How Loyola alumni help make Chicago ‘The City that Works’

Shaping urban life for the better

Recent visitors to Chicago’s lakefront are likely familiar with Lindy McGuire’s (BA ’01) work. As deputy chief of staff for sister agencies in the Mayor’s Office, McGuire serves as liaison between City Hall and six prominent Chicago agencies, including the Chicago Park District, the Chicago Transit Authority, and Chicago Public Schools.

“I’m fortunate that my work is all about trying to make the city better,” McGuire said.

Over the last two years, the Minnesota native played a leading role in creating separate trails for running and biking along Chicago’s lakefront. “Eighteen miles from Ardmore to 71st Street,” McGuire beams. She collaborated with the team of noted Chicago philanthropist Ken Griffin and community partners to execute phases of the project, which is slated for completion later this year, and to address key needs such as access and safety.

McGuire is among many public-sector leaders with a Loyola education who are influencing Chicago life. Illinois Senate President John Cullerton (BA ’70, JD ’74), who represents near North Side neighborhoods such as the Gold Coast, Lincoln Park, and Lake View, was first elected to the state’s General Assembly in 1978 and has served as Senate president for the last decade.

In his earliest years as a member of the state’s General Assembly, the political science major led the effort to establish Local School Councils (LSC) in the city’s public schools. Comprised of teachers, parents, and community members, LSCs are elected bodies at each school charged with approving their school’s budget, shepherding its strategic plan, and evaluating principal performance.

“This empowered investment in local schools and created an entirely new dynamic around school governance,” Cullerton said.

Today, CPS, once a languishing, ridiculed system, is home to a number of the state’s top-rated public high schools and has secured consistent achievement gains. “Other factors are at play, but LSCs certainly played a role in the turnaround by giving stakeholders a voice,” Cullerton said.

Today, Cullerton works regularly with city leadership to ensure Chicago receives its fair share of resources for key areas such as infrastructure, education, parks, and transportation. Constant investment is necessary, he said, given Chicago’s position as a major urban hub.

For much of Cullerton’s time in the General Assembly, he worked alongside fellow Loyola alum Christine Radogno (BA ’73, MSW ’74), who retired as Illinois’ Senate Minority Leader in July 2017 after 20 years in office.

Like Cullerton, Radogno championed a more nimble and responsive Chicago. She played an active role in crafting the state’s most recent education reform bill, which prioritized funding for children in poverty, spearheaded efforts to increase access to mental health care and Medicaid, and provided Chicago leaders clear parameters for addressing the city’s pension crisis.

“The City of Chicago is an economic driver for the state and one is not as healthy without the other,” Radogno said.

McGuire, meanwhile, continues on in City Hall. Her most invigorating current project involves a joint initiative with the Chicago Housing Authority and the Chicago Public Library that blends affordable housing with new library spaces in three neighborhoods—Irving Park, West Rogers Park, and Little Italy.

“It’s so amazing to work on a project like this because it’s going to have an impact on people’s everyday lives,” McGuire said. “Being a Loyola alum, I understand the world isn’t solely about me. There’s an obligation to make life better for others, to improve quality of life for residents across Chicago, and I’m grateful I get to play a part in that and help move the city forward.”

Leading dynamic, diverse businesses

In the shadow of O’Hare International Airport, Ken Meyers (BBA ’76) stares out the window of his eighth-floor office and marvels at the active city below.

“Chicago is the best place in the world to have a corporate headquarters,” declares Meyers, U.S. Cellular’s CEO since 2013.

Though the telecommunications giant exited Chicago’s wireless market in 2012, the city remains its home base. Of the firm’s 6,600 U.S. employees, about 1,200 work at its Chicago headquarters or at a nearby engineering center. And despite the company’s absence from Chicago’s consumer landscape, Meyers has insisted that U.S. Cellular—the nation’s fifth largest wireless carrier serving some 5 million customers—remain an active corporate citizen. For Meyers, continued engagement with the city is a means to attract top talent, but to also honor the company’s longstanding legacy of philanthropic activity with local organizations such as the Boys & Girls Clubs.

“Chicago’s a vibrant city with a great talent pool, a strong Midwestern work ethic, and a robust business community that has worked well with Chicago’s leadership,” said Meyers, a native of the city’s Northwest Side. “We’ve remained involved in Chicago because it’s in our DNA and core to who we are.”

About 15 miles southeast of Meyers’ office, McDonald’s has doubled down on Chicago and its promise with a new 490,000-square-foot headquarters in the city’s West Loop. Hosting some 2,200 corporate employees on ground once inhabited by Oprah Winfrey’s Harpo Studios, McDonald’s is now the city’s second largest corporate headquarters and one of a dozen Fortune 500 companies calling Chicago home.

“Chicago is a vibrant, dynamic city that provides us a better opportunity to connect with our customers and be closer to our employees,” said Francesca DeBiase (BBA ’88), a 27-year McDonald’s employee and the company’s current chief supply chain and sustainability officer.

McDonald’s new home will contribute mightily to Chicago, heightening the city’s prestige for other corporate relocations and pushing an estimated $12 million in economic activity into Chicago each year. Beyond its sterling new headquarters, however, McDonald’s and its franchise partners employ some 5,400 individuals across more than 100 Chicago restaurants and contribute nearly $9 million dollars annually to the city’s coffers through property and sales taxes. That capital supports critical civic initiatives such as education and infrastructure.

For DeBiase, who drives the thoughtful execution of McDonald’s purchasing and sustainability initiatives—which include areas like youth employment and family nutrition—it’s energizing to be among the senior leadership at an enterprise contributing to Chicago’s liveliness and future.

Another is Melissa Ballate (BBA ’01, MSISM ’03), who was recognized as one of Crain’s Chicago Business’ 40 under 40 in 2015. The founder and president of Blue Daring, a boutique marketing and branding firm in Chicago’s River North neighborhood, Ballate’s agency partners with executives and entrepreneurs to bring new ideas to life. Over the last 15 years, the company has worked with the likes of bike-sharing service Divvy and the Chicago Innovation Awards, two particular efforts that highlight the city’s swelling entrepreneurial flair and promote its forward-thinking mindset.

“There are so many businesses like mine across the city, small businesses that add diversity and creativity and give the city its distinct point of view,” Ballate said.

Born and raised in Chicago, the daughter of a hairdresser and engineer, Ballate never considered anchoring her business anywhere but Chicago.

“This is my city. This is my life,” she said. “With me and so many of the Loyola alumni I meet in business, there’s a compulsion to do more, to make things better and drive solutions. And it’s that spirit of service that moves Chicago forward.”