Jack Brofman MPP’16 Recognized as a Rising Star by The Bond Buyer Magazine

In its Fall 2019 issue, The Bond Buyer magazine named Jack Brofman MPP’16, now Deputy Chief Financial Officer at the City of Chicago, as one of the 28 Rising Stars in the municipal finance industry. The specific qualities associated with the Rising Star honor dovetail with the skills Brofman developed as a student in the MPP and Certificate in Municipal Finance programs at the Harris School of Public Policy. These qualities of “leadership, collaborative spirit, innovation and creativity” were noticed by his nominator and then confirmed by The Bond Buyer, which received a record number of qualified submissions.

Brofman’s time at Harris Public Policy created opportunities which extended beyond his graduate career and still impact his work in Chicago’s finance department. As a student, he began to conduct research for Mesirow, doing impact investment research.

“Jack Brofman was an incredible student and an obvious rising star, even before The Bond Buyer noticed,” said Michael Belsky AM’83, executive director of the Center for Municipal Finance at the University of Chicago Harris School of Public Policy. “Chicago faces substantial financial challenges, but it is better off thanks to Jack’s service in city government.”

Brofman’s analytical range and force of personality put him in a position to put his Certificate in Municipal Finance to use on a higher scale when Mayor Lori Lightfoot took office and he became Deputy Chief Financial Officer. As Deputy CFO, he works to maintain relationships between the city and its stakeholders while assessing the finance department’s proposals. Chief Financial Officer Jennie Huang Bennett, sees him as “an integral part” of these processes, able to communicate information on the city’s finances with “investors, lending partners as well as rating agencies.”

Brofman further shares his gifts with the world through mentorship in the iMentor program, which pairs adults one-on-one with Chicago Public School high school juniors.