Bryan Funkhouser

Managing Director, Chicago office, Deloitte Consulting LLP

Think. Invest. Advance. At Deloitte, we use these words to describe our community involvement approach, which is rooted in using our innovative thinking in ways that can address critical issues facing our communities and deliver real, tangible impact. 'Issue to Impact' is how we measure our service to our clients--our pro bono clients get no less commitment from our firm or our professionals.

In Chicago, Deloitte is providing pro bono services to clients of the Civic Consulting Alliance. In 2012, I personally had the opportunity to support two such projects for the Chicago Public Schools (CPS). Education holds special meaning to Deloitte and our pro bono work in this area is part of a broader community involvement strategy to help get today's youth to and through college. Deloitte teams helped CPS improve their Information & Technology Services systems and processes, remediating gaps that Deloitte identified in a pro bono technology assessment completed the previous year. Helping CPS build capacity is critical to providing a leading learning environment for the youth of Chicago and a high priority investment for us.

I am grateful to have had the opportunity to join the board of Civic Consulting Alliance last year. One of the most important motivations for my doing so is the opportunity to lead by example. As leaders we have many eyes upon us. How we invest our time and resources tells those around us what really matters. Community service matters--it is not only a responsibility and a duty, but also a privilege.

Chicago will expand efforts to curb youth violence, Mayor Rahm Emanuel announced. The City will invest in proven youth programs, including Greencorps Chicago and Becoming A Man (B.A.M.)

Allstate Insurance CEO Tom Wilson and Loop Capital Markets CEO Jim Reynolds are co-chairing the effort to invest in early intervention, jobs, mentoring, conflict resolution, and recreational programs for youth.

"They're all our kids, and we need to try to save all of them," said Wilson. "Sometimes you do things because it's the right thing to do."

This effort builds on the action plan to reduce violence and stabilize communities, developed with support from Civic Consulting Alliance and 14 pro bono partners.

Funders:

Chicago Public Education Fund

The Lloyd A. Fry Foundation 

Research has shown that a high-quality principal is necessary for a school to succeed and for students to thrive. Acknowledging the role principals play in students' academic achievement, Chicago Public Schools (CPS) and Civic Consulting Alliance have joined together to ensure every school is led by a high performing principal by school year 2014-2015.

This goal is being pursued through the Principal Effectiveness Program, which CPS CEO Barbara Byrd-Bennett announced this month. The program is built on five levers, which include:

• Attraction: The Chicago Leadership Collaborative has created a one-year internship for aspiring principals
• Assessment: For the first time ever, all principals will be assessed using a performance evaluation system that lays out a common vision of effective leadership
• Retention: To retain and attract high quality principals, CPS will develop an incentive system aligned to performance and encourage principals to take on bigger challenges 

While many parts of the country are trying to improve principal effectiveness, CPS hopes its unique, comprehensive approach will become a national model.

Civic Consulting Alliance is providing program management support for the overall program and specific project-based support where our partners can provide the necessary expertise. The entire effort is supported by grants from the Chicago Public Education Fund and The Lloyd A. Fry Foundation.

"This program will raise the bar for principals across the District and strengthen our ability to recruit, retain, and reward high quality leaders," said Byrd-Bennettt.

For more information, please contact Kelly Ruppel.

Chicago's business community is helping the Cook County Health and Hospitals System prepare for the post-Affordable Care Act environment.

One of the nation's largest public healthcare systems, the Cook County Health and Hospitals System is the safety net for hundreds of thousands of underserved residents and is critical to the financial sustainability of the region's other hospitals.

As part of this collaboration, led by Civic Consulting Alliance: Bain & Company launched a management office to help define roles, metrics, and objectives for the Health System to enroll and care for residents in a primary care-driven, coordinated model; Global Economics Group analyzed the economic cost of care; Inward Strategic Consulting hosted leadership team-building sessions; JPMorgan Chase & Co. and McKinsey & Company engaged frontline managers in pilots delivering better patient experience; Navigant Consulting and Bain & Company helped model care for the uninsured; Cannon Design is helping with the look and feel of management data; and Zeno Group is developing a media strategy to help build support and bolster employees' conviction.

The Health System's CEO Dr. Ram Raju thanked the business community for this tremendous support at the City Club last month.

Mark Shadle, Managing Director at Zeno Group, noted, "It's rewarding to partner with a team that is so committed to what this transformation represents: an evolution from sick care to health care, accessible to every County resident."

The Chicago City Council unanimously adopted a new ethics ordinance, the first sweeping overhaul of Chicago's ethics laws since 1987. 

The ordinance was developed with support from the Chicago Ethics Reform Task Force, which recently released a report (Part I, Part II) with recommendations for improving the ordinance.

The Task Force, established by the Mayor in 2011, was chaired by Cynthia Canary and included Dawn Clark-Netsch, Sergio Acosta, and Alderman Will Burns.

Jones Day and Civic Consulting Alliance provided pro bono staffing and research support for the Task Force.  

"This project allowed us to get to know our own city better by meeting many of its dedicated employees and officials," said Melissa Hirst, an Associate at Jones Day. "Our younger lawyers also developed varied skills, included synthesizing complex research and providing guidance to the Task Force and the City." 

Hirst added, "We expected to volunteer our time on a worthy legal project that required diligent and thoughtful legal work, and this expectation was certainly met. But working with Civic Consulting and the Task Force was, put simply, a pleasure." 

For more information, please contact Connie Kresge.