Angie Jacob
I met Angie through work, and I remember my first impression - which was correct and continues to get stronger - was that she was an incredibly dedicated and thoughtful person. Of course my first question for her was if she always knew that she wanted to be in Audit -- she is currently the Chief Internal Auditor after all. While she double majored in accounting and finance, the path she was on led her to the private sector, the Big Four accounting firms, becoming a Certified Public Accountant a path seen as a sure way to success. Before that however she wanted to be in the medical field, and until recently after questioning the impact of her day to day, she was even considering becoming a Physical Therapist and had started prerequisite courses. Originally she had wanted to be a pediatrician, but the loss of her younger brother when he was less than a day old, instilled a sense of fear and doubt on whether the profession was the right choice for her. She couldn’t imagine going through that experience again with another family and ultimately decided the world of business could lead to a challenging and successful career with no emotional attachment. Her mom, who has and continues to be a strong influence in her life, put herself through night school and started work as an accountant relatively later in life. Before that, her mom learned the mechanic trade to support her dad and be the leader of the business as her dad did not speak English.
Angie always admired the strength and perseverance of her mom and looked up to her and was so proud her mom was a talented mechanic in a male dominated trade.
Growing up, her parents were always working and sacrificing for their family Her whole life her parents have constantly sought to better themselves, to provide for a better life for their kids. Angie will always be extremely grateful for all they have done for her and her siblings and the opportunities she’s experienced due to their tireless hard work. While working in the private sector, she had the realization that she was unlikely to make big meaningful changes in large successful organizations. She wanted to be part of a local mission-driven organization, which Chicago Public Schools certainly is. She joined Chicago Public Schools as an Audit Manager who was tasked with developing the Internal Audit team at CPS. Angie was committed to this task and has done a phenomenal job of building up the team, many of whom I have had a chance to work with. Along the way, her hard work was recognized and she now leads as the district’s Chief Internal Auditor. I have had the chance to work with her for different large projects affecting the entire school-district and I have never walked away without having learned something.
When she looks back, the one thing she would view differently is time as a barrier, or opting not to do something that would have taken ‘too long’. She says time is the one thing she cannot control, but perhaps she would have made some career and life choices differently. She echoes a theme I have seen across most of the interviews in this series: she would not have let fear or uncertainty deter her from doing things. She acknowledges that she is a risk-averse person by nature, and that reflects in her choices. I am curious about what keeps her going, professionally and personally. She laughs that professionally she displays all the type A personality traits, where she gets satisfaction from finding solutions, execution and being challenged by new things. Knowing that what she does helps move the needle a little bit for the students keeps her going, even through the very stressful and busy days (and there are a lot of those).
Her personal happiness is rooted in her family, it makes her happy and whole. She and her husband have been remodeling their home and converting it into their forever home. They enjoy spending their free time with their puppy; this is always a great way to unwind after a busy or stressful day. Another one of her favorite escapes is visiting home and spending time with her younger sister Sophia and her parents. She hopes to get her knees back in working order to come out of retirement and play soccer again with her brother; co-ed leagues have always been her favorite. Travel is also on the list as the world starts to reopen. She looks forward to resuming visits to Mexico regularly and finalize planning for a South East Asia trip that was in the works prior to the pandemic. Looking towards the future, she says she wants to challenge herself to be able to better set boundaries, to make time not just for her career but also her personal well-being and growth. She is the first and oldest of her siblings and nephews and nieces, and wants to set an example for the younger ones, just like her mom.
She was the first to move away for college, she has experienced the culture shock of being a Latina in large corporate spaces. She participated in a Latino Leadership Cohort, which served as a space to remind her that if you have a seat at the table, use it.
Looking back, if you had asked her a few years ago if she saw herself being involved and leading the areas of work she does now, she would have never imagined it. But it’s all about taking on the challenge, believing in yourself, and always giving it your best. At work, she enjoys the objectivity that audit has but looking ahead, she would like to be in a role where she is involved in setting strategies, driving initiatives and growth. During the last few years, she has built her team and invested in their professional development. She enjoys providing similar advice to family and friends when it comes to navigating career decisions, building up resumes, preparing for interviews, or just being a listening ear when support is needed. I for one will be forever grateful for our paths crossing.