Michael Scott Jr.
Member
Michael Scott Jr. was appointed to the Chicago Board of Education by Mayor Lori Lightfoot and began serving on July 13, 2022.
A native of the North Lawndale neighborhood, Scott has focused his life’s work on creating strong resilient communities; specifically on the West Side of Chicago. Scott resides in North Lawndale with his wife, Natashee and three children, Morgan, Nicholas and Michael III.
Scott graduated from Whitney M. Young Magnet High School in 1994 and earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in Political Science from Morehouse College in 1998.
Through his parents, the late Michael, Sr. and Millicent Scott, both prominent leaders in the city of Chicago, Scott was raised into a legacy of family service and building successful communities. Bringing resources and developmental programming to the underserved, Scott, Jr. has proven to be a results driven leader in the public and private sectors.
Upon taking office, Scott resigned from the Chicago Park District after 12 years of service. Throughout his tenure with the Chicago Park District, Scott worked as a Park Supervisor at the Douglas Park Cultural and Community Center and most recently the Area Manager for the Central Region where he managed 35 staffed and unstaffed facilities.
Scott served two terms on the Chicago City Council, as the 24th ward Alderman. Scott was committed to working side by side with the people and organizations that have built a solid foundation for the 24th Ward. During his tenure, Scott has created an economic engine for his ward, beautified the ward, devoted over 300 million dollars to capital and human infrastructure, and developed job training for residents. In 2019 Scott was appointed as the Chairman of the Committee on Education and Child Welfares and served in that appointed roll until he retired from public service in 2022.
Scott currently works at Cinespace Studios Chicago, in the position of Director of Industry and Community Relation. In this roll, Scott provides strategic management for industry and community relations and developing local philanthropic and early education programs for Chicago. He oversees Cinespace’s successful job training program providing residents on the west and south side hands-on experience in below-the-line departments including Electric, Prop, Costumes, Locations, and Sound for productions filming at the studio. The program is part of CineCares, a division of the studio dedicated to building initiatives that promote equity and inclusion in the film and tv industry in communities where the platform operates.
