Lincolnshire resident Cary D. McMillan joined the Board of Trustees of Window To The World Communications, the parent company of WTTW and WFMT, in 1999.
For the past 27 years, he has been an actively involved board member, serving as treasurer and Finance Committee chair for more than a decade, and often taking on additional responsibilities.
Now, McMillan is starting a new, exciting challenge. As of July 1, he will be chair of the Board of Trustees, a two-year renewable position.
Sandra Cordova Micek, president and CEO of Window To The World Communications, is convinced that McMillan is an ideal choice for the position.
“Cary has been around this organization for a very long time,” Micek said. “He has institutional knowledge. He has served in leadership positions for the board, most recently as executive vice chair. He knows both the longstanding board members as well as our new board members. I can’t think of a better person to roll into this role. We’re thrilled to have him in the job.”
McMillan noted that taking on this position is “in some ways incredible.” He said that he moved to this area 46 years ago from Champaign/Urbana, where he went to college and high school.
“I didn’t know anything about WTTW or WFMT, or all that much about the cultural institutions in Chicago,” he admitted. He did learn, however, that “Chicago is all about giving back. It’s part of the culture of the town.”
McMillan took that message seriously. He has served on many for-profit and nonprofit boards — often in leadership roles.
In planning his role as chair, he said, “You can never be a really good board chair unless you understand two things — the business model, whether it’s a not-for-profit or for-profit — but then you have to know how to communicate.”
Since there are a lot of new board members, McMillan sees his role in relation to them as finding a way to “energize them; find things that they are really interested in supporting and getting involved in, and sharing my overall knowledge with them to help them have a better experience on our board and to make a better impact.”
In addition, as board chair, McMillan will be working closely in an advisory capacity with both the board and president and CEO Micek, and making sure that the organization is fiscally sound.
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Despite having a demanding career in financial consulting, McMillan has always found time to serve on boards in a meaningful way.
McMillan said he chooses to do that because, “I want to live in a place where my kids — who are young and hopefully creative and talented — can thrive with others. I want to make Chicago someplace to be proud of being from. I’m not leaving; I’m staying. All the organizations that I’ve been involved with in Chicago have all tried to give back and make it a better place to live.”
Micek observed, “One of the most valuable assets we have is trust. I see that as a critical role for everyone in our organization, but also for our trustees and especially for the board chair. It’s one of the reasons that I think it’s great to have Cary in this role.”
In terms of his other volunteer positions, McMillan said that he is most proud of having recruited Walter E. Massey to head the School of the Art Institute when he was chairman of that organization’s board.
Myrna Petlicki is a freelance reporter for Pioneer Press.