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Public Policy Analysis Challenge

The Hon. Brian Hopkins

Positions Held

Alderman, City of Chicago, 2nd Ward

Brian Hopkins was first elected to Chicago’s City Council to serve the 2nd Ward in May of 2015. He is currently serving his third term. 

Prior to being elected to office, Alderman Hopkins served as Chief of Staff to Cook County Commissioner & Finance Committee Chairman John P. Daley.

Along with his job at the County, Alderman Hopkins was twice voted President of the the Streeterville Organization of Active Residents (SOAR). At the helm of SOAR, Hopkins represented the community and solved complex issues to improve the quality of life for local residents. 

A champion of environmental, sustainability and resiliency initiatives, Hopkins served on Lakeshore Planning Committee, a group of civic leaders advocating a bold plan to add more green space and public parkland to Chicago's Lakefront. 

Today, Alderman Hopkins continues his work to deliver open, green and recreational space for all Chicagoans, and fights to protect constituents from health risks associated with environmental contamination at former industrial sites.

Representing a diverse ward that includes neighborhoods spanning from Streeterville and the Gold Coast, to Lincoln Park, Bucktown and Ukrainian Village, Alderman Hopkins has shepherded some of Chicago’s most important and impactful projects to completion.

In 2017, Alderman Hopkins conducted a public review process and secured unanimous community support for One Chicago Square, a high-rise mixed-use development in the Gold Coast generating over $50 million in annual city tax revenues and over 1,400 new, full-time jobs.

In 2018, after almost two years of public meetings and negotiation, Hopkins delivered Lincoln Yards, a project that will create over 24,000 citywide jobs, new infrastructure grids, 22 acres of parks and green space, and the most affordable housing ever created on-site from a Chicago development.

Along with major economic development projects, Alderman Hopkins has introduced and delivered some of the Council’s most forward-thinking legislation, including Chicago’s first mural art registry, condo-privacy protections, and collaborative policing strategies between CPD and private and institutional security.

Alderman Hopkins earned his bachelor’s degree from the University of Illinois-Springfield (Sangamon State). He is an avid Blackhawks fan who enjoys spending time with friends, and all that Chicago has to offer with his wife, Colleen, and son, Ryan.