CHICAGO — Fulfilling a promise made during her mayoral campaign, Mayor-elect Lori E. Lightfoot today announced that Candace Moore will become the city’s first Chief Equity Officer. This newly created role will oversee the Office of Equity and Racial Justice, tasked with creating and advancing new policies and practices through the lens of equity. Additionally, she will work to form partnerships with community stakeholders and city departments to strengthen and promote equitable outcomes throughout city government.
“Candace has committed her career to advocating for change on behalf of our most vulnerable residents and communities,” said Mayor-elect Lightfoot. “From her work to stop the inequitable plan to close the National Teachers Academy, to enhancing civil rights and educational rights for kids and families, Candace has my utmost confidence to lead our new Office of Equity and Racial Justice that will work to make government more fair and transparent for all residents.”
Candace has extensive training on issues of equity and justice. She completed the inaugural class of the Racial Justice Training Institute at the Sargent Shriver National Poverty Law Center and the inaugural class of the Surge Fellowship program focused on addressing the issues of race and class in urban education.
Candace is joining from the Chicago Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights, where she has been a legal advocate for education equity issues. She also serves as a strategic advisor and partner to Chicago United for Equity which works to advance racial equity across our city. Prior to her work at the Chicago Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights, Candace has led community engagement campaigns at the Illinois Council Against Handgun Violence. As a law student at Loyola University Chicago, she represented children involved in abuse and neglect protection cases, child custody, and visitation. She has also represented clients in EEOC mediations involving race, gender and disability discrimination.
“I’m humbled to have the opportunity to lead the new administration in building Chicago’s first Office of Equity and Racial Justice. By partnering with community members across our city, we will work to ensure our government is producing outcomes that are fair and just for all Chicagoans, regardless of their race or their zip code,” Moore said. “I look forward to working with the Mayor-elect to build true partnerships across organizations to identify priorities and improve people’s lives.”
Candace is slated to begin on July 1, 2019.