Kimyatta Dabney

I’ve known Kimyatta since the beginning of my career at CPS, but only got to work closely with her starting 2019. Since then, I’ve had the chance to spend time, not just professionally and personally with her, and I am delighted to be able to share her incredibly rich and varied life story with you.

When I ask her what she sees as the origin point, especially from her career, she says that it has always been about relationships, and those relationships are what has led her to her current position in the office of safety and security at CPS. As she looks back and reflects on what she could have done differently, she says that she would have taken more risks earlier. Her approach to life was relatively conservative, and if she had a chance to do it differently, she would probably have had her children earlier, traveled more and possibly have a different higher education path.

In talking about where she sees herself in the future, she says that professionally if everything goes well in her department, the school district and city, she wants to continue serving students. She always has the drive to reflect on how she can do things differently, and more importantly better. She is also one of the few people and leaders I know who truly see success as a collective goal, not individual. I have seen firsthand how she lives this value in projects that we have worked on together. She strongly believes that difficult things become doable if you have the right people around you, and I couldn't agree more. She is not a traditional type A competitive person; rather the question for her is how do we get to the finish line together. Her parents have been a continuous source of motivation for her.

In her personal life, she laughs as she says that she prefers to do as few things as possible. She jokes that as a parent of three children, she likes to lower her responsibility during her fun time. When she can she enjoys traveling to places that are warm. She is a thoughtful and excellent hostess, and enjoys hosting. She also enjoys experiences with her kids, who are in different stages of their education. Of course she does enjoy the occasional binge watch like most of us.

There are several key influences across her life. Her pastor who married her is the son of the original pastor who was supposed to marry her and her husband. He has continued to be an influence on her and her family. She talks about her best friend Latrece, who is extremely resilient, and someone she looks up to. Another friend of hers, Lycrecia (someone who I have met and amazed by), who juggles her job as a vice-president, being a mother, a wife and a friend. Her sorority sisters are also community for her, including Michelle Clement, who is the head of Chicago Realtors Association.

Her brothers and father are both role models in her life, as her mother. She has a very intense relationship with her mom and finds herself striving to always please her - she acknowledges ruefully that this does not always end well but she is always trying to meet the standards her mom has set. Her husband, Jermale Sr., is her rock in all of this.

In her professional career, the influences have been varied as well. Hosanna Mahaley is the person who brought her into CPS. She talks about how she saw so much being put on Hosanna’s plate based on gender and race based stereotypes, and how Hosanna dealt with all of it. A simple, yet powerful example, she reminisces is when someone asked Kimyatta to make photocopies in a meeting (not because it was her role, but just because she was there), and Hosanna said no. Before that Kimyatta had worked with Barbara Lumpkin, the then city treasurer who then went to CFF. Tony Ruiz is another mentor, who taught her what it means to be a compassionate leader. Finally, Jadine Chou, her current boss, who believes in Kimyatta all the time.

It is the relationships she has had and does have that have really shaped her into who she is. She is a creature of habit, loyal and with a small circle who she cares about deeply.

What she puts out there is what she expects to get back in her life.

I ask her about what she wants the future to include, and she mentions she wants her husband and brother to have a culinary business, a pop-up of sorts, because they are both skilled chefs. She wouldn’t be cooking though, she would be the planner.

Eventually she wants to retire and to be deeply involved in her children’s higher education journey.

One of the best things about knowing Kimyatta is seeing her strong commitment to her values of family, faith and community.