Gloria Castillo
Vice Chair
Gloria Castillo is an advocate for diversity and inclusion in business to achieve social and economic justice. She is the former director of We Rise Together: For an Equitable & Just Recovery, a multi-faceted initiative of The Chicago Community Trust. The initiative is a coalition of public and private funders and communities accelerating equity in the Chicago region’s economic recovery.
Until the spring of 2020, Castillo served for 16 years as president and CEO of Chicago United, a corporate membership organization dedicated to advancing multiracial leadership in business to achieve economic opportunity parity for people of color and minority business enterprises. She collaborated with business, philanthropic, and local community leaders and organizations across the Chicago region to develop and execute Chicago United’s initiatives to advance multiracial leadership in corporate governance, executive-level management, and business diversity.
Numerous organizations have recognized Castillo’s work advocating for inclusion, diversity, and minority business enterprises. In 2017, she was awarded an honorary Doctorate in Social Justice from Roosevelt University. The Rainbow PUSH Coalition presented her with the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Social Justice Award in 2018. She continues her advocacy as vice chair of the Field Foundation Board of Directors and director of Mather. She served as a co-chair of Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot’s transition team and was appointed by Mayor Lightfoot to the Chicago Community Catalyst Fund Board of Managers in March 2020. Before leading Chicago United, Castillo spent more than 20 years working in the for-profit sector as Monarch Marketing Group president. She is also the founder of CMC Enterprises, LLC, an airport concessions firm and joint venture partner with Avolta/Hudson Group at O’Hare International Airport.
