Lori Thomas Healey (1959 – May 3, 2025) was an American urban planner who served as former

Chicago mayor The mayor of Chicago is the chief executive of city government in Chicago, Illinois, the third-largest city in the United States. The mayor is responsible for the administration and management of various city departments, submits proposals and ...

Richard M. Daley Richard Michael Daley (born April 24, 1942) is an American politician who served as the 54th mayor of Chicago, Illinois, from 1989 to 2011. Daley was elected mayor in 1989 and was reelected five times until declining to run for a seventh ter ...

's chief of staff, chief executive officer of the

Metropolitan Pier and Exposition Authority The Metropolitan Pier and Exposition Authority, commonly known as MPEA or McPier, is a corporation that owns Navy Pier and McCormick Place in Chicago. It also manages the city's collection of taxes for vehicles picking up passengers (including ...

and who also managed the construction and operations of the Obama Presidential Center in

Chicago Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

. Hired by the

Obama Foundation The Barack Obama Foundation is a Chicago-based nonprofit organization founded in 2014. It oversees the creation of the Barack Obama Presidential Center, runs the My Brother's Keeper Alliance (a program Barack Obama began while he was president) ...

, she began in this role 1 December 2020. She also oversaw the development of

Wintrust Arena Wintrust Arena at McCormick Square, previously referred to as DePaul Arena or McCormick Place Events Center, is a 10,387-seat sports venue in the Near South Side, Chicago, Near South Side Community areas of Chicago, community area of Chicago t ...

and the Marriott Marquis Chicago.

Biography

Prior to joining the Obama Foundation, Healey served as president of a new Chicago regional business unit for Clayco, a real estate development, architecture, engineering and construction firm. Healey would run the 2016 Chicago Olympic bid committee and would organize the 2012 NATO summit, which was held in Chicago, and 2012 G-8 summit. Formerly, Healey served as the chief executive officer of the

, owner of

McCormick Place McCormick Place is a convention center in Chicago. It is the largest convention center in North America. It consists of four interconnected buildings and one indoor arena sited on and near the shore of Lake Michigan, about south of the Chicago ...

, the USA's largest convention center and

Navy Pier Navy Pier is a pier on the shoreline of Lake Michigan, located in the Streeterville neighborhood of the Near North Side, Chicago, Near North Side community area in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Navy Pier encompasses over of shops, restaura ...

, Illinois top-visited tourist destination and the 1,258 Hyatt Regency McCormick Place. The Authority's activities generate approximately $10 billion annually into the economy and supports 66,000 jobs. In her role as CEO, Healey oversaw the development of the McCormick Collection which includes a 10,000 seat event center, which became known as

, and a 1,206 room Marriott Marquis Headquarters Hotel. Both opened in 2017. Prior to joining the MPEA, Healey served as the chief executive officer of Tur Partners LLC, a firm founded by Chicago's former mayor

. Healey also served as Principal in Charge of the Development Group for the John Buck Company, focused on growing the firm's private real estate and infrastructure related transactions. She coordinated the organizational and planning activities for the NATO Summit in Chicago in 2012, acting as Director of the NATO Host Committee as an executive "on loan," overseeing planning, fundraising and implementation of the Summit in an 8-month time frame. Healey built a strong public sector career during which she earned a reputation for bringing together private and public leaders. In 2009, Healey was appointed President of Chicago for 2016, where she was responsible for locally leading Chicago's bid for the

2016 Summer Olympics The 2016 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXXI Olympiad () and officially branded as Rio 2016, were an international multi-sport event held from 5 to 21 August 2016 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, with preliminary events i ...

. Healey held several senior positions for the City of Chicago under the administration of mayor Richard M. Daley, most recently as Daley's Chief of Staff. She earlier served as Commissioner of the city's Department of Planning and Development, overseeing more than $1 billion of combined investment into the city's economic development programs and projects. Healey's previous experiences include time as a principal at

Perkins + Will Perkins is a surname derived from the Anglo-Saxon corruption of the wikt:kin, kin of Pierre (from Pierre kin to Pierrekin to Perkins), introduced into England by the Norman Conquest. It is found throughout mid- and southern England. Another deriva ...

, and as deputy director for Business Development of the (then) Illinois Department of Commerce & Community Affairs. Healey began her career as a policy aide to former Kansas Governor John Carlin in 1983. Healey's civic involvement includes being a board member for Local Initiatives Support Chicago (LISC), World Business Chicago,

Chicago Architecture Foundation The Chicago Architecture Center (CAC), formerly the Chicago Architecture Foundation, is a nonprofit cultural organization based in Chicago, Illinois, United States, whose mission is to inspire people to discover why design matters. Founded in ...

, Loyola University Health System, Chicago Police Memorial Foundation, City Club of Chicago, Chicago Fire Department Foundation, as well as being an Ex-Officio Board Member for Navy Pier, Inc., and Choose Chicago. Healey's civic involvement also includes the Economic Club of Chicago, The

Commercial Club of Chicago The Commercial Club of Chicago is a nonprofit 501(c)(4) social welfare organization founded in 1877 with a mission to promote the social and economic vitality of the metropolitan area of Chicago. History The Commercial Club was founded in 187 ...

and the Chicago Network.

Personal life

Healey was born in

New Orleans New Orleans (commonly known as NOLA or The Big Easy among other nicknames) is a Consolidated city-county, consolidated city-parish located along the Mississippi River in the U.S. state of Louisiana. With a population of 383,997 at the 2020 ...

. She had a

Master of Science A Master of Science (; abbreviated MS, M.S., MSc, M.Sc., SM, S.M., ScM or Sc.M.) is a master's degree. In contrast to the Master of Arts degree, the Master of Science degree is typically granted for studies in sciences, engineering and medici ...

Public Administration Public administration, or public policy and administration refers to "the management of public programs", or the "translation of politics into the reality that citizens see every day",Kettl, Donald and James Fessler. 2009. ''The Politics of the ...

and a

Bachelor of Arts A Bachelor of Arts (abbreviated B.A., BA, A.B. or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is the holder of a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the liberal arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts deg ...

in economics from

Kansas State University Kansas State University (KSU, Kansas State, or K-State) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university with its main campus in Manhattan, Kansas, United States. It was opened as the state's land-grant coll ...

. ''

Crain's Chicago Business ''Crain's Chicago Business'' is a weekly business newspaper in Chicago, IL. It is owned by Detroit-based Crain Communications. History The first issue of ''Crain's Chicago Business'' is dated April 17, 1978. In 1977, when Crain Communicati ...

'' featured Healey in its "Forty Under Forty" publication in 1999 and as a "Woman to Watch" in 2009. Healey dated Walt Eckenhoff and had two children. She died of

pancreatic cancer Pancreatic cancer arises when cell (biology), cells in the pancreas, a glandular organ behind the stomach, begin to multiply out of control and form a Neoplasm, mass. These cancerous cells have the malignant, ability to invade other parts of ...

on May 3, 2025, at the age of 65.

External links

"40 Under 40: Healey"
Greg Hinz

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Healey, Lori 20th-century births 2025 deaths People from Chicago American urban planners Women urban planners 1959 births Deaths from pancreatic cancer in Illinois