Chicago native Minyon Moore to chair 2024 Democratic Convention in Chicago

WASHINGTON — The chair of the 2024 Democratic National Convention in Chicago will be Minyon Moore, a native South Sider who is a Biden White House adviser, a veteran of the Clinton administration and a key player at the Democratic National Committee.

The DNC on Tuesday unveiled its top convention leadership team. In past years, the lead official had the title of convention chief executive officer. Under a new structure, Moore, as the chair, will be overseeing the convention, to be held Aug. 19-22, 2024.

The DNC team will work closely with the Chicago host committee, led by Michael Sacks, a major Democratic donor and fundraiser who is the board chairman and chief executive of GCM Grosvenor. As part of the city’s winning bid — beating out Atlanta and New York — the host committee pledged to raise $84.697 million.

The DNC team and the host committee will work on the numerous logistical aspects of the convention — and have as a common goal figuring out ways that the convention in Chicago can benefit and involve the 77 community areas of the city. Having Moore, a Chicago native who understands the city, as chair gives that process a running start.

Last year, Moore helped usher Ketanji Brown Jackson through the confirmation process after President Joe Biden nominated her to be a Supreme Court justice.

Moore graduated from Altgeld Elementary School and Chicago Vocational High School — she was a member of the class of 1976 — and attended the University of Illinois at Chicago.

She told me in a 1998 interview — when President Bill Clinton named her to head the White House public liaison office — that she was hooked on politics when she persuaded Chicago Mayor Harold Washington to visit her church.

“I plopped myself down at City Hall every day, almost, for a week and a half or two, trying to talk the mayor to come to my church to do a community event,” Moore said.

She gained her formative political experience working for the Rev. Jesse Jackson in his 1988 presidential campaign and at Operation PUSH, which evolved into the Rainbow PUSH Coalition, headquartered at 930 E. 50th St.

In the Clinton administration, Moore also served as director of White House political affairs.

Moore now leads the public affairs firm Dewey Square Group’s state and local affairs and multicultural strategies practices, where she deals with, among other issues, branding and public policy strategies for corporate and nonprofit clients.

At the DNC, Moore is co-chair of the party’s rules and bylaws committee. She also has been the chief executive of the DNC, where she handled the party’s day-to-day operations.

Moore co-authored “For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Politics,” with Donna Brazile — a former DNC chair — consultant Yolanda Caraway and Leah Daughtry, the CEO of the 2016 and 2008 Democratic National Conventions. Moore also was a top adviser in Hillary Clinton’s 2016 presidential campaign.

The other top officials:

• Alex Hornbrook, who led the 2024 convention selection process and is well known to the key city convention players, will be executive director. Hornbrook was the DNC’s director of debate planning and was director of scheduling and advance for Hillary Clinton’s 2016 presidential campaign and director of scheduling to then-Vice President Biden.
• Louisa Terrell, who stepped down last month as Biden’s director of legislative affairs, will serve as a senior adviser to both the convention and the Biden-Harris campaign. She formerly was executive director of the Biden Foundation and was part of the legislative affairs team in the Obama White House.
• Roger Lau, deputy executive director at the DNC, will also assist in convention planning as part of an expanded political portfolio where he will also be a senior adviser to the Biden Victory Fund, a major fundraising arm of the campaign.

“I am thrilled for the opportunity to serve as chair to the 2024 Democratic National Convention in my hometown of Chicago, Illinois,” Moore said in a statement.

“I am grateful to the team members who have already been working hard, and know that through their work, and the strong team we continue to build, that this convention will be a success. I can’t wait to showcase all that Chicago and the Democratic Party have to offer as we celebrate the renomination of President Biden and Vice President Harris next year.”

DNC Chair Jaime Harrison said in a statement, “At the very beginning of the 2024 convention selection process I said that we were looking for a turnkey operation, and I am confident this leadership team will deliver. This team brings experience and expertise to the convention that are unmatched.”