Kellye Keyes chosen as Village of Oak Park Chief DEI Officer
Published on June 16, 2025
Village Manager Kevin J. Jackson has announced the appointment of Kellye A. Keyes as Oak Park’s new Chief Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) Officer. A highly accomplished public servant and equity-focused leader, Keyes brings more than 25 years of legal, executive, and community-based experience to this critical leadership role. Her first day with the Village will be June 23.
“We are thrilled to welcome Kellye to Oak Park,” said Jackson. “Her extraordinary combination of legal expertise, public sector leadership and demonstrated commitment to advancing equity makes her uniquely qualified to lead this work here in Oak Park. She is the right leader at the right time to help us continue to build a more inclusive community.”
“As someone who calls Oak Park home, I’m truly honored to step into this role and build on the important work already underway,” said Keyes. “I care deeply about this community and believe in the power of equity to drive change. I look forward to listening, learning, and working together with Village leadership, residents, and business owners to ensure that equity and inclusion are not just values we uphold, but practices we embed across every aspect of our Village operations.”
As Chief DEI Officer, Keyes will lead the Village’s Office of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion, guiding the development and implementation of the Village’s first-ever Racial Equity Action Plan, advancing inclusive policies across municipal operations and strengthening partnerships with community groups, citizen commissions, and other regional allies. She will also serve as the Village’s Human Rights Ordinance Administrator and staff liaison to several citizen commissions.
Keyes previously served as the inaugural Chairperson and Executive Director of the Illinois Commission on Equity and Inclusion, where she was appointed by Illinois Governor JB Pritzker to launch and lead a new state agency tasked with dismantling systemic barriers to equity in public contracting and hiring. Under her leadership, the State of Illinois awarded more than $1 million in contracts for the first time to certified Business Enterprise Program (BEP) and veteran-owned business, marking an historic milestone in equitable contracting and supplier diversity. The Commission further exceeded expectations by making progress on all of its nine legislative goals, while also helping shape legislative and procurement strategy across state agencies, universities and community colleges.
Keyes also held senior leadership roles with the State of Illinois Executive Ethics Commission, the Chief Judge’s Office of the Circuit Court of Cook County and the Chicago Housing Authority, where she led multimillion-dollar budgets, directed compliance and planning departments and helped establish the Restorative Justice Community Court of the Circuit Court of Cook County. Earlier in her career, she practiced law privately for over a decade.
A resident of Oak Park, Keyes holds a Juris Doctor from American University Washington College of Law and a Bachelor of Arts in political science and history from Emory University. She is licensed to practice law in Illinois, a trained Restorative Justice Practitioner, and holds a Project Management Certification from Loyola University Chicago.
For more information about the Village of Oak Park’s DEI initiatives, visit www.oak-park.us/dei.
About Oak Park - The Village of Oak Park, located just nine miles west of downtown Chicago, offers a distinctive urban/suburban lifestyle in a thriving, multi-cultural community. Well-known for progressive values, tree-lined streets and bustling business districts, Oak Park serves as an ideal place to live, work and play. As a longstanding community of choice, the Village benefits from convenient access to local and regional transit, high-quality public schools, and arts and cultural attractions, including Frank Lloyd Wright’s home and studio and his acclaimed Unity Temple, which was recently designated as a UNESCO World Heritage site.