Jamie Rhee

For over two decades, Jamie L. Rhee has championed good governance and accountability for the City of Chicago. Most recently, she was appointed and confirmed by City Council as the Chief Procurement Officer in August 2009 and reappointed in July 2013.

In her current role, she is responsible for the management of the contracting of goods and services for dozens of user departments of the City of Chicago, and the certification of thousands of minority, women-owned, and disadvantaged business enterprises. Rhee has led the transformation of City procurement through transparency and innovation. This transformation includes the development of over twenty programs and incentives that reform and modernize the procurement process. These measures were designed to strengthen and streamline opportunities for Chicago’s small, minority, and women-owned businesses. The programs include the Diversity Credit Program, Small and Mid-Sized Business Initiatives and the Project Area Subcontractor Bid Incentive, as well as many others impacting the vendor community at all levels.

Rhee was named Co-Chair of the nationally-recognized Procurement Reform Task Force, which, in collaboration with the Office of Inspector General, was tasked to advance efforts to ensure that the policies and practices of the City and Sister Agencies support competition, efficiency, transparency, integrity, and uniformity in procurement. The goal of the Task Force is to streamline operations, reduce redundancies, and enhance resource management across the City and its Sister Agencies, while seeking to maintain the public’s trust and ensure the best value with taxpayer dollars.

Prior to her appointment as CPO, Rhee served as a Deputy Chief of Staff for Mayor Richard M. Daley, General Counsel for the O'Hare Modernization Program (OMP), Deputy Commissioner of the Real Estate Services Division in the Department of Planning, and Development and Regulatory Affairs Officer for O’Hare and Midway Airports.

Rhee received a Bachelor of Arts degree from Michigan State University and a Juris Doctorate degree from the DePaul University School of Law. She is conversant in French, Japanese and Spanish.