Ricardo Estrada, CEO of Metropolitan Family Services (MFS), will receive the Community Champion Award during the Negocios Now’s Who’s Who in Hispanic Chicago Gala Event to be held on July 13, at the Hyatt Regency Hotel.
As CEO of MFS, Estrada works to provide programs and services to Chicago families and communities. The organization offers economic support, education opportunities, counseling, and legal services. Estrada has also created social impact as First Deputy Commissioner of the City of Chicago’s Department of Family and Support Services (DFSS) and Executive Director of Erie Neighborhood House in Chicago.
Metropolitan Family Services assists more than 72,000 families and individuals annually through seven community centers in Chicago, Evanston/Skokie, the southwest suburbs and DuPage County. Those served are as diverse as the communities in which they live, with 81 percent being part of the working poor or lower-middle class.
Since 1857, Metropolitan Family Services has empowered families to learn, to earn, to heal and to thrive. Founded as the Chicago Relief and Aid Society, the organization has helped families get through the devastating hardships of poverty, world wars, epidemics and natural disasters.
Estrada has said his time at MFS has taught him a lot about how to scale impact.
“MFS is big enough to make a difference and test solutions at scale,” Estrada said. “We served 72,000 people and are on track to serve even more.
Estrada graduated from Loyola with a BS in Psychology, with minors in Theology and Philosophy. He said the university’s Ignatian values, combined with his time in the seminary, directed him toward a career in the social enterprise sector.
The Community Champion Award was established by Negocios Now as a way to recognize the service and dedication of those who make our community better.
