CHICAGO — Mayor Lori E. Lightfoot today announced that Kevin Barszcz will serve as the City of Chicago’s Director of Veteran Affairs. As a Chicago native, Chicago Public Schools (CPS) graduate, and a U.S. Navy Veteran, Barszcz comes with over a decade of experience working within the veteran community, building collaborative partnerships, and providing support to veterans and their family members.

“Since the early days of my administration, Kevin has served on the Advisory Council of Veteran Affairs and most recently as a Chicago Recovery Project Manager focused on homelessness support services,” said Mayor Lightfoot. “Kevin is an incredible leader who advocates for all veterans and their family members. I am profoundly grateful to have him continue supporting our veteran community as the new Director of Veteran Affairs. I have made a promise to our veteran community, and I am proud he will continue that promise through serving those who have served within our great city.”

Prior to becoming Director of Veteran Affairs, Barszcz joined Mayor Lightfoot’s administration as a Chicago Recovery Project Manager, where he led efforts focused on homelessness support services, including rapid rehousing, shelter improvement, stabilization housing, encampment support, and increasing homeless outreach services on CTA and at O’Hare International Airport.

Barszcz also worked with the Department of Family and Support Services (DFSS) to support Asylum Seekers from Texas and donation coordination, providing much-needed critical supplies. Under this role, Barszcz also reestablished the interagency task force on homelessness to increase communication between city departments, stakeholders, and community partners to support the City’s most vulnerable population.

“I am grateful to the City of Chicago and Mayor Lightfoot for the opportunity to continue serving the city I love and the community that I come from,” said Kevin Barszcz. “I want to be known as Chicago’s best Chief Marketing Officer when it comes

to the veteran community and ensure Chicago remains a world-class city for our veterans and their family members. When service members leave the military, I want Chicago to be the city they choose to relocate to, bringing their leadership skills, experience, and knowledge to help design the future of our city.”

Before joining the Mayor’s Office, Barszcz worked for Habitat for Humanity and launched their Veterans Build Program in the Chicagoland area, building federal, state, and local partnerships to help veterans move through the housing continuum from homelessness to homeownership. Barszcz has also held various leadership roles and helped launch and develop multiple nonprofit programs supporting veterans, including employment services, social engagement, housing, and mental health support.

“As a Marine, I am ecstatic that this Director of Veteran Affairs is finally being filled,” said Alderman Gilbert Villegas, 36th Ward. “We have to ensure that as a city that has nearly 65,000 veterans, we are looking out for those returning citizens too. I look forward to working with Kevin and building on the veteran legislation and policies that we have already passed and implemented. We owe our heroes a debt that we can never repay. However, this position has the ability to implant programs that will act as a down payment on that debt.”

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