Illinois Governor J. B. Pritzker has appointed J. Todd Phillips to the Board of Trustees of Northeastern Illinois University (NEIU) in Chicago. Mr. Phillips' six-year term began in January, 2023. As a state university founded in 1867, NEIU offers undergraduate and graduate academic programs across four colleges including the Collège of Arts & Sciences, the College of Business & Technology, the Daniel L. Goodwin College of Education and the College of Graduate Studies & Research. In 2020, U.S. News & World Report ranked NEIU best in the state of Illinois and among the nation's leaders at graduating students with the least debt for the seventh year in a row.,
Mr. Phillips is currently CEO of Parson Partners, a management consulting firm serving well-funded start-ups, privately held large- and mid-sized companies, as well as large hospitals, universities, and government agencies across the United States. Mr. Phillips specializes in leading transformational business change including turnarounds, growth initiatives, strategic planning and implementation, mergers & acquisitions, and other major projects in the healthcare and B2B sectors. Phillips has served on the NEIU Foundation Board since 2014, was chair of the Executive Advisory Council of NEIU's College of Business & Technology from 2013 - 2017, and in 2012, delivered the commencement address at NEIU's December graduation ceremony.
Prior to launching Parson Partners in 2013, Mr. Phillips was a corporate executive in the healthcare and airline industries, most recently serving as president of a $14 billion division of a major insurance company. He holds a Bachelor's of Science degree from Morehouse College and has completed numerous executive education programs in corporate governance, strategy, management, finance, and leadership from Harvard Business School, the University of Chicago Booth School of Business, Georgia State University and other institutions. He also serves as Board Chair of Cara Collective and board advisor to multiple private equity-backed and family-owned business enterprises and start-ups.
