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In 2007, Mayor Richard M. Daley named the 21st Century Commission to advise him on the direction Chicago’s City government should take to meet the changing needs of the city, its residents, and its businesses in the decades ahead. This was a bold challenge, and the Commission saw this charge as a unique opportunity to step back from present concerns and reconsider the future scope and structure of Chicago’s government.

On January 4th, 2010, Ron Huberman, CEO of the Chicago Public Schools (CPS), announced a comprehensive re-structuring of Chicago's Career and Technical Education (CTE) program: 250 non-standardized career programs were to be reorganized into 80 "College and Career Academies" at 35 high schools over the next seven years. Thirty under-performing programs had already been closed, and 30 new college and career academies would open in the coming fall.

On October 12th, 2009, Mayor Daley announced the creation of TechCorps (later renamed Chicago Career Tech, CCT). On the next day, the Sun-Times reported that “Tech Corps was the most intriguing of three technology initiatives that Daley is asking the private sector to support.” Shortly thereafter, World Business Chicago assumed responsibility, with support from Civic Consulting, for launching Chicago Career Tech.

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