Leadership

MPC bridges gaps between government, community and business leaders, enabling them to more powerfully join forces and collectively improve our region. We believe that strong partnerships rooted in respect, listening and trust are critical to creative, effective problem-solving.


In memoriam

Mr. Baird in an undated Chicago Sun-Times photo, wearing his signature bow tie.

MPC marked a sad day on Dec. 27, 2013, when John W. Baird, chairman of Baird & Warner, passed away at the age of 98. In the civic world, some leaders come and go. Chicago, and MPC, are fortunate that was not the case with Mr. Baird, who joined MPC's Board in 1953 and was an active and dedicated member for more than 60 of the organization's 80 years.

At the helm of one of Chicago's largest real estate firms and as a venerable leader in the region's civic community, Mr. Baird altered the course of Chicago's development and, in so doing, shaped the city we know and love today.

During his tenure as MPC president, from 1957 to 1963, Mr. Baird called on the Chicago City Council to enact a fair housing ordinance barring discrimination in real estate sales "against any person because of his race, color, religion, national origin or ancestry." Though the law passed in 1963, neither the city nor its Real Estate Board was ready for true change, prompting Mr. Baird to resign from that board in protest of continued discrimination.

From 1961 to 1973, he served first as a commissioner and then as president of the Northeastern Illinois Planning Commission, the precursor to today's Chicago Metropolitan Agency for Planning (CMAP). In the early 2000s, when the region was debating CMAP's creation, Mr. Baird greatly informed MPC's strategic advocacy urging us "aim high and do not compromise too soon." In the 1960s and 1970s he led the private development of Willow-Dayton in Lincoln Park; Campus Green on the Near West Side; and South Commons near the Illinois Institute of Technology. In the 1980s he, along with fellow MPC board colleagues Harry Weese and Larry Booth, inaugurated the concept of industrial loft conversions to housing with their precedent-setting Printers Row project.

Long before the real estate market embraced concepts like sustainability and green building, Mr. Baird was a champion for adaptive reuse of buildings and open space. He served many years on the Commission for Chicago Landmarks; co-founded NeighborSpace in 1996; and was a longtime member of the Trust for Public Land's board, bringing an urban parks focus to its work nationally and locally. In Chicago, that work led to open space hallmarks across the city, including Senka Park on the Southwest Side, Ping Tom Park on the Chicago River in Chinatown, and, most recently, The 606, formerly known as the Bloomingdale Trail.

Mr. Baird continued to attend MPC meetings into his late 90s, inspiring staff and volunteers alike. He generously shared stories from MPC's history, including memories of working alongside MPC's longtime executive director Dorothy Rubel, who passed away in 2012 at the age of 108.

Mr. Baird's legacy will long be felt by MPC and is extended by the involvement of both his son-in-law, James Mann, and grandson, Wyllys Mann. Equal parts visionary and "doer," Mr. Baird was a true gift to Chicago who will long set the bar for civic leadership for our region.


Board of Governors
Executive Committee Officers

  • Chair
    Joseph A. Gregoire

    Executive Director of Development
    Loyola University Chicago
  • Vice Chairs
    Ann M. Drake

    CEO
    DSC Logistics, Inc.
  • Jesse H. Ruiz
    Partner
    Drinker Biddle & Reath, LLP
  • Vice Chairs Development
    Ellen Carnahan

    Principal,
    Machrie Enterprises LLC
  • James P. Stirling
    Chairman, Midwest Advisory Board
    UBS Investment Bank
  • Secretary
    Kathy Hopinkah Hannan

    Nat'l Managing Partner, Corp. Resp. & Diversity
    KPMG LLP
  • Treasurer
    Lisa Snow

    Principal
    Davis & Hosfield Consulting LLC
  • General Counsel
    John M. McDonough
  • Past Chair
    King Harris

    Chairman
    Harris Holdings Inc.
  • President
    MarySue Barrett
    President
    Metropolitan Planning Council

