About Our 15th Anniversary Honorees

Get to know the Advance Illinois 15th Anniversary Celebration honorees, founding co-chair William M. Daley, founding board member Former Senator Miguel del Valle, and founding co-chair Governor Jim Edgar, all of whom played pivotal roles in shaping Advance Illinois into the organization it is today.

William M. Daley
Vice Chairman Public Affairs, Wells Fargo & Company

William M. Daley is vice chairman of Public Affairs for Wells Fargo and a member of the company’s Operating Committee. He joined Wells Fargo in 2019, leading the Public Affairs organization, which includes Communications & Brand Management, Government Relations & Public Policy, Social Impact, Sustainability, and the Business Execution Office. 

Throughout his career, William has held numerous roles in both public service and finance. A lawyer by profession, he served as White House Chief of Staff to President Barack Obama. Prior to this role, he served as U.S. Secretary of Commerce in the Clinton administration, and in 2000, ran then-Vice President Al Gore’s presidential campaign. In the private sector, William served as vice chairman at JPMorgan Chase and later at BNY Mellon. He previously served as president of SBC Communications and president and chief operating officer at Amalgamated Bank of Chicago.

In 2022, William joined the Global Board of Advisors for Operation HOPE, Inc., the nation’s largest non-profit dedicated to financial empowerment for underserved communities. He continues to serve as a board member of the Center for Strategic and International Studies, the Chicago Council of Global Affairs, and Third Way. He is passionate about serving the community, and remains active with numerous academic, medical, charitable, and civic organizations. William formerly served on the Board of Directors of Abbot, Boeing, and Merck.

 He is a graduate of Loyola University and earned a J.D. from the John Marshall Law School.

Miguel del Valle
Former State Senator

Senate Career

In 1987, del Valle was elected the first Hispanic Senator in the Illinois General Assembly after he defeated Edward Nedza in the Democratic primary. He was the Assistant Majority Leader in the Illinois Senate, and he was the first Latino to hold that position. He served as an outspoken advocate for Latino representation in the legislative and judicial branches of government. He was the Co-Chair of the Illinois Legislative Latino Caucus and was the first Latino member of the Illinois Legislative Black Caucus. His leadership in redistricting cases in 1981, 1991, and 2001 led to the creation of Latino majority districts on the city, county, and state levels.

Del Valle sponsored legislation to protect homeowners by stopping the forgery of quitclaim deeds which is the process of transferring the title or deed of property to another individual or company. He has also sponsored legislation to provide harsher punishment for ATM crimes; provide Illinois with more Early Childhood Teachers; provide comprehensive health coverage for every child in Illinois; and increase funding for Advanced Placement courses in Illinois high schools.

Del Valle is the founder of the Illinois Association of Hispanic State Employees (IAHSE). He is the co-founder of several Latino organizations, including the Illinois Latino Advisory Council on Higher Education (ILACHE); the Alliance of Latinos and Jews; and the Illinois Hispanic Democratic Council (IHDC). He also developed the annual Department of Children and Family Services Hispanic Families Conference.

Del Valle was the Vice-Chairman of the Education Committee, Co-Chairman of the Senate Select Committee on Education Funding Reform and the Illinois Legislative Latino Caucus. He also served on the Senate Executive Committee, the Senate Labor Committee, and the Higher Education Committee.

In the 2006 Illinois primary elections, Del Valle received local media attention for his support

of Ramon Ocasio III for judge over the Cook County Democratic Party-endorsed candidate, Ed Lechowicz, son of former Cook County Commissioner and Illinois State Senator Ted Lechowicz. Del Valle, who sponsored legislation to create the subcircuit system, stated that the system was created to give women and minorities the opportunity to serve on the bench.

Del Valle was the first Latino male elected to the Illinois Democratic State Central Committee, where he served a four-year term.

In 2008, del Valle served as an elected Obama delegate at the Democratic National Convention in Denver, where he had a speaking role.

Del Valle established the Miguel del Valle Youth Leadership Development Foundation, which raised and distributed over $200,000 in support of numerous youth services.

City Clerk

In 2006, Miguel del Valle was appointed City Clerk of Chicago by Mayor Richard M. Daley after the previous clerk, James Laski, was indicted on federal charges. Del Valle won a citywide election to the post in 2007, becoming the first Latino elected to the Chicago City Clerk's office.

As city clerk, del Valle's office was responsible for maintaining official city government records, distributing approximately 1.3 million vehicle stickers and residential parking permits, and issuing city business licenses.

Clerk del Valle was focused on bringing more efficiency and visibility to city clerk services by providing greater access to public records, including web casting of City Council meetings, expanding community outreach programs, modernizing operations to expedite the sale of dog registrations, city stickers and residential parking.

Significant City Council transparency efforts included posting nearly 700,000 pages of searchable City Council records to the City Clerk website, www.ChiCityClerk.com. This included every ordinance passed since 1981, the Byrne Administration, as well as city budgets and

Mayoral Executive order going back nearly 30 years. In addition, for the first time ever, City Council meetings were made available live or on demand via a City Council video archive on the City Clerk website, www.ChiCityClerk.com.

Commissioner of Illinois Commerce Commission

Del Valle was appointed by Illinois Governor Pat Quinn on February 8, 2013, to a five-year term on the Illinois Commerce Commission ("ICC"). The ICC's mission is to balance the interests of consumers and utilities to ensure adequate, efficient, reliable, safe, and least-cost public utility services, while promoting the development of an effectively competitive energy supplier market. The ICC also oversees transportation activities, including railroad safety, trucking insurance and registration, relocation and safety towing, and household goods moving companies.

Additional Leadership Roles 

Del Valle is a founding member of Advance Illinois and served on the Board of Directors until 2016. He was appointed by Illinois Governor Pat Quinn to the Illinois P-20 Council where he served as Chairman. Additionally del Valle served on several non-profit organizational boards, including Josephinum High School, the Latino Institute, the Spanish Coalition for Housing, and Federation for Community Schools. In 2013, del Valle was appointed by Governor Pat Quinn to the Illinois Students Assistance Commission ("ISAC"), where he served as Vice-Chairman. ISAC's mission is making college accessible and affordable for Illinois students.

Del Valle has served on the Judicial Candidate Screening Advisory Committee established by Chief Justice Mary Jane Theis of the Illinois Supreme Court.

He has also served as Chairman of the Mayor Harold Washington's Advisory Commission on Latino Affairs, and taught a class at Roosevelt University called "Latinos and Public Policy."

In 2008, del Valle was awarded an honorary degree from National Luis University for his "inspirational leadership."

Governor Jim Edgar
Former Governor of Illinois

As the 38th Governor of Illinois, Jim Edgar inherited what was then the largest deficit in the state's history. He made hundreds of millions of dollars in budget cuts.  He found ways to deliver services more efficiently and effectively, reducing the state work force by 2,500 employees. He eliminated a backlog of $1 billion of unpaid health care bills. He provided income tax relief and left an unprecedented $1.5 billion in the treasury for his successor.

Governor Edgar also reformed welfare through innovative initiatives to move recipients from dependence to independence. He saved homeowners billions of dollars by proposing and winning legislative approval for caps on property taxes. He fought for -- and won -- legislation to assure an adequate funding level for each and every school child in Illinois. He and First Lady Brenda Edgar won national recognition for their adoption initiative that took Illinois from the bottom to the top among states in placing children in loving homes.

 Edgar was elected governor in 1990 and re-elected by the widest plurality any incumbent Illinois governor has received, carrying 101 of the state's 102 counties, including Cook. His announcement that he would not seek a third-term surprised the Illinois media and political insiders who cited poll numbers that indicated he had earned the highest approval rating of any Illinois chief executive and was in a strong position to win again.

As he was leaving office, the Chicago Tribune stated that Governor Edgar’s “instincts and motives were as sound as those of any governor the state has had.”

Edgar's stewardship capped three decades of public service. He distinguished himself as a key aide to government leaders, a member of the General Assembly and as Secretary of State, where he led a crackdown on drunk drivers, won approval for a law requiring lllinois motorists to carry insurance.

After retiring from elective office, Governor Edgar was a resident fellow at the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard.

He has continued his commitment to responsible and responsive government as a distinguished fellow at the University of Illinois' Institute of Government and Public Affairs. He spearheads the Edgar Fellows program, which brings together emerging leaders from all parts of Illinois to foster the statesmanship that will address major challenges across regional, partisan and ethnic lines.

 Governor Edgar also lectures to students at the U of I and in colleges and universities throughout the state and serves on several corporate and non-profit boards. He is president emeritus of the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library Foundation.