Matt is based in Chicago, Illinois and serves as General Counsel for Community Progress. In addition to serving as the organization’s in-house counsel, Matt focuses much of his time on providing legal and technical support to each of Community Progress’ program areas, including National Technical Assistance, Michigan Initiatives, National Leadership and Education, and Policy and Research.
Prior to joining the Center for Community Progress, Matt spent nearly a decade as an attorney at the City of Chicago’s Department of Law. At the City, Matt focused on identifying, developing and implementing effective code enforcement tools to combat blight and problem properties. Matt was instrumental in the creation and supervision of an in-house group of attorneys and law clerks dedicated to the completion of tens of thousands of annual title reports used to support ownership and due process requirements for the majority of the City’s enforcement of building and sanitation codes. Ultimately, however, it was Matt’s direct interactions with the neighbors and residents most impacted by vacant, abandoned, and dilapidated properties in Chicago that led him to Community Progress, and to focus his practice on helping communities impacted by decades of disinvestment develop more equitable, effective, and efficient systems, laws, and policies to revitalize neighborhoods.
Matt earned his J.D from Loyola University Chicago School of Law and his B.A. from Augustana College in Rock Island, IL.