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Board of Commissioners Biographies

Modesto Valle, Vice President

Modesto Valle, Vice President

Modesto Tico Valle is the Chief Executive Officer of Center on Halsted, the most comprehensive community center in the Midwest dedicated to advancing community and securing the health and well-being of the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ) community in Chicago. 

A native of Chicago, Valle is a longtime community activist and organizer. He founded the Chicago Chapter NAMES Project AIDS Memorial Quilt in 1990 and was instrumental in bringing the AIDS Memorial Quilt to the National Mall in 1996. He has served as both a volunteer and staff member at a number of Chicago-area non-profits including Chicago House, Test Positive Awareness Network, and Open Hand Chicago, where he served as the organization's first Volunteer Services Director. 

Valle was named CEO of Center on Halsted in 2007, where he oversaw the opening of the 175,000-square-foot community center. Since taking the helm, the Center on Halsted has grown into a full-fledged community center with an annual operating budget of more than $7 million. Under his leadership, more than 1,400 community members visit the Center every day. Patrons participate in the wide variety of programs and services offered ranging from the arts, volleyball, cooking classes, and yoga to HIV testing, group therapy, and job training. Valle was instrumental in bringing several landmark efforts to the Center, such as the first LGBTQ-friendly affordable housing project for seniors and the nation’s first LGBT clinical psychology internship with Northwestern University. In the spring of 2016, Valle led the launch of the Center’s Youth Housing Initiative, as well as the fall 2017 launch of the Get to Zero campaign. 

Valle attended DePaul University and Notre Dame's Seminary School. In addition, he holds certificates in nonprofit management from Harvard Business School and Northwestern University's Kellogg School of Management and Honorary Doctor of Humane Letters, Honoris Causa. He was recently appointed to the CenterLink Board of Directors and has served on the board of the NAMES Project Foundation, Equality Education Project, City of Chicago LGBT Health Council, Illinois Violence Prevention Authority Board, City of Chicago Employment Task Force, Welcoming Committee NATO, Illinois HIV/AIDS Advisory Council, Board Member of Horizons Community Services and the Chicago Children's Choir. He was appointed as a Commissioner for the Chicago Park District in 2021. In recognition of his work, Valle has been named Chicagoan of the Year by Chicago Magazine, inducted into the Chicago Gay and Lesbian Hall of Fame, honored by the national NAMES Project Foundation and the Norman Bobbins Leadership Award, and received a Red Ribbon Leadership Award from the State of Illinois, recognized as 2018, 2019 2020 & 2021 Crain’s LGBT Executive Leadership.

 



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