Since Mayor Harold Washington asked the business community for pro bono help analyzing the City budget, we have proudly served the Mayor’s Office to advance its most important and timely initiatives. Beginning with supporting the mayoral transition in 2019, we have worked closely with Mayor Lori Lightfoot’s Office to advance initiatives aligned with our mission and to support projects where Civic Consulting Alliance was uniquely positioned to make an impact.

Civic Consulting Alliance was called on by the Chicago Mayor’s Office to support the Mayor’s Women Advisory Council to analyze the impact of the ‘she-cession,’ a gender gap in employment rates and pay in Chicago that was worsened by the COVID-19 pandemic. The final report, “Creating a More Equitable Recovery: Addressing the Economic Barriers COVID-19 Exacerbated for Women in Chicago,” provides decision-makers with recommendations to center women’s economic recovery in their planning and policies.

Civic Consulting Alliance staff are experienced in coordinating large groups of stakeholders with diverse ideas and priorities to “get big things done.” We partnered with the Mayor’s Office to support and facilitate the Museum Campus Working Group. The final report, “Where Worlds Connect,” provides recommendations to transform Museum Campus into a more accessible, relevant, and attractive public space that is activated year-round.

ince summer 2020, Civic Consulting Alliance has devoted considerable staff resources to support the City of Chicago, Cook County, and other public and social sector clients across our three platforms in working towards an equitable recovery that results in enduring change. This work amplified our initial collaborative COVID-19 crisis response management—which you can read about in our 2020 Impact Report—and relied on our unique institutional knowledge and our deep public and private sector relationships.

In March 2019, Civic Consulting Alliance answered calls from the City of Chicago, Cook County, the State of Illinois, and the philanthropic community to mobilize rapidly for a comprehensive and inclusive approach to COVID-19 crisis response and recovery. Between mid-March and the end of June, we redeployed about 75 percent of our staff and secured 16 pro bono teams to serve these units of government and engage non-government stakeholders through nearly 20 projects, organized into 10 distinct workstreams.