Terry Mazany

Terry Mazany

Terry Mazany is president and chief executive officer for The Chicago Community Trust. In 2004, Mazany was appointed as the fifth chief executive officer in the Trust’s history. Mazany has risen through the ranks, serving as chief operating officer and as director and senior program officer for the Education Initiative where he led the design and implementation of the Trust’s initial $50 million, five-year commitment to improvement in Chicago schools. In addition, Mazany recently concluded his tenure as the interim chief executive officer of Chicago Public Schools, a district of more than 400,000 students and over 650 schools with a budget of $6 billion. He was appointed to this position in November of 2010 by Chicago's Mayor Richard M. Daley to provide leadership for the nation's third largest school district until a new mayor was elected. In response to the economic recession and an invitation from Mayor Daley of Chicago, Mazany helped organize and lead the Recovery Partnership involving over 50 foundations to support the distribution of over $1 billion in American Recovery and Reinvestment Act funds in Chicago. Mazany is a member of the board of directors of the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago and the Council on Foundations. He served as past chair of its Community Foundation Leadership Team representing the nation's 700 community foundations, and a member of the Diversity in Philanthropy Project. Mazany came to the Trust from a distinguished career in public school administration, working in districts across the country including Detroit, Chicago, Baltimore, Oakland, and San Francisco. Mazany received a Masters in Anthropology and a Masters in Business Administration, with an emphasis on organizational change, from the University of Arizona. Preceding his work in the public sector, Mazany enjoyed his first career as an archaeologist and dendrochronologist — using tree-ring chronologies to date human settlements and develop past climate records.