Daniel Anello has served as CEO of Kids First Chicago since 2015. Daniel brings deep quantitative analytical skills and authentic lived experience to his role in supporting parent-led and data-informed change within Chicago’s public schools. He partners with families to help them gain the resources, information, access, and voice they need to achieve their vision for their children’s education. 

In recent years, parent leaders and Kids First Chicago have spearheaded Chicago’s groundbreaking digital equity program, Chicago Connected, led CPS’s most inclusive accountability policy redesign initiative to date, established a universal fact base for schools across the city, developed a universal enrollment platform for high schools, and organized local education improvements in communities across the city.

In 2015, Daniel was named to the inaugural class of Presidential Leadership Scholars. He was invited to share his personal leadership story at the Presidential Forum in 2018: view his story here. Daniel was a member of the Pahara-Aspen Education Fellowship Summer 2016 cohort and the Leadership Greater Chicago 2019 cohort. He is a Board member of CASEL and the Ruby Bridges Foundation, and a Williams College Board Trustee. Other memberships include the Economic Club of Chicago, Education Leaders of Color, the Illinois Justice Project Advisory Board, and the PIE Network Membership Committee. 

In 2021, Daniel received a Medal of Honor from Chicago Mayor Lori E. Lightfoot for his leadership of the Chicago Connected program. In April 2023, he received the Young Alumni Distinguished Alumni Award from Chicago Booth, and in September 2023, he was named as one of Crain’s Chicago Business Notable Leaders in DEI. 

Daniel frequently writes about the intersection of race and education at danielanello.substack.com.

Daniel received a BA in Mathematics from Williams College and an MBA from University of Chicago Booth. He lives in the Chicago area with his wife and two college-aged children. 

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