Alumni Spotlight

Alumni Spotlight: Ciere Boatright—Part Two
Commissioner, City of Chicago Department of Planning and Development
LINK Alum, LINK Board Member, Former LINK Mentor

We’re excited to bring you Part Two of our Alumni Spotlight on Ciere Boatright. In the last newsletter, we heard about Ciere’s time as a LINK Scholar and then as a Mentor. Today we’ll be learning more about her life journey and career path.

Ciere is very clear on how she got to where she is today: hard work, amazing mentors, a can-do attitude, and a supportive family. But it wasn’t easy.

“Growing up on the south side of Chicago, we recognized a lot of things that we didn’t have,” she remarked. “We left our neighborhoods for almost everything. And for me, it was normal until it wasn’t. I recognized that our neighborhoods are beautiful; the architecture is beautiful, but where are the resources? Restaurants, coffee shops, and amenities that other residents take for granted? I think it just fueled my passion for community development, economic development, and real estate development in a way that maybe I couldn’t even define as a high school student, but I was excited to go off to college and learn more.”

Ciere’s LINK Mentor graduated from Hamilton College, and that’s where Ciere went too. Her college experience opened her eyes and broadened her perspective in many ways. She came back to Chicago energized and ready to go. She worked in banking for several years while she went to graduate school and earned a master’s degree in urban planning. Afterward, she spent 10 years working for a nonprofit developer doing high-impact real estate development projects on the south and west sides of Chicago.

Then she went over to the profit side, taking all the best practices she had learned—how to do thoughtful real estate development, how to authentically engage communities, how to plan with communities vs. planning for communities, and how to ensure that the benefits realized are realized by local stakeholders and residents.

“I was really privileged to have doors opened for me and to have a seat at tables that, honestly, my teenage self would never have imagined,” she shared. “And now, here I am the commissioner for the Department of Planning and Development. It feels like a dream. It feels amazing. I’m a southside girl who was an eager beaver, a LINK Scholar, and through the power of mentorship, I learned to channel my energy and fuel my passion, not just to make a lot of money but to really effect change in our community.”

“LINK had a big impact on my life,” she continued. “It’s an incredible organization. There was something really special about having folks who weren’t related to me say that I was amazing and I could do great things. They told me to dream big and get out of my comfort zone and work hard because the sky’s the limit. That reinforcement was so powerful. LINK is the perfect home for that kind of reinforcement; it’s a safe space.”

“But Mentors who push you to go further than you’re comfortable going,” she added, “sometimes it’s that push that’s absolutely needed for Scholars to truly be successful. LINK is a game-changer, and they’re raising game-changers through their college readiness programs and through mentorship.”

For those considering becoming a LINK Mentor, Ciere can’t say enough: “It’s a joy! It’s worth your time. It’s worth your passion. It’s worth your energy. It’s worth your investment. Our kiddos are our future, and while we may see some of the challenges, most importantly we need to see the opportunities. We have to invest in our kids, the next generation. And these kids are stars—they’re amazing and brilliant, and they deserve to be seen, heard, loved, mentored, supported, and encouraged. They deserve to have people who really care about them.”

“For mentors, sponsors, board members, and other volunteers—education is a really solid village, an amazing village to be a part of,” Ciere summarized. “So, if you’re looking to invest your time and you’re ready to pull up your sleeves, then LINK is the place to do it, for sure!”

Thank you, Ciere, for your investment in LINK!