Gilo Logan for Mayor — Invested in Evanston. Ready to Serve.
Dr. Gilo Kwesi Logan smiling in conversation with Evanston residents

Evanston invested in me.
I have spent my life investing in this city.

I am stepping forward because I believe this moment calls for the leadership I have spent my life preparing to offer.

I am an educator, consultant, author, facilitator, artist, coach, entrepreneur, husband, father, and community builder, with a doctorate in Adult Education.

My Vision

An Evanston where everyone can belong and thrive.

Leadership in Practice

I have facilitated goal-planning sessions with the Evanston City Council and collaborated with the Evanston Police Department on community-policing assessments and training.

I have also planned and facilitated town halls and other community conversations that brought residents, leaders, and institutions together. These gatherings created space for Evanstonians to listen to one another, find common ground, and turn shared concerns into collective action.

— Gilo Logan
The Platform

Three pillars. Three questions.

01

Affordable Living

Can I afford to live here?

Making it possible for the people who make Evanston Evanston to remain here.

Read the full platform →
02

Economic Opportunity

Can I build a life and prosper here?

I care about who gets the opportunities that development creates.

Read the full platform →
03

Environmental Justice

Can I live in a healthy, sustainable community here?

Clean air and water, healthy homes, and access to parks and the lakefront.

Read the full platform →
“Evanston invested in me.
I am ready to elevate that relationship to a new level of service.
— Gilo Logan

Evanston is stronger when more of us can thrive together

Join the Campaign, bring Gilo to your block or organization, or help us reach every ward.

Invested in Evanston.
Ready to Serve.

The preparation I would bring to the mayor's office:

Not knowing everything, but knowing how to learn.
Not governing alone, but knowing how to bring people together.
Not avoiding hard choices, but making them in collaboration, with information, humility, courage, and a clear sense of responsibility.

Our task is not to start from scratch. It is to:

Honorwhat works.
Confrontwhat does not.
Connectwhat is fragmented.
Hope is not passive optimism or denial of hard realities, but the conviction that our challenges need not determine our future.
— Gilo Logan
The Values That Will Guide How I Lead

Rooted in Evanston's soil. Deepened by the world.

Belonging

Everyone should have a place in the community and a meaningful voice in shaping its future.

Service

Leadership is a responsibility to contribute, not a position to occupy.

Ubuntu / Interdependence

I am because we are.

Humility & Listening

I will listen before assuming I understand — and then have the courage to decide and act.

Accountability & Repair

Accountability is not simply about what went wrong; it is about what we do next.

Stewardship

