To the people of the State of Illinois,

Effective immediately, I resign my appointment as the Acting Assistant Director of Central Management Services for the State of Illinois.

Prior to accepting this position, I always stated I would step down in my role if I believed the Illinois’ leadership towards helping the community was no longer a genuine priority. Unfortunately, that day has come.

“Don’t tell me where your priorities are. Show me where you spend your time, money and attention and I’ll tell you what they are.” — James Frick

This has never been just another job for me. I accepted a role with Illinois because I saw it as my chance to give back to my community at scale. Our State has a long history of lacking committed strategic investments into the needs of its minority constituents. I was conscious of this and chose to be committed to making a meaningful and measurable impact towards this work. So if I was going to do this job, it had to be real. It had to be a core focus and one of the primary goals for leadership. Working specifically for press releases was never going to be enough for me.

As far as my succession goes, I will always be committed to this work. I’ll be announcing my next projects in the coming weeks. Until that time, trust that anything I involve myself with will have resources, time, and attention behind the words and work.

I urge minority constituents throughout the State to hold all of our leadership accountable. If you do not see progress or movement on the issues you care most about, don’t accept it. Remember, they work for you so expect them to work as such. This isn’t only about leadership. Their teams are responsible too. Look at the positions affecting the areas you are most passionate about and evaluate the performance of those employees. If there is not a trend of improvement within those areas, request they be replaced.

It is my belief that if Illinois had leadership and staff who truly cared about the positive impact these efforts would have on our communities, the proper attention and resources needed would be addressed and we’d experience change.

I’ve met a handful of people along this journey that I truly admire. I hope we all be the change we desire to see.

Thank you for the opportunity to serve you and I look forward to this next chapter.

O