Cook County Treasurer's Office
Richard Powell, Ph.D., CPA has a diverse work experience spanning over several industries. Richard served as the Chief Information Officer at Cook County Treasurer, where they managed application development and infrastructure projects, developed IT strategies, and worked with the County's Bureau of Technology on important business processes. Richard also served as the Vice President at Paradigm Solutions.
In the healthcare sector, Richard worked as the CFO at Unity Health Care, University Medical Center, and John H. Stroger Hospital of Cook County. At these organizations, they were responsible for financial management and oversight.
Prior to their roles in healthcare, Richard was a Principal at IBM, where they worked from 1998 to 2001. Richard also had a long career at Foster, Powell & Co. (now known as Foster Group), where they served as a Senior Partner/Owner.
Richard Powell holds a Ph.D. and is a certified public accountant (CPA).
Richard Powell, Ph.D., CPA has an extensive education history, spanning from 1971 to 2005. Richard began their academic journey at Chicago State University, where they obtained a Bachelor of Science degree in Mathematics from 1971 to 1974. Powell then pursued a Master of Science degree in Information Systems at the University of Illinois Chicago, completing their studies from 1987 to 1990.
Seeking further education in the field of business, Powell attended The Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth from 1990 to 1992. During this period, they earned an MBEP/AMBEP degree in Strategic Management. Continuing their pursuit of business education, Powell enrolled in The University of Chicago Booth School of Business and successfully graduated with a Master of Business Administration (MBA) degree with a focus on Finance and Management from 1994 to 1996.
Finally, Powell concluded their academic journey at the Weatherhead School of Management at Case Western Reserve University. Richard earned a Ph.D. in Information Systems from 2002 to 2005, cementing their expertise in this field. Throughout their educational history, Richard Powell displayed an unwavering commitment to developing a strong foundation in mathematics, information systems, strategic management, finance, and management, creating a well-rounded skillset to contribute to their future endeavors.
Cook County Treasurer's Office
Maria Pappas has served as Cook County Treasurer since 1998. She has led the Treasurer’s Office through a series of transformative technological, automation and modernization advancements. Treasurer Pappas oversees the second-largest property tax collection and distribution system in the United States. She is responsible for printing and mailing bills to owners of more than 1.8 million parcels, collecting more than $17 billion in taxes and distributing those funds to more than 2,200 local units of government. During her tenure she has reduced staff from 250 employees in 1998 to 59 employees in 2023. She introduced online payments, established payment facilities at numerous banks across Cook County, and developed a system to identify and refund overpayments to taxpayers without extensive paperwork. Pappas has been a champion of transparency, introducing the Debt Disclosure Ordinance to provide taxpayers with detailed information about local government spending. She has conducted outreach to ethnic homeowners, returning millions in refunds through her Black and Latino Houses Matter programs. Pappas has helped countries like China and Greece with property tax systems and automation. She has spoken at international forums, including the Organization of American States and the Cities Summit of the Americas. Pappas was born in 1949 and hails from Warwood, West Virginia. She has earned degrees in sociology from West Liberty State College, guidance and counseling from West Virginia University; a doctorate in counseling and psychology from Loyola University of Chicago; and a law degree from Chicago-Kent College of Law. Her public service began with a grant from the Illinois Attorney General's Office, where she worked at Chicago's Altgeld Gardens public housing project. Her work in youth drug prevention led her to prisons and jails and eventually to law school. She served as a Cook County Commissioner from 1990 to 1998.