Last month, Navy Pier announced plans and initial funding to advance ideas for revitalization first developed through the pro bono work of Civic Consulting and our partners. While the Pier is a thriving attraction, drawing more than 8 million visitors as the Midwest's top leisure destination, it has not been updated in any substantial way since its opening in 1995.

At the request of the Mayor's Office in 2007, pro bono teams from A.T. Kearney and Civic Consulting Alliance provided recommendations to transform the Pier's family-oriented activities, arts and cultural offerings, nightlife, retail, and public spaces. In developing these recommendations, the team explored innovative approaches from sites around the world, sought extensive community input, and evaluated over 200 new ideas for the Pier.

Mayor Richard Daley, Chairman Martin Cabrera, and Chancellor Cheryl Hyman announced the Reinvention of City Colleges of Chicago in a press conference on November 18, 2010.
 

"Over the past century, we have offered more than a million people an education and opportunity for a better life," said Chancellor Hyman. "Yet, too many of our students today are not meeting their goals. Reinvention will help us give our students what they need to succeed."

Chancellor Hyman noted that just 16% of students transfer to a four year institution, and only 4-5% earn a bachelor's degree. The City Colleges loses more than half of its degree-seeking students before completion of their first 15 credit hours.
 
"If students are not getting the credentials they come here for," said Chairman Cabrera, "then the burden is on us to figure out what programs, operations and services need to change to make sure they will succeed."

Building off of the work of the Boston Consulting Group in 2007, Civic Consulting and our partners have been working behind the scenes for nearly four years to catalyze and support the Reinvention of City Colleges.  Currently, teams from McKinsey and Company and Accenture are playing significant roles in driving the Reinvention effort, and grants from the Searle Funds of the Chicago Community Trust and the Joyce Foundation are helping to accelerate the initiative.

Much work remains ahead of us, but we have reached an important milestone, which our partnership has been central in achieving.

The Civic Consulting Alliance and our partners have played a key role in helping new Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle transition into office. A joint team from Accenture, PeopleScout, SNR Denton, and Civic Consulting worked with the President-elect's team to:

• Determine the budget gap and identify opportunities to address it.

• Identify strategic, 100-day, and first term priorities for the new administration, which are published in the Transition Report. The team worked with the more than 80 public and private sector leaders who served on the Preckwinkle Transition Teams.

• Recruit talent for the new administration in a transparent and effective way.

These efforts are laying the foundation for the new President to deliver a balanced budget within months after taking office, and to transform completely the nation's second largest county government.