IBIO Institute  

About the Institute

Board of Directors

Lori Healey

Lori T. Healey was appointed by Mayor Richard M. Daley as his Chief of Staff on April 23, 2007, after serving as Commissioner of the Department of Planning and Development since October 2005.  Prior to that, Healey was a Principal in Perkins & Will’s Chicago office, serving as the Market Sector Leader for Corporate, Commercial and Civic Architecture. In that capacity, she acted as Managing Principal for architectural projects within these important economic categories and advised clients on key development issues.

In 2002, Healey was appointed Vice Chair of the Chicago Housing Authority (CHA) Board of Commissioners, advising the CHA on implementation of the groundbreaking Plan for Transformation for Chicago’s public housing residents. In 2000, she was appointed to serve as one of 18 members of Mayor Daley’s Zoning Reform Commission, which was charged with overhauling and simplifying Chicago’s complex zoning code.

Healey joined the Department of Planning and Development in 1998 and served as First Deputy Commissioner in 1999.  She was responsible for citywide planning efforts to encourage community and business development; job creation and retention; and private and public sector investment.

Before that, Healey was the Executive Director of the Federation of Women Contractors (FWC), a non-for-profit business association consisting of women-owned firms in construction and construction-related industries throughout the Chicago Metro region. Additionally, she was the Vice President of Louik/Schneider & Associates, a Chicago-based firm providing consulting services to business and government in the area of real estate and economic development, finance and planning.

From 1985 to 1993, Healey served as the Deputy Director of the Illinois Department of Commerce and Community Affairs (DCCA) in charge of the Bureau of Business Development.  Before joining DCCA, Healey was an economic development specialist for the Kansas Department of Economic Development and Special Assistant to Kansas Gov. John Carlin.

Healey currently serves as a member of the Economic Club of Chicago, the Urban Land Institute and as a member of the Board of Trustees of the Chicago Architectural Foundation (CAF).  Prior to her current position with the City, she served as the Chairperson of the CAF Board, Chairperson of the Board for the Chicago Loop Alliance (the newly-merged Greater State Street Council and Central Michigan Avenue Association), and was Co-Chair of the Metropolitan Planning Council’s Urban Design Committee and a member of MPC’s Resource Board.  She also served on the Boards of Directors of the Chicagoland Chamber of Commerce, North Business and Industrial Association of Chicago, Chicago Women in Government Relations, Women’s Business Development Center, and the Urban Land Institute.   

In 1999, Crain’s Chicago Business included Healey in its “Forty Under Forty” annual publication.  In 1994, Healey received the “Distinguished Economic Developer of the Year” Award for the Illinois Development Council, a statewide association of economic development professionals of which she also served as President.  During her tenure with the State, she was a founding member of the Illinois Executive Women in State Government and served as a board member of the Illinois Development Finance Authority.

Healey is a Phi Beta Kappa graduate of Kansas State University, where she received a Bachelor of Science, Magna Cum Laude, in economics and political science and a Master of Public Administration.  She resides in Chicago.

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