 Sunday’s appointments include Transportation, State Board of Education, Illinois
Department of Employment Security, Illinois Criminal Justice Information
Authority, University of Illinois Board and Illinois Department of Juvenile
Justice. Rauner will be sworn in on Monday.
The appointments are:
Randy Blankenhorn, secretary, Illinois Department of Transportation
Blankenhorn, 56, of Chicago, is currently the executive director of the Chicago
Metropolitan Agency for Planning (CMAP). This is a return to IDOT to for
Blankenhorn; he worked for the agency for 22 years, most recently as the bureau
chief of Urban Program Planning.
Blankenhorn has been the head of CMAP since its inception by the General
Assembly in 2006. CMAP oversees transportation, land use, housing economic
development, environment and other quality of life issues in the seven counties
that makeup Chicagoland.
While at IDOT, Blankenhorn worked in a number of positions in both the policy
and planning divisions, eventually rising to the Bureau Chief of Urban Program
Planning. He was also the point person on a number of major infrastructure
projects in Illinois, including the extension of I-355 and IL 53; the new
Mississippi River crossing in St. Louis and the South Suburban Airport.
Blankenhorn also worked for the Illinois Department of Children and Family
Services, the Illinois Secretary of State and the Illinois Department of
Personnel. He is a graduate of Illinois State University, with a bachelor’s
degree in business administration.
James Meeks, chairman, State Board of Education
Former State Senator James Meeks, 59, of Chicago, will become chairman of the
Illinois State Board of Education. Meeks is the Pastor of Salem Baptist Church
in Chicago.
While a member of the Senate, Meeks was a strong voice in education, serving as
the Chairman of the Senate’s Education Committee.
Jeff Mays, director, Illinois Department of Employment Security
Mays is a former state representative and currently the President of the
Illinois Business Roundtable, an association of corporate business leaders that
makes recommendations on policy issues facing Illinois. Mays, 62, of Quincy,
served five terms in the Illinois General Assembly from 1981 to 1990,
representing large portions of Springfield, Decatur and surrounding communities.
Between his time in the General Assembly and at the IBR, he worked for the U.S.
Department of Housing and Urban Development as a Special Assistant to the
Regional Administrator. He also spent five years at the Illinois State Chamber
of Commerce as the Vice President of Human Resources and as the Executive Vice
President.
[to top of second column] |
 John Maki, Executive Director, Illinois Criminal Justice
Information Authority
Maki, 39, of Chicago, is the executive director of the John Howard
Association of Illinois, which is the only non-partisan prison
watchdog organization in Illinois. Maki has spent the past four
years working to reform the criminal justice system, making it more
humane and cost effective. His significant legislative advocacy
efforts include, 2012 bi-partisan legislation enabling low-level
offenders to earn time off their sentences and a 2013-2014 effort
that created the Joint Committee on Criminal Justice Reform. Maki is
an attorney, earning his degree from Loyola University Chicago
College of Law.
Edward McMillan, Member, University of Illinois Board of Trustees
McMillan, 68, of Greenville, is currently finishing his first term
on board. He brings more than 45 years of agri-business experience
to the position.
McMillian is currently an independent business consultant that
focuses on alliance creation, mergers and acquisitions and
management changes in the food and agri-business industry. He is
considered a leading figure in the animal nutrition industry and is
a member of the board of directors for several food and
agri-business corporations.
McMillian previously served as the President and CEO of Purina
Mills, Inc., which is the country’s largest manufacturer and
distributor of animal nutrition projects.
McMillian is a graduate of the University of Illinois with a
bachelor’s degree in agricultural science.
Candice Jones, director, Illinois Department of Juvenile Justice
Jones, 35, of Chicago, will continue to lead the the Illinois
Department of Juvenile Justice. She has served in the position for
the past year under the former administration. Under Jones’
leadership, the IDJJ has reformed much of the state’s juvenile
justice system to bring it in compliance with state and federal
mandates.
She has also overseen the statewide implementation of Aftercare,
which transformed the former adult parole system into an
age-appropriate rehabilitation program. This program helps the youth
successfully re-enter society and ultimately, the workforce.
Prior to her work with the IDJJ, she served as an associate director
of the Office of Management and Budget, managing the agency’s public
safety budget, as well as assisting the executive team. She also
worked at the MacArthur Foundation working on juvenile justice
strategies in Illinois and across the U.S. Jones also served as a
White House Fellow in 2012.
Jones earned her law degree from New York University, and holds two
bachelor’s degrees in political science, and African and
African-American Studies from Washington University in St. Louis.
[This
article courtesy of
Watchdog.]
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