MarySue Barrett

MarySue Barrett Civic connector, intellectual, political analyst and strategist — MarySue Barrett has cultivated all those skills in a career course that has brought her (since 1996) to the presidency of Chicago’s prestigious Metropolitan Planning Council.

The MPC, like its name, looks citistate-wide in advancing policies to enhance the vitality and livability of the tri-state Chicago region. Known for bringing the right people together at the critical times for advancing important agendas, MPC has, under Barrett’s leadership, deepened its expertise in areas ranging from infrastructure, housing, the environment and land use to fiscal policies.

Before assuming leadership of MPC, Barrett held a variety of posts, ultimately chief of policy from 1993 through 1995, in the first administration of Chicago Mayor Richard M. Daley. In 1995, she was recruited to serve as chief of staff of the Chicago School Reform Board of Trustees, part of a management team charged with bringing revolutionary change to Chicago’s public schools.

Barrett began her municipal government work in 1989 in the then-new Daley administration’s Office of Intergovernmental Affairs; one of her top accomplishments was Chicago’s successful implementation of community policing. She also spearheaded Chicago’s successful bid to host the 1996 Democratic National Convention.

Barrett serves on the advisory boards of Chicago Metropolis 2020, Chicago’s 2016 Olympic Committee, and the Chicago Transit Authority.

Last updated January 28, 2009