Chairman and Chief Executive Officer
ITW
Chair
The Civic Committee of The Commercial Club of Chicago
Jennifer F. Scanlon+
President and Chief Executive Officer
UL Inc.
Chair
The Commercial Club of Chicago
Mark Shadle
Managing Director, Corporate Affairs
Zeno Group
Maurice Smith^
CEO
Health Care Service Corp.
Robert Soles
Partner, Technology Audit and
Assurance
KPMG LLP
Susan Stelter
Chief People Officer and Co-Founder
West Monroe Partners
Tina Tabacchi
Partner in Charge, Chicago
Jones Day
William Von Hoene^*
(Strategic Planning Committee Chair)
Senior Executive Vice President and Chief Strategy Officer
Exelon Corporation
Kelly R. Welsh+*
President
The Civic Committee of the Commercial Club of Chicago
Robert Wislow*
(Nominating and Governance Committee Chair)
Chairman & Chief Executive Officer
Parkside Realty, Inc.
Dana Wright^
Managing Director
MATH Venture Partners
Ann Marie Wright
US Chief Risk Officer
BMO Financial Group
^ Term ended in FY2021
(before June 30, 2021)
+ Ex Officio Member
* Executive Committee Member