Board of Governors Members
*Denotes Executive Committee Members

  • J. Tyler Anthony
    Senior Vice President, Distribution Operations
    ComEd
  • Karen M. Atwood
    President
    BlueCross BlueShield of Illinois
  • Kyle Barnett
    Senior Vice President
    BMO Harris Bank
  • George W. Bilicic
    Vice Chairman of US Investment Banking
    Lazard
  • Lawrence T. Borgard
    President & COO-Utilities
    Integrys Energy Group
  • Byron Brazier
    Pastor
    Apostolic Church of God
  • Monique Brinkman-Smith
    Senior VP & Managing Director, Wealth Management
    Northern Trust
  • Carole L. Brown
    Managing Director
    Barclays Capital
  • *Todd C. Brown
  • John A. Buck
    Chairman & CEO
    The John Buck Company
  • Christopher B. Burke
    President
    Christopher B. Burke Engineering, Ltd.
  • Olga Camargo
    Managing Partner
    Toroso Investments, LLC
  • *Paul C. Carlisle
    Executive Vice President
    Wintrust Financial Corporation
  • Pedro J. Cevallos-Candau
    President & CEO, Transportation & Infrastructure
    Primera Engineers, Ltd.
  • Chris Conley
    Founding Partner
    Gravitytank
  • Lester Crown
    Crown Family Philanthropies
  • Jon B. DeVries
    Director Marshall Bennett Institute of Real Estate
    Roosevelt University
  • Sidney R. Dillard
    Partner, Investment Banking Division
    Loop Capital Markets
  • Derek Douglas
    Vice President for Civic Engagement
    University of Chicago
  • *Robert V. Fitzsimmons, II
    Co-Founder & Principal
    Next Generation Public Affairs, Inc.
  • *James C. Franczek, Jr.
    President
    Franczek Radelet P.C.
  • John S. Gates, Jr.
    Chairman & CEO
    PortaeCo LLC
  • Linda Goodman
    Principal
    Goodman Williams Group
  • Alan “Al” Gordon
    Chairman & CEO
    Richland, Gordon & Company
  • *Jacques N. Gordon
    Global Investment Strategist
    LaSalle Investment Management
  • *M. Hill Hammock
    Chairman
    Chicago Deferred Exchange Company
  • David D. Hiller
    President & CEO
    McCormick Foundation
  • Lerry J. Knox
    Managing Partner
    Unplugged Capital, LLC
  • Bernard Loyd
    President
    Urban Juncture, Inc.
  • Mary Katherine Ludgin
    Managing Director, Investment Research
    Heitman
  • Peter C Malecek
    Commercial Real Estate Regional Executive
    Bank of America
  • *James E. Mann
  • *Lee M. Mitchell
    Managing Partner
    Thoma Bravo, Inc.
  • Paul E. Nowicki
    Assistant V.P. - Government and Public Policy
    BNSF Railway Company
  • *J. Scot Pepper
    Executive Vice President
    Pepper Construction Company
  • Stephen M. Porras
    President
    Axia Development, Inc.
  • John S. Poth
    Partner
    PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP
  • Quintin E. Primo, III
    Chairman & Chief Executive Officer
    Capri Capital Advisors LLC 
  • Howard M. Radzely
    Vice President & Assistant General Counsel
    The Boeing Company
  • Jorge Ramirez
    President
    Chicago Federation of Labor, AFL-CIO
  • *George A. Ranney, Jr.
    President & CEO
    Metropolis Strategies
  • Matthew R. Reilein
    Sr. VP, New Markets Tax Credit Group
    JPMorgan Chase
  • Carol Ross Barney
    Founder & President
    Ross Barney Architects, Inc.
  • Jean Rudd
    Principal
    JR Strategies
  • Smita Shah
    President
    SPAAN Tech, Inc.
  • Martin Stern
    Executive Vice President
    U.S. Equities Realty, LLC
  • Bruce W. Taylor
    Chairman
    Taylor Capital Group
  • Michael A. Thomas
    Vice President, Administration & Real Estate
    The Allstate Corporation 
  • Mary White Vasys
    President
    Vasys Consulting Ltd.
  • *Paula Wolff
    Senior Executive
    Metropolis Strategies
  • Zandra Zuno
    Exec. Dir., Multicultural Marketing Practice Lead
    Golin/Harris International

MPC thanks the following people whose Board terms expired in 2013

  • Rita Athas
  • Nora Moreno Cargie
  • John Baird (deceased)
  • Robert O'Brien
  • Kevin Richardson

