Alumni help with 2016 Chicago Olympic bid

As Chicago vies to host the 2016 Olympic Games, the business community — including Kellogg alumni — has rallied to the cause.

"I felt like a real ambassador to my firm, the city and Kellogg," says Eileen Schreiber '06 of her consulting stint with the Chicago 2016 Olympic Bid Committee, chaired by Pat Ryan '59, the committee's chief executive officer. She recalls the whirlwind of meetings and events with area leaders to support the U.S. Olympic Committee's visit to Chicago and explain why the city should host the games. "It was a two-day affair of panels with some of the most influential people in the Midwest."

Schreiber is a senior consultant at Deloitte, one of the firms to lend its strategic expertise to the Olympic bid. "I came on with a team to look at the organization structure and make recommendations to bring it to the next level."

Following visits to finalist cities Los Angeles and Chicago early this year, the U.S. Olympic Bid Committee named Chicago the official 2016 U.S. bid city in April. Though hopeful, Schreiber says there is much to do before the international bid is locked up, and even more to do should Chicago emerge victorious. The city's proposal includes plans for several ambitious construction projects, among them an 80,000-seat stadium and a lakefront "Olympic Village" to house 17,000 athletes and officials.

Schreiber enjoyed working with Chicago 2016 staff and fellow business leaders, including Kellogg alums Mark Mitten '83 and Gordon Kane '86, and she hopes her work with is not done.

"People are so fired up," she says. "I've never had a client this passionate."