°µÍø½ûÇøÆƽâ°æ is excited to announce that Board of Trustees members J.C. Gonzalez-Mendez and Valerie Barker Waller will take on new roles as chair and vice chair, respectively. Both bring decades of business acumen and volunteer experience, and we congratulate them on their new roles as they work to grow °µÍø½ûÇøÆƽâ°æ’s impact on the Chicago community and academic world.
J.C. Gonzalez-Mendez is an awarded business leader and global operations specialist who began as the very first employee for McDonald’s Mexico in 1984 as Country Purchasing Manager. He then moved to the United States, where he held several positions internationally until he returned to Mexico as President of McDonald’s. He also served as Chief Purchasing Officer of North America and eventually ascended to President of McDonald’s Latin America. In that role, he was responsible for operations of over 2,000 McDonalds’s locations in 29 countries with sales exceeding $5 billion. He also served as Chief Global Sustainability, Diversity and Inclusion, Community Engagement and Philanthropy Officer. Simultaneously, he was the president and CEO of Ronald McDonald House Charities, the philanthropic arm of McDonald’s Corporation that helps children and families when a child is sick and undergoing medical treatment.
Over the years, he has served on several boards, including the Mexican American Opportunity Foundation, the Council of the Americas, the National Council of La Raza, the People with Disabilities Fund of the Chicago Community Trust and the Corporate Board of Advisors of the Marshall School of Business of the University of Southern California. Today, he serves on the board of the We Are All Human Foundation and Northwestern Medicine. He has a BS in biochemical engineering from the Instituto Tecnológico y de Estudios Superiores de Monterrey in Mexico and an MBA from the University of Southern California Marshall School of Business.
Valerie Barker Waller is a seasoned leader with marketing strategy, branding and integrated communications experience in Fortune 500 companies, nonprofit and civic organizations, and advertising agencies. She most recently served as the Senior Vice President and Chief Marketing & Communications Officer at YMCA of the USA, where she oversaw brand management, strategic marketing and communications, national events, and public engagement to support YMCA locations across the country. Her previous leadership roles include Vice President of Marketing & Communications at United Way of Metro Chicago, Director of Brand Marketing Communications at United Airlines and Vice President of Marketing & Public Relations at the Museum of Science and Industry. Waller also served as Director of Marketing and Communications for Chicago’s bid to host the 2016 Olympic and Paralympic Games.
A Chicago native, Waller is a member of the Art Institute of Chicago’s Leadership Advisory Committee, the Page Society and Ragan’s Communications Week Advisory Board. Her past civic and professional leadership includes serving on the boards of the Chicago Community Land Trust, Women Employed and the Public Relations Society of America (PRSA) - Chicago. Waller received her undergraduate degree in finance and business economics from the University of Notre Dame and earned an MBA at the University of Michigan Ross School of Business.