Honorary Board

  • Edward K. Banker 
    Senior Vice President (Retired) 
    Harris Trust and Savings Bank
  • Laurence O. Booth 
    Design Principal 
    Booth Hansen Associates
  • Clark Burrus 
    Vice Chairman (Retired) 
    First Chicago Capital Markets
  • Donald Haider 
    Professor of Public Management 
    Northwestern University, Kellogg School of Management
  • Lawrence Howe
    (Retired)
    The Chicago Community Trust
  • James J. McClure 
    Drinker Biddle & Reath, LLP
  • Walter W. Reed 
    President (Retired) 
    Creative Relations International, Ltd.
  • Daniel R. Toll 
    Chairman (Retired) 
    Corona Corporation
  • Priscilla A. Walter
    Of Counsel
    Drinker Biddle & Reath, LLP

Resource Board

  • Mark A. Angelini
    Interim President
    M
    ercy Housing Lakefront
  • David E. Baker
    Vice President of External Affairs
    Illinois Institute of Technology
  • Erin Lavin Cabonargi
    Executive Director
    City of Chicago, Public Building Commission
  • Gloria Castillo
    President
    Chicago United Inc.
  • Alison L. Chung
    President
    TeamWerks
  • Madeleine K.B. Condit
    Founder and CEO
    Madeleine Condit & Associates LLC
  • Ellen C. Craig
  • Paul A. Dillon
    President & CEO
    Dilllon Consulting Services LLC
  • Paul A. Dillon
    President & CEO
    Dilllon Consulting Services LLC
  • Bernard J. Ford
  • John F. Hartray
    Principal
    Nagle Hartray Danker Kagan McKay Penney Architects Ltd.
  • Maria P. Hibbs
  • Sokoni Karanja
    Founder, President & CEO
    Centers for New Horizons, Inc.
  • Thomas C. Kirschbraun
    Managing Director
    Jones Lang LaSalle
  • Avis LaVelle
    President
    A. LaVelle Consulting Services
  • John G. Markowski
    President & CEO
    Community Investment Corporation
  • Sylvia Puente
    Executive Director
    Latino Policy Forum
  • James M. Ratcliffe
  • Robert G. Reiter
    Secretary-Treasurer
    Chicago Federation of Labor, AFL-CIO
  • Christopher FitzHenry Robling
    Principal
    Jayne Thompson & Associates, Ltd.
  • Unmi Song
    Executive Director
    Lloyd A. Fry Foundation
  • A. Gail Sturm
    Executive Vice President
    ProTen Realty Group
  • Karla Olson Teasley
    President
    Illinois American Water
  • Joseph A. Williams
    Co-Chairman
    Granite Development Corporation

Executive Advisors

  • Nicholas W. Alexos
    Managing Director
    Madison Dearborn Partners, LLC
  • Raymond Bachant
    President, Division America
    Bombardier Transportation
  • Carol L. Bernick
    CEO
    Polished Nickel Capital Management LLC
  • Lawrence T. Borgard
    President & COO-Utilities
    Integrys Energy Group
  • Marsha Cruzan
    Chicago Market President
    U.S. Bank
  • John M Dionisio
    Chairman and Chief Executive Officer
    AECOM
  • Craig J. Duchossois
    Chief Executive Officer
    The Duchossois Group, Inc.
  • Colin Dyer
    President & CEO
    Jones Lang LaSalle
  • Mitchell Feiger
    President & CEO
    MB Financial Bank, N.A.
  • Joseph A. Gregoire
    Executive Director of Development
    Loyola University Chicago
  • Stephen J. Hagge
    President & CEO
    AptarGroup, Inc.
  • Patricia Hemingway Hall
    President & CEO
    Health Care Service Corporation
  • Edward R. Hamberger
    President & CEO
    Association of American Railroads
  • Kathy Hopinkah Hannan
    Nat'l Managing Partner, Corp. Resp. & Diversity
    KPMG LLP
  • Eric Hirschfield
    Managing Director - Investment Banking Division
    Goldman, Sachs & Co.
  • Raymond J. Lewis
    President
    Ventas, Inc.
  • Jeffrey A. Malehorn
    President & CEO
    World Business Chicago
  • William A. Mynatt
    Chairman, CEO and President
    Dovenmuehle Mortgage, Inc.
  • David J. Neithercut
    President & CEO
    Equity Residential
  • Robert L. Parkinson
    Chairman & CEO
    Baxter International Inc.
  • J. Marshall Peck
    Chairman
    InterPark Holdings LLC
  • Thomas Pontarelli
    Executive VP and Chief Administration Officer
    CNA
  • Larry D. Richman
    President & CEO
    The PrivateBank
  • Martin P. Slark
    CEO
    Molex Incorporated
  • Robert A. Sullivan
    President & CEO
    Fifth Third Bank
  • Frederick H. Waddell
    Chairman and Chief Executive Officer
    Northern Trust
  • Edward J. Wehmer
    President & CEO
    Wintrust Financial Corporation

