CHICAGO, IL.- Madeleine Grynsztejn, Pritzker Director of the Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago, has announced the election of Cari B. Sacks as the new Chair of the Board of Trustees of the MCA. The election was official on June 29, 2021, and Sacks succeeds the former Board Chair Michael O’Grady.

“We are delighted to welcome Cari Sacks as our new Chair of the Board of Trustees,” says Madeleine Grynsztejn. “Her longstanding support of the MCA demonstrates her passion and commitment to our staff, our vision, and our values. She brings a wide range of experience, capability, and leadership to the MCA and we look forward to the ways her wisdom and dedication to contemporary art and education will contribute to the MCA’s vision for the future.”

Cari is an active philanthropist involved in supporting numerous civic and cultural organizations. At the MCA, she has served on the Board of Trustees since 2004 and is Vice Chair of the Executive Committee. Her extraordinary work as co-chair of the MCA’s 2019 Benefit Art Auction helped raise a record-breaking $6 million for the museum and she has supported the museum’s work with the Chicago Public Schools through her own philanthropy. She has served on the MCA’s strategic planning committee and is part of the Board’s IDEA task force which is committed to actions toward greater inclusion, diversity, equity, and accessibility at the museum and on the Board. Sacks says of her appointment, “I am thrilled to continue my work with the MCA in this new role. I look forward to finding greater ways to build on the impactful work of the museum and to continue to support our staff.”

Cari has served as an appointee to both the City of Chicago’s Cultural Advisory Council and to President Obama’s Advisory Committee on the Arts. She is a trustee of the Erikson Institute, where she received her Masters degree, and has been a member of their Board since 2002. She is a supporter of the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum where she has been a trustee since 2000.

Cari also serves on the Board of Directors of the Steppenwolf Theater Company as well as Personal PAC, a nonpartisan political action committee based in Illinois. She is on the Advisory Board of FARE, the Food Allergy Research and Education Foundation, whose mission is to improve the life and health of the 32 million Americans with food allergies. Cari is currently serving on the Campaign Steering Committee for Planned Parenthood Illinois. Cari has a degree in psychology from the University of San Diego and received her Masters in early childhood development from the Erikson Institute. She lives in Chicago with her husband Michael with whom she has endowed scholarships for Chicago Public Schools graduates to attend Northwestern University.