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PROPOSED APPOINTMENT
Appointee(s): Chris Rudd and Robert A. Weinstock
Position: Council Members
Department/Board/Commission: Conservation & Policy Council
Effective date: 1/1/2027
Expiration date: 12/31/2029
Summary: The Nominating Committee for the Conservation and Policy Council is committed to nominating candidates from across Cook County who bring different perspectives to the Council, reflect the diversity of Cook County, and provide a broad range of expertise. This commitment has led to a council which includes members from northeast, northwest, south, and central Cook County.
The Nominating Committee recommends the appointment of Chris Rudd and Robert A. Weinstock to fill two upcoming vacancies from the retirement of Council members Mark Templeton and Laurel Ross as of 12/31/2026. President Preckwinkle concurs with the committee's recommendation and seeks the Board's advice and consent related to the two appointments.
The Conservation and Policy Council advises the President, Board of Commissioners, and General Superintendent and develops and annually updates a strategic plan to operationalize the Next Century Conservation Plan. The Council also reviews and makes recommendations for the annual budget, conservation policies and practices, and long-term strategic issues.
Chris Rudd is an award-winning designer, community organizer, and founder of ChiByDesign, a Black-owned and people-of-color-led social and civic design firm. Chris has a deep background in social equity work, systems change, and youth development. He’s worked with youth and community residents across Chicago, supporting them in designing new anti-racist infrastructures to enable an equitable future. Chris is a former Clinical Professor of Practice and Lead of Community-led Design at the Institute of Design (ID) at IIT, where his work focused on advancing the co-design practice and developing an anti-racist design field. Chris is a former Stanford Institute of Design (d.school) Civic Innovation fellow, a 2021 Illinois Science and Technology Coalition Researcher to Know, and a 2022 World-Changing Ideas honoree.
Robert A. Weinstock joined the Northwestern Pritzker Law faculty in 2022 as the Director of the Environmental Advocacy Center (EAC) and a Clinical Associate Professor of Law, where he now leads in clinical instruction and the management of the EAC’s diverse and cutting-edge advocacy efforts. His substantive areas of interest - and the EAC’s docket - include environmental justice advocacy on behalf of community organizations in Chicago, complex environmental citizen-suit enforcement litigation, and work in state utilities commission proceedings on energy issues, among many other issues. Before coming to Northwestern, Professor Weinstock was an Associate Clinical Professor with the University of Chicago’s Abrams Environmental Law Clinic and practiced complex litigation at Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison, in New York, and environmental law at Barnes & Thornburg, in Chicago. He also served as a law clerk to The Honorable Victor Marrero on the Southern District of New York.
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