Executive Advisors who left in 2013

  • Laurent Auguste, Veolia Water North America
  • Paul S. Fisher, Centerpoint Properties
  • Frederick A. Krehbiel, Molex Incorporated
  • Matthew C. Levin, Aon Corporation
  • Judith C. Rice, BMO Harris Bank
  • Jim L. Stanley, NIPSCO

Housing & Community Development Committee

  • Mark Angelini
    Mercy Housing Lakefront
  • Bennett Applegate
    Applegate & Thorne-Thomsen, P.C.
  • Forrest Bailey
    Draper and Kramer
  • David Baker
    Illinois Institute of Technology
  • JeNyce Boolton
    Charter One
  • Lee Brown
    Teska Associates, Inc.
  • Karen Butler
    Great Harbor Advisors
  • Paul Carlisle
    Wintrust Financial Corporation
  • Pamela Daniels-Halisi
    BMO Harris Bank
  • Derek Douglas
    University of Illinois
  • Paul Fischer
  • Peter Friedman
    Holland & Knight LLP
  • Andrew Geer
    Enterprise Community Partners
  • Joseph Gregoire
    Loyola University Chicago
  • Kathy Hannan
    KPMG LLP
  • King Harris
    Harris Holdings Inc.
  • Maria Hibbs
  • Juanita Irizarry
    State of Illinois, Office of the Governor
  • Sokoni Karanja
    Center for New Horizons, Inc.
  • Peter Levavi
    Brinshore Development LLC
  • Bernard Loyd
    Urban Juncture, Inc.
  • Wyllys Mann
    Hispanic Housing Development Corporation
  • John Markowski
    Community Investment Corporation
  • Robert Miller
    Applied Real Estate Analysis, Inc.
  • Stephen Porras
    Axia Development, Inc.
  • Sylvia Puente
    Latino Policy Forum
  • Matthew Reilein
    JPMorgan Chase
  • Jesse Ruiz
    Drinker Biddle & Reath, LLP
  • S. Michael Rummel
    Rummell Associates Inc.
  • Lisa Snow
    Davis & Hosfield Consulting LLC
  • A. Gail Sturm
    ProTen Realty Group
  • Bruce Taylor
    Taylor Capital Group
  • John Tuhey
    Illinois Tool Works, Inc.
  • Sylvia Van Loveren
    Walgreen Co.
  • Mary Vasys
    Vasys Consulting Ltd.
  • Mijo Vodopic
    The John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation
  • Joseph A. Williams
    Granite Development Corporation

Sensible Growth Committee

  • Karen Atwood
    BlueCross BlueShield of Illinois
  • Calvert Audrain
  • Byron Brazier
    Apostolic Church of God
  • Todd Brown
  • Christopher Burke
    Christopher B. Burke Engineering, Ltd.
  • Todd Cabanban
    Cabanban, Rubin & Mayberry Commercial Realty
  • Monica Chadha
    IIT Collage of Architecuture
  • Robert Clough
    Gensler
  • Ellen Craig
  • Kristina Dalman
    Pulte Group
  • Mark de la Vergne
    Sam Schwartz Engineering
  • Joseph Gonzalez
    Ghafari Associates
  • Linda Goodman
    Goodman Williams Group
  • John Hartray
    Nagle Hartray Danker Kagan McKay Penney Architects Ltd.
  • Adolfo Hernandez
    City of Chicago
  • Lawrence Howe
  • Thomas Kirschbraun
    Jones Lang LaSalle
  • Suzanne Malec-Mckenna
    Consultant to The Chicago Community Trust and The Morton Arboretum
  • James Mann
  • John McDonough
  • Nora Moreno Cargie
    The Boeing Company
  • Pete Mulvaney
    Skidmore, Owings & Merrill LLP
  • Heather Parish
    Strategies for Community Economic Development and Finance
  • Arthur Pearson
    Gaylord and Dorothy Donnelley Foundation
  • Donovan Pepper
    Walgreen Co.
  • Thomas Price
    Conservation Design Forum
  • Douglas Regan
    JPMorgan Chase
  • Jean Rudd
    JR Strategies
  • Sabina Shaikh
    University of Chicago
  • David Siegel
    Sidley Austin LLP
  • Michael Thomas
    The Allstate Corporation
  • Michael Toolis
    VOA Associates, Inc.
  • Lois Vitt Sale
    Wight & Company
  • William Woodley
    The Community Builders, Inc.
  • Ferhat Zerin
    Ginkgo Planning & Design

Regional Planning & Investments Committee

  • J. Tyler Anthony
    ComEd
  • John Baird
    Baird & Warner, Inc.
  • Kyle Barnett
    BMO Harris Bank
  • Mark Bookman
    Ernst & Young LLP
  • Tony Bouchard
    AECOM
  • Carole Brown
    Barclays Capital
  • Ellen Carnahan
    Machrie Enterprises LLC
  • Pedro Cevallos-Candau
    Primera Engineers, Ltd.
  • Alison Chung
    TeamWerks
  • Jon DeVries
    Roosevelt University
  • Scott Edwards
    Veolia
  • Anne Edwards-Cotter
    Cotter Consulting, Inc.
  • Nancy Fishman
    Grand Victoria Foundation
  • Robert Fitzsimmons
    Next Generation Public Affairs, Inc.
  • Bernard Ford
  • Cassandra Francis
    Friends of the Parks
  • James Franczek
    Franczek Radelet P.C.
  • John Gates
    PortaeCo LLC
  • Jacques Gordon
    LaSalle Investment Management
  • Mary Ludgin
    Heitman
  • Wesley Lujan
    Union Pacific Corporation
  • Peter Malecek
    Bank of America
  • Thomas Morsch
    Public Financial Management Group
  • Stephen Newell
    IBM Corporation
  • Paul Nowicki
    BNSF Railway Company
  • Robert O'Brien
    Deloitte
  • Michael Pagano
    University of Illinois at Chicago, CUPPA
  • J. Scot Pepper
    Pepper Construction Company
  • Paula Pienton
    T.Y. Lin International, Inc.
  • George Ranney
    Metropolis Strategies
  • Robert Reiter
    Chicago Federation of Labor, AFL-CIO
  • Christopher Robling
    Jayne Thompson & Associates, Ltd.
  • Maria Saldaña
    Oak Park Residence Corporation
  • Stephen Schlickman
    University of Illinois at Chicago, CUPPA
  • Paul Shadle
    DLA Piper
  • Smita Shah
    SPAAN Tech, Inc.
  • Michael Smyth
    Illinois American Water
  • Martin Stern
    U.S. Equities Realty, LLC
  • James Stirling
    UBS Investment Bank
  • John Tuhey
    Illinois Tolls Works Inc.
  • Paula Wolff
    Metropolis Strategies
  • Paula Worthington
    University of Chicago

For a current listing of MPC's leadership, please visit the Our people page on the website.

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Metropolitan Planning Council 140 S. Dearborn St.
Suite 1400
Chicago, Ill. 60603
P 312 922 5616 F 312 922 5619 info@metroplanning.org
Helping create competitive, equitable, and sustainable communities

For more than 80 years, the Metropolitan Planning Council (MPC) has made the Chicago region a better place to live and work by partnering with businesses, communities and governments to address the area's toughest planning and development challenges. MPC works to solve today's urgent problems while consistently thinking ahead to prepare the region for the needs of tomorrow. Read more about our work »

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