Ianna Kachoris is the senior director of policy and advocacy at The Chicago Community Trust.
She leads government engagement and the Trust’s local, state and federal public policy strategy. Ianna brings to this role more than 20 years of experience in the government, nonprofit and philanthropic sector.
Prior to joining the Trust, Ianna was director of strategy, research initiatives and philanthropic partnerships for the University of Chicago Office of Civic Engagement. Before that, she served as a senior program officer with the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation overseeing the Foundation’s multi-year, $25 million How Housing Matters to Families and Communities housing policy and research initiative. Ianna also led The Pew Charitable Trusts’ Economic Mobility Project, guiding the project’s research agenda, publications, and communications strategy. She also served as senior policy advisory to U.S. Senator Edward M. Kennedy on economic development and economic policy. Ianna has held positions with the Fannie Mae Foundation, the Metropolitan Planning Council, and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
Ianna has a master’s degree in public policy from the University of Chicago Harris School of Public Policy and a bachelor of arts degree in sociology from Emory University.
She is a proud Chicagoan and lives in the Bucktown neighborhood with her husband Sam and their two boys, Giovanni and Nicolo.