About Danny
Chicago Alderman Danny Solis is a key figure in Chicago's political landscape. In October 2009, Solis was appointed Chairman of the Committee on Zoning. An ally of Mayor Richard M. Daley, in 2001 Solis was appointed President Pro Tempore of the City Council, where he oversaw council proceedings in the Mayor's absence.
Prior to becoming Alderman and President Pro Tempore, Ald. Solis served in various leadership positions in Chicago, as a dedicated teacher, founder and Executive Director of Latino Youth Alternative High School and as the first Latino Executive Director of the Pilsen Neighbors Community Council. In addition, he served on the Board of Directors for the Eighteen Street Development Corporation and Gads Hill Center.
However, it was his leadership as Co-founder and Executive Director of the United Neighborhood Organization (UNO) that led to Solis' greatest triumphs. Ald. Solis created and led the most significant and successful grassroots and policy campaigns within Chicago's communities in history, including the 1986 IRCA campaign that allowed thousands of undocumented immigrants to seek amnesty as U.S. Residents, and the historic 1992 naturalization campaign that eventually assisted well over 50,000 immigrants in applying for U.S. Citizenship. These successes became model programs not only in Chicago, but also on a national level.
In 1995 Solis was appointed as Chairman of Mayor Daley's Citizenship Assistance Council which oversaw the naturalization for over 70,000 immigrants from around the world.
As leader of the 25th Ward, Ald. Solis continues to represent Pilsen, the largest Mexican-American community in the country, the University Village community encompassing the prestigious University of Illinois' Chicago campus, and Chicago’s fast-growing Chinatown community, which sits at the heart of the Chicago 2016 Olympics Bid. Ald. Solis recently served as the Illinois Chairman of the Hillary Clinton for President Campaign, and is recognized as a leading political voice in Chicago and nationally.
Ald. Solis is married and has one son, three daughters and two grandchildren.