Mayor Lightfoot Adds A New Chief Risk Officer To Her List Of Diverse Cabinet Appointments

BY KATHERINE NEWMAN

During her campaign, Mayor Lori Lightfoot spoke about the importance of diversity in Chicago and more importantly, about the importance of seeing that diversity is represented in City Hall and in other positions of power throughout the city.

Since taking office, Mayor Lightfoot has made several cabinet appointments consisting of individuals who are both highly qualified in their specific areas of expertise and who also represent a variety of diverse backgrounds.

Most recently, Lightfoot appointed Tamika Puckett to serve as the City of Chicago’s Chief Risk Officer. In this position, Puckett will be tasked with creating and implementing a comprehensive risk management strategy for the city which should lessen the amount of money that Chicago spends on claims, judgments, and liabilities as well as reduce the city’s overall operational costs, according to information from the City of Chicago.

“My title is Chief Risk Officer and what that means is essentially I am assessing every component and every department of the city to determine

where we can identify any risk. Particularly, I am looking for financial risks but also for risks to individuals, both employees and citizens, and determining where we can reduce costs regarding accidents, incidents, and things of that nature that cost the city tax dollars,” said Puckett.

Before accepting Mayor Lightfoot’s appointment, Puckett was working as the City of Atlanta’s Director of Enterprise Risk Management. Puckett also previously led the risk management program for Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport and specializes in the areas of risk assessments, workers’ compensation, contractual risk transfer, and training programs.

“I was totally honored and I was blown away to receive the offer to come to the City of Chicago. I’ve done risk management in a few different states and so I have moved for work in the past but to come to a city as large and complex as the City of Chicago was a great honor,” said Puckett.

“I look forward to working in this city and learning more about the city.” Risk management is critically important for the City of Chicago, according to Puckett.

Risk management is something that has been done in the private business sector for quite some time and Puckett said that it is smart for cities across the country to begin applying the concept to their operations as well.

“Risk management is essential to any organization, the private sector has been doing it very well for a lot longer than the government has and some government entities are better than others,” said Puckett.

“To take a look at the city in the same light as if you were a private organization, or private entity, in the way of reducing costs and having an impact on the overall bottom line, I think that is ingenious of the Mayor.”

In additon to Tamika Puckett appointment 16 others were also appointed to the Mayor's cabinet:

Candace Moore, Chief Equity Officer

Dr. Sybil Madison, Deputy Mayor for Education and Human Rights

Tamika Puckett, Chief Risk Officer

Samantha Fields, Director of Intergovernmental Affairs

Marielle Sainvilus, Communications Director

Taylor Lewis, Director of Scheduling & Advance

Celia Meza, Mayor’s Counsel & Senior Ethics Advisor

Anel Ruiz, Press Secretary

Samir Mayekar, Deputy Mayor, Economic Development

Juan Carlos Linares, Chief Engagement Officer

Vance Henry, Chief Faith Engagement Officer