Dorri McWhorter, a trailblazer in each the nonprofit and company sectors, has been named the subsequent president and CEO of the Executives’ Membership of Chicago, efficient June 2. With this appointment, McWhorter turns into the primary African American to guide the distinguished enterprise group, marking a historic second within the membership’s 112-year historical past.
McWhorter, the previous CEO of the YMCA of Metropolitan Chicago, succeeds Margaret Mueller, who stepped down in March after six years on the helm to hitch Tilia Holdings, a non-public funding agency. Beneath Mueller’s management, the membership noticed spectacular development, together with a lift in company membership and the acquisition of the Human Assets Administration Affiliation of Chicago.
McWhorter’s appointment is not only a change in management—it indicators a daring imaginative and prescient for inclusive innovation. “The Exec Membership is such a very particular and essential platform to problem, encourage, and activate leaders in any respect ranges to deal with the complexities of contemporary enterprise and form a metropolis and a world that works for all of us,” McWhorter stated in an announcement. “Chicago’s broad shoulders can elevate up the concepts and innovation that change the world.”
Her management credentials are well-earned. McWhorter stepped into her position on the YMCA in 2021 throughout a monetary disaster exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic. With a $29 million working loss in fiscal yr 2020, the group was in determined want of strategic revival. McWhorter delivered—boosting income from $58 million in 2021 to $82 million by 2023, whereas reducing the deficit from $23 million in 2022 to $12 million in 2023.
However her success prolonged far past the steadiness sheet. She reimagined the YMCA’s mission to fulfill the wants of a post-pandemic Chicago. Increasing providers into power illness prevention, meals safety, job coaching, and psychological well being, McWhorter maintained the group’s core applications whereas aligning them with broader well being and wellness outcomes. Her initiative to get the town “shifting and energetic once more” was rooted in a easy however transformative aim: enhancing well being by play.
Her capacity to guide with imaginative and prescient and influence has made her a standout in Chicago’s management circles. Board Chair Christine Schyvinck referred to as McWhorter a “visionary enterprise chief” and praised her as “an incredible expertise, a real innovator, and a powerhouse of transformative pondering that this metropolis wants — and deserves.”
A former companion at accounting agency Crowe Horwath and a long-standing presence in civic life, McWhorter additionally serves on boards together with LanzaTech International, Lifeway Meals, the Chicago Council on International Affairs, Hope Chicago, and the Civic Consulting Alliance. She was lately named to Crain’s 2024 Girls of Word checklist, recognizing her enduring influence.
Her newest position brings her full circle with rolling out, which acknowledged her years in the past as a Sister With Superpowers, honoring her as one in every of Chicago’s most impactful Black girls leaders. Her recognition then mirrored her dedication to fairness and excellence—ideas that proceed to outline her profession at present.
As she takes the helm of the Executives’ Membership, McWhorter is poised to form the way forward for enterprise management in Chicago, pushing the boundaries of what’s attainable when goal meets energy. Her journey is proof that visionary management can shift paradigms and that when one lady rises, she brings the town along with her.