PROFESSIONAL ACHIEVEMENT AWARD
Jacquelyne Lane Grimshaw, Arts ’65
Chicago, Ill.
When people need a lift, Jacky Grimshaw is a bright light shining her Jesuit values on equitable transportation access. The vice president for Government Affairs for Chicago’s Center for Neighborhood Technology advocates for and provides expertise to increase transit in the Chicago region. She’s always looking to make a difference, and it’s safe to say she’s done just that.
Jacky credits Marquette with helping her find her voice and confidence to lead — skills she now applies for residents and visitors of Chicago through her impressive transportation career. She has served on the Board of the Chicago Transit Authority, as a political advisor to former Chicago Mayor Harold Washington, and on the National Academy of Sciences’ Transportation Research Board’s environmental justice, public involvement and women’s issues committees.
When COVID-19 brought new challenges to transportation, regional authorities worked with Jacky for her expertise and eye for equity. She has a long legacy of helping others, from championing mass transit reform to creating Chicago’s U-Pass program for community college students to developing I-GO, which provided automobile options for resident who otherwise could not afford it, and Location Efficient Mortgages, a financing tool for those living in marginalized urban communities.
“Understanding my responsibility to serve, and thus becoming who I am, is thanks to Marquette,” Jacky says.
She has navigated the industry, paving paths for women in a male-dominated field. Right now, she’s building her next mission: Transportation Equity Network, which propels racial equity and mobility justice to the forefront of transportation. By providing marginalized people with transportation, she sends them on a path to opportunities they otherwise could not gain access to, whether it's a job interview or a vaccine appointment.
Name someone (past or present) you’d like to have dinner with.
Joan of Arc, my patron saint.
Name a Marquette faculty or staff member who had an impact on you, and how.
Fr. Bernard Cook taught me how the religion and catechism I had grown up with, taught by the nuns, fit into the theology and philosophy I was learning at Marquette. The result was solidification of my faith and the reason I’m a Catholic today.
Leave a congratulatory message for Jacky!