Waukegan, IL/WW/Press/ – Dr. Mary Ross Cunningham, Vice Chair of The Lake County Board of Commissioners was Recognized and Distinguished by The Who’s Who Directories as a Top Professional of North America – 2026-2027.
A Legacy of Service: Dedication, Leadership, and the Heart of District 9
There are people who talk about change—and then there are people who show up, year after year, and make it happen. Dr. Mary Ross Cunningham is the latter. As the proud District 9 County Board Member representing portions of Waukegan and North Chicago, she has spent more than two decades in local government, fighting for the residents who need a strong, steady voice the most. Her story is not just about political longevity—it is about purpose, principle, and an unwavering commitment to the people she serves.
When Dr. Cunningham joined the Lake County Board in 2002, she made a promise—not just to her constituents, but to herself. That promise was to show up fully, to listen deeply, and to lead with integrity. More than twenty years later, she is still keeping it. The Lake County Board is made up of 19 elected members, each representing a specific geographic district within the county. Together, they carry real responsibility—approving the county’s budget, overseeing all financial matters, and enacting ordinances that affect every department of county government. These decisions touch schools, roads, public health, legal systems, and the daily lives of hundreds of thousands of residents. Understanding the weight of that responsibility is what separates good public servants from great ones—and Dr. Cunningham has always understood it.
Long tenure alone does not make a leader. What sets Dr. Cunningham apart is the breadth and depth of her involvement in shaping how the county functions at every level. As Board Vice Chair, she plays a central role in guiding the full board’s direction—ensuring that deliberations are thoughtful, inclusive, and focused on the public good. She serves as Chair of both the Law & Judicial Committee and the Diversity & Inclusion Committee—two bodies that, in many ways, define what kind of county Lake County will be. The Law & Judicial Committee oversees the legal frameworks that govern residents’ rights and protections, while the Diversity & Inclusion Committee works to foster a county where every resident, regardless of background, feels represented, respected, and heard. In leading both, Dr. Cunningham holds the dual charge of upholding justice and expanding belonging.
Her role as Vice-Chair of the Reapportionment Committee adds yet another dimension—one tied directly to the architecture of democratic representation. How districts are drawn determines whose voices get counted, and her presence in that process signals that equity must be part of every structural decision, not an afterthought. She also serves as a member of the Health & Community Services and Rules committees—bodies that address how residents access care and how the board governs itself. Through her seat on the Lake County Community Health Center Governing Council, she extends her reach into one of the most critical areas of community well-being: access to quality healthcare for underserved populations. Taken together, these roles reflect a leader who does not see her work as a single lane—she occupies multiple intersections at once because she knows that real, lasting change rarely comes from one direction alone.
Every effective public servant has to make choices. With limited time, limited resources, and unlimited need, clarity of purpose is not optional—it is essential. For Dr. Cunningham, that clarity has always centered on two priorities: jobs and affordable housing. These are not abstract policy positions. They are the lived realities of her constituents in Waukegan and North Chicago—communities that are vibrant, resilient, and still navigating real economic challenges. When families cannot find stable work, everything else becomes harder. When housing costs outpace wages, entire communities are destabilized—and the social fabric of a neighborhood begins to fray.
Dr. Cunningham understands this not from a distance, but from proximity. Her work across committees keeps her close to the human consequences of policy, and that proximity fuels her commitment to ensuring that the county’s resources, planning decisions, and partnerships actively expand economic opportunity and increase access to housing that people can actually afford. Stable jobs and affordable housing are not just quality-of-life issues—they are the foundation upon which thriving communities are built. Invest in them, and you create the conditions for everything else: healthier families, safer neighborhoods, stronger schools, and a more engaged civic life.
There is something that only time can give a public servant: perspective. Dr. Cunningham has watched Lake County grow and change across more than two decades. She has seen policies succeed and fall short—learned when to push and when to listen, when urgency is called for and when patience yields better outcomes. That experience is not just institutional knowledge; it is a resource for the entire community. Newer board members benefit from her guidance, residents benefit from her relationships across departments and agencies, and the county benefits from having someone at the table who knows where it has been and can help chart where it should go.
Dr. Mary Ross Cunningham’s work in District 9 is, at its core, an act of love for community—the kind of love that shows up on a Tuesday evening for a committee meeting, digs into the details of a budget line, asks hard questions in a reapportionment hearing, and keeps fighting for affordable housing even when progress feels slow. She serves because she believes that government, at its best, exists to lift people—to remove barriers, expand opportunity, and create the conditions where every resident has a fair shot. That belief has not dimmed after more than twenty years. If anything, it has deepened. District 9 is fortunate to have a representative who brings not just experience, but heart—someone who sees leadership not as a title to hold, but as a responsibility to honor.
The Who’s Who Directories, a New York based biographical publication company, distinguishes and profiles leading professionals who demonstrate recognizable success and leadership in their field. The directory is valued for promoting awareness of individual accomplishments and achievement within the North American community.
Message Dr. Mary Ross Cunningham:
