Gloria Castillo

Gloria Castillo is the former director of We Rise Together: For an Equitable & Just Recovery, a multi-faceted initiative of The Chicago Community Trust.

Gloria is an advocate for diversity and inclusion in business to achieve social and economic justice. We Rise Together: For an Equitable and Just Recovery is a coalition of public and private funders and communities accelerating equity in the Chicago region’s economic recovery.

Until the spring of 2020, Gloria 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 MBEs. 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 chair of the Field Foundation Board of Trustees 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 Hudson Group at O’Hare International Airport.

She is a native of Chicago and lives in the Lakeview area.