CTA, Metra, and Pace are heading toward a fiscal cliff as emergency federal assistance is expiring and ridership remains below pre-pandemic levels. Without action, a $730 million (20%) budget shortfall is projected for 2026. This will lead to service cuts of 30 to 40 percent and a vicious cycle of lower ridership and fare revenue, which, in turn, would require further budget cuts.

When you think of "impact," it’s easy to focus only on long-term projects with multi-million dollar investments and massive infrastructure overhauls. But often, lasting change starts small.

In our 2023 Impact Report, some of our proudest moments came from targeted, fast-moving projects. We’re talking about the crucial workshops, the streamlined toolkits, and the strategy sessions that flew under the radar but went on to unlock historic funding, reopen neighborhood pools, and welcome hundreds of arriving families.

Here is a look at the "small" projects that made a massive footprint across our region in 2023.

Challenge: The public sector alone cannot address the interconnected root causes of violence. The business community has a significant stake in making the region a safe place to live, work and do business, but has largely been missing from the conversation. In fall 2022, the Civic Committee convened the Public Safety Task Force to identify strategies for the business community to contribute to improving public safety in Chicago.

Action: Alongside pro bono partner BCG, Civic Consulting Alliance supported the design, launch, and initial work for the Task Force. This included engaging in a seven-month fact-finding process that included interviews with numerous elected officials, community organizations, academic experts, philanthropy, and law enforcement. With pro bono support from Lantern Partners, we also facilitated the recruitment of the Civic Committee’s first Vice President for Public Safety, a new position that provides strategic leadership and daily management for the organization’s public safety agenda and initiatives.

Result: In June, the Civic Committee publicly announced five commitments that it believes will organize the business community to make the most significant contribution to address both short-term acute issues and long-term root causes of gun violence. Bob Boik, formerly of the Chicago Police Department, was hired as the Vice President for Public Safety to carry out the implementation of the Task Force’s initiatives. Since this announcement, the Civic Committee’s public safety strategy has been received positively. For example, the Chicago Tribune editorial, “Curbing violent crime is an all-hands-on-deck task. That must include corporate Chicago” is complimentary of the work that Civic Consulting Alliance completed, stating, “There’s good reason to feel optimistic about the Civic Committee’s new mission. To begin with, the group’s game plan makes sense.”

Partners: BCG, Lantern Partners

An influx of capital and recovery funding provides an opportunity for municipalities to make critical investments in their infrastructures. However, small governments often lack the capacity and capital planning expertise needed to access or invest these funds. Since 2021, Civic Consulting Alliance and our pro bono partners supported Cook County to strategize and implement a new “Build Up Cook” program.

Tarun Kapoor was with us as a Fellow from KPMG from July through October.

Civic Consulting Alliance recently completed several collaborative projects with local and state governments to meet the urgent needs of asylum seekers, and prepare long-term, sustainable strategies for future influxes of new arrivals to Chicago. Clients featured below include Chicago Public Schools (CPS), Chicago Department of Family and Support Services (DFSS), Illinois Department of Human Services (IDHS), and the Johnson transition team.

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.

Gun violence continues to be a public health crisis throughout America, and a top priority for many Chicagoans who are pressing local governments to do more to increase public safety. To meet this challenge, Civic Consulting Alliance is supporting multiple interconnected clients to ensure quick and effective scaling of these concerted violence reduction efforts.

Women, and even more so women of color, were disproportionately negatively impacted in the workforce by the COVID-19 pandemic. In order to have an equitable recovery, policymakers, workforce development practitioners, and employers need to address the systemic inequities in our labor market.

Tourism is a major driver of Chicago’s economy. To build on the recommendations by the COVID-19 Recovery Task Force, Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot announced the formation of the Museum Campus Working Group to further revitalize the City’s recovering tourism by enhancing the Campus’ appeal as a global, year-round destination for tourists, and more culturally relevant and accessible for all residents.