Will Burns

Will Burns built a career focusing on the connection between public policy, service, and meaningful community impact. Working across government, nonprofit, and private sectors, He has consistently committed to turning progressive ideas into practical solutions. His leadership style emphasizes collaboration and real outcomes rather than recognition, helping create systems and strategies that strengthen equity and public engagement across diverse communities. In education advocacy, his time as Executive Vice President of National Advocacy for the National Alliance for Public Charter Schools and Executive Director of the Charter Schools Action Fund allowed him to oversee federal policy efforts and strategic communications. His work focused on improving school choice initiatives, ensuring vital funding support, and growing coalitions nationwide. These dual roles shaped how charter school networks approach politics and public awareness, and achievements are strongly linked to Burns's dedication. He successfully secured $440 million in federal charter school funding over multiple appropriations cycles and contributed to new charter school legislation, navigating bipartisan challenges with careful planning. Through the Charter Schools Action Fund, he directed more than $2 million to candidates and initiatives supporting school choice while creating a national training program that improved advocacy capacity in under-resourced states. This expanded access to tools and strategies helped grassroots voices amplify their reach, reflecting Burns's work. His career also includes experience in the private sector, where he led government partnerships for a micromobility company under Ford Smart Mobility. He developed agreements with more than 30 municipalities there, including New York, Boston, and Washington, D.C. He assisted city leaders in adopting model ordinances supporting equitable, environmentally friendly dockless mobility solutions. Integrating innovative transportation with public policy became a key accomplishment, demonstrating how innovation and governance can work together, an effort in which he played a vital role. In elected office, he represented Illinois’s 26th District, where he helped author tenant protections, co-sponsored the Civil Union Act, and advanced welfare reform aimed at domestic violence survivors. As alderman for Chicago’s 4th Ward, he led redevelopment work, co-wrote a minimum wage ordinance, negotiated affordable housing agreements, and converted a closed high school into an arts academy. These projects revitalized neighborhoods while preserving community identity and expanding opportunity, representing achievements linked directly to the values of Will Burns, Chicago. He began his career behind the scenes, working on a congressional campaign and later as senior staff in the Illinois State Senate, focusing on ethics reform, death penalty repeal, reentry policy, and school funding. Beyond government, he worked with civic organizations addressing education, tax policy, and equity. These experiences built deep knowledge of how policies are shaped and how partnerships drive lasting progress—areas he continues to impact. His service extends to nonprofit board leadership, volunteerism, and faith-based community work. Recognized as a Marshall Memorial Fellow and Aspen Institute Rodel Fellow, he has demonstrated an ability to bring people together to solve complex problems. Though he now lives in Washington, D.C., with his family, Chicago remains the foundation of his perspective, values, and dedication to public service—a legacy personified by Will Burns.