ML - Michigan Avenue

2014 - Issue 3 - May/June

Michigan Avenue - Niche Media - Michigan Avenue magazine is a luxury lifestyle magazine centered around Chicago’s finest people, events, fashion, health & beauty, fine dining & more!

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"I AM 100 PERCENT A CHICAGOAN," says Dr. Toni Irving, who moved to the city from her native Philadelphia 14 years ago to be an assis- tant professor of English at the University of Notre Dame before being named deputy chief of staff for Governor Pat Quinn. On a Wednesday morn- ing at Yolk, in her Streeterville neighborhood, Irving's plate is filled with a hearty breakfast— and the weight of her newest role as executive director of Get In Chicago, where she's charged with bringing safety to the communities hit hard- est by violence. "It's like a rallying cry," Irving says of this public/private partnership backed by First Lady Michelle Obama, which targets key neighborhoods and analyzes risk factors in order to prevent violence. "As Chicagoans, we ca n't have a div ided cit y—Nor t h Side, Sout h Side, safe areas, and unsafe areas. This city is all of ours, and we all need to invest in it." Proudest achievement: When I came to the state, we had 1,337 youth in the juvenile justice system reporting to adult parole officers, [and under my leadership] all kids in Cook County were given social workers to track them, so it became a more supporting, therapeutic model of care. The last day I was at the state, there were 850 [kids in the system], and they were doing so much better. Definition of success: I always felt I was supposed to make a difference in the world, and I also think it's really about making a difference in the lives of people closest to me: my family, my close friends. What keeps me cen- tered: I was at the theater on Monday, and the week before that, and the week before that.... Steppenwolf's my favorite. Biggest hero: Since I've come to Chicago, it's [Loop Capital chair- man and CEO] James Reynolds Jr. He's the most grounded, kind, centered person. Advice I'd give my 15-year-old self: Take a lot of pauses and ref lect. You can get on a track where you're just going and going.… It's like Alice Walker's The Color Purple: If you walk by the color purple a nd don't ack nowledge it , t hat ma kes God a ng r y. How I hope to ma ke my mark: A s much as we want to change individual lives, I'm more interested in changing the conditions of those lives, so there aren't multiple tiers of citi- zenship where you're born in one neighborhood and your life outcomes are always predicted. TONIIRVING The fearless leader of Get In Chicago is determined to create a safer city for all. 134-141_MA_FEAT_PP_May/June_14.indd 138 4/14/14 1:02 PM

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