Chicago Mayor-elect Lori Lightfoot Stocks up on Latino Talent Within Transition Team

CHICAGO – Mayor-elect Lori Lightfoot announced her transition team leadership and the launch of her transition website, www.bettertogetherchicago.com.

“I’m proud to announce that this diverse group of leaders from across Chicago will be co-chairing our transition,” said Lightfoot. “It is a mix of experienced professionals who have worked long and hard for decades on the most pressing issues facing the city, and new voices bringing fresh perspectives.”

The transition co-chairs join special advisers Chief of Staff for the Transition Maurice Classen; Intragovernmental Affairs advisor Manuel Perez; Senior Advisers Ra Joy and Sarah Pang; and Transition Manager Lisa Schneider-Fabes.

In addition to the transition co-chairs, Mayor-elect Lightfoot announced the co-chairs of nine of the ten committees that comprise the transition team. The list of the transition and committee co-chairs is below.

The tenth committee will be a Young Advisers Committee made up of youth from multiple organizations across Chicago who will share their own priorities with the Mayor-elect and the transition leadership. They will provide input to the other committees on how the policies being considered may impact and can be shaped by young people. Members of the Young Advisers Committee will select their co-chairs at their first meeting.

The 10 Latino transition team are listed below:  

Gloria Castillo, President and CEO, Chicago United

Carlos Tortolero, National Museum of Mexican Art

Ric Estrada, Metropolitan Family Services

Sylvia Puente, Latino Policy Forum

Evelyn Diaz, Heartland Alliance

Juan Carlos Linares, LUCHA

Paul Roldan, Hispanic Housing Development Corporation

Ivan Solis, HACIA

Roberto Requejo, Elevated Chicago

Eddie Bocanegra, Heartland Alliance

The complete list of the Lightfoot transition team is listed below:

Transition Co-Chairs

Gloria Castillo, President and CEO, Chicago United

Samir Mayekar, CEO, NanoGraf Corporation

Angelique Power, President, The Field Foundation of Illinois

Penny Pritzker, Founder and Chairman, PSP Partners

Robert G. Reiter, Jr., President, Chicago Federation of Labor

Samuel K. Skinner, Of Counsel, Greenberg Traurig, LLP

Dr. Willie Wilson, businessman

Maria Wynne, Chief Executive Officer, Leadership Greater Chicago

Committee Co-Chairs

ARTS & CULTURE

Nick Cave, Artist

Denise Gardner, Art Institute of Chicago Trustee

Lisa Lee, National Public Housing Museum

Carlos Tortolero, National Museum of Mexican Art

BUSINESS, ECONOMIC, NEIGHBORHOOD DEVELOPMENT

Ric Estrada, Metropolitan Family Services

Meghan Harte, LISC

Maria Kim, CARA

Darnell Shields, Austin Coming Together

Rocky Wirtz, Chicago Blackhawks

EDUCATION AND YOUTH

Niketa Brar, Chicago United for Equity

Aarti Dhupelia, National Louis University

Sybil Madison, City of Learning

Sylvia Puente, Latino Policy Forum

ENVIRONMENT

Suzanne Malec-McKenna, Former Commissioner, Department of Environment

Anton Seals, Grow Greater Englewood

Jennifer Walling, Illinois Environmental Council

GOOD GOVERNANCE

Khadine Bennett, ACLU Illinois

Ami Gandhi, Chicago Lawyers Committee for Civil Rights

Andy Kang, Asian Americans Advancing Justice

Dick Simpson, University of Illinois in Chicago

HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES

Evelyn Diaz, Heartland Alliance

Alexa James, NAMI Chicago

David Munar, Howard Brown Health

Jennifer Welch, Planned Parenthood

HOUSING

Juan Carlos Linares, LUCHA

Angela Hurlock, Claretian Associates

Paul Roldan, Hispanic Housing Development Corporation

PUBLIC SAFETY & ACCOUNTABILITY

Eddie Bocanegra, Heartland Alliance

Lisa Madigan, former Illinois Attorney General

Charles Ramsey, Former Chief of Police, Metropolitan District of Columbia and Co-Chair Presidential Task Force on 21st Century Community Policing

Nina Vinik, Joyce Foundation

TRANSPORTATION

Duana Love, TranSmart Technologies, Inc.

Ivan Solis, HACIA

Roberto Requejo, Elevated Chicago

YOUNG ADVISERS  

Members of this committee will name co-chairs at their first meeting.

(Hispanic News Agency -HINA)