Julie Burros was the director of Cultural Planning for the City of Chicago’s Department of Cultural Affairs and Special Events, a position she held for more than fifteen years.  She worked at the intersection of planning, culture, community development, and capacity building. She strengthened the arts community, and improved the city’s cultural identity. She has a diversity of experience in policymaking, grant programming, non-profit development, and municipal government.

She earned her undergraduate work at the college at the University of Chicago, majoring in sociology, and her graduate work at Columbia University at the Graduate School of Architecture.