Marcelino Garcia

Commissioner and Chairman of Finance, Marcelino Garcia, of the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District of Greater Chicago (MWRD) is an attorney with expertise in local and international governments, healthcare, and community affairs. He is a public servant who has spent years helping people address their legal difficulties through his public interest law work. He also works arduously to bring resources to communities to ensure their economic and health development. At the MWRD, Marcelino has thoughtfully and energetically set course several initiatives that advance equity in the water space in particular through business participation. In July 2019, Marcelino led the passing of the LGBT/Peoples with Disabilities policy to increase the number of companies within the diversity program and ensure that Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion are prime components of MWRD’s programs and contracting opportunities. During the pandemic, Marcelino hosted virtual business roundtables, helping advance MWRD’s efforts to create opportunities for small business owners. In 2020, Marcelino served as Co-Chair of the Strategic Plan’s Steering Committee, helping develop for the first time an equity- and resiliency-focused Strategic Plan. His expertise in procurement spans 20 years, collaborating with partner agencies to ensure best practices. Marcelino has worked with management and budgets at the State of Illinois to ensure that entities run properly and ensure equal participation. Marcelino is also Director of Community Affairs for Cook County Health, the nation’s third largest public health system. His work also focuses on ensuring that Chicago and Cook County are recognized as a true international city with the many different business and cultural attributes that the city and region have to offer. Marcelino has many years of international business development experience having worked as Senior Manager of International Relations for Chicago 2016 the Olympic Candidacy Committee and as Assistant Managing Director of the Illinois Office of Trade and Investment (OTI) where he worked with Illinois companies looking to export to new markets in the Americas, Africa, and the Middle East. Marcelino is a licensed attorney in the State of Illinois and the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico. He earned his J.D. from Northwestern University and his Bachelor’s Degree from Dartmouth College. He is fluent in English and Spanish and is proficient in French, Italian, and Portuguese.