George Cardenas is currently in his first term as Cook County Board of Review Commissioner

of the First District, which consists of the southwest side of Chicago, parts of the northwest

side of Chicago, the western suburbs, and the northwest suburbs. Before he was

Commissioner, he served 20 years as a Chicago alderman, where he was the Deputy Floor

Leader of City Council, Chair of the Environmental Protection and Energy Committee, and

Vice-Chair of the Committee on Immigrant and Refugee Rights. Commissioner Cardenas is

also an appointed member of the Cook County Environmental Commission.

As a young child, Cardenas and his family came to Chicago in search of the American Dream

after emigrating from Durango, Mexico. After graduating from Lane Technical High School in

1984, Cardenas joined the United States Navy to help pay for his education. After earning an

honorable discharge, George successfully earned an undergraduate degree in accounting and

a master’s degree in political science from Northeastern Illinois University. Before joining

government, Cardenas accumulated over a decade of experience working for Fortune 500

companies. This background gives him valuable insight into the needs of the community and

a desire to be a voice for positive change for the area.

Commissioner George Cardenas, who was raised in the Chicago neighborhood of Little

Village, currently resides in McKinley Park with his family.

A seasoned business executive, marketing and strategic thought leader with more than 30 years of experience, Michael joined Clayco, one of America’s largest fully integrated design and engineering centric builder and real estate development firm across the commercial, industrial and residential sector as its first ever Chief Growth Officer and President of Chicagoland in early 2024. Prior to this role between, Michael led as President and CEO World Business Chicago, the City’s economic development organization, with more than 100 C-Suite executives from all over Chicagoland on its business centric board between 2020 and early 2024. The organization’s core focus is on growing its industry sectors by supporting the expansion of existing Chicagoland based companies and by attracting new corporate relocations to the region, all with a focus on equitable economic prosperity across all 77 neighborhoods and the region. Additionally, Michael worked alongside the Mayor’s Office as the Chief Marketing Officer to ensure that all marketing, branding, and business development activities for the city were aligned with Mayor Lightfoot’s and then Mayor Johnson’s economic growth plan focused on inclusive growth across Chicago’s 77 neighborhoods.

Michael Fassnacht has been a recurring figure in Chicago’s civic community and has led critical pro-bono work for the rebranding of the Chicago Public Library and its foundation, the city’s Amazon HQ2 pitch, the City’s Census 2020 activities and “Boards of Change”, an award-winning initiative to encourage residents to register to vote. Most recently, Michael served as a Co-Chair on Mayor Johnson’s transition sub-committee for Economic Vitaly & Equity. Additionally, he has been involved as a board member with Choose Chicago, Chicago Public Library Foundation, The Civic Consulting Alliance, CURRENT, The Poetry Foundation, and World Business Chicago while providing counsel to P33, and The Chicago Prize by the Pritzker/Traubert Foundation. Michael also serves as a 2022 Daniel Burnham Fellow.

Prior to his most recent role, Michael served for more than 10 years as CEO & President at one of the city’s oldest and most successful advertising agencies, Foote Cone & Belding (FCB). He led his agency to unprecedented international creative recognition and strong above-industry topline growth over his tenure. Over his long career, he has been recognized as a global expert in building and marketing brands. He started his corporate success trajectory at Lufthansa Airlines in Frankfurt, where he led the airline’s frequent flyer program, Miles & More, before departing to Silicon Valley where he was a successful start-up entrepreneur.

Michael was born in Germany and made his way stateside in college where he met his wife, Dr. Rhonda Duffaut. They currently reside in Chicago and have two children, Maya and Ryan.