Meet Maggie

I have deep roots in this district. I was born and raised in Rolling Meadows. My parents were among the city’s original residents, having moved there from the northwest side of Chicago . I was educated in the area’s public schools, which prepared me well for my future. I attended the University of Chicago, earning a bachelor’s degree in chemistry and a master’s degree and Ph.D. in political science.

I spent the next 30 years pursuing a career as an academic and a business researcher that that took me all over the country and gave me deep experience in education, government and the workings of the health care marketplace. After a research fellowship at the Government Data Center at Harvard University, I taught political science at the University of Iowa. I left academia in 1999 and moved to California to work as a market researcher, primarily in the health care field. I worked with Kaiser Foundation Health Plan and Hospitals in Oakland, and with Blue Shield of California, conducting research that was used to better understand customers and patients. In 2011, I joined YouGov America, an internet public opinion firm in Silicon Valley, as an operations executive and as vice president of YouGov Healthcare. In late 2014 I made the decision to return to Rolling Meadows to start my own research firm.

Once back home, I volunteered for the city’s Environmental Committee, working with my fellow residents to restore Rolling Meadows' natural areas and to advise the city on environmental policy. From that experience, and drawing on my 25 years as a bicycle commuter, I also became the bicycle and pedestrian liaison to the city’s Traffic Committee, providing the perspectives of cyclists and pedestrians on road projects and traffic issues.

I can bring this range of experience to the Cook County Board and use it to be an effective commissioner for the 9th District. By the very nature of the work I do, I’ve learned to craft compromise with people who represent a range of interests through honest communication and respectful persuasion . As a market researcher, I often find myself having to deliver bad news to people in positions of power, and then convince them that it is wise to change course. These skills, which I acquired through long experience in the business world, are essential to the work of responsible lawmakers who know their job is to put the needs of their constituents ahead of divisive, partisan politics.

I am running to be your county commissioner because I know we can do better for the 9th District and for Cook County. We need better access to affordable health care, including mental health services. We need to protect our environment and the forest preserves that are so important the quality of life here. We must pursue fiscal responsibility and fair taxation, work for better coordination of critical services across the county while continuing to meet our obligations and ensure that our communities are safer and healthier places to live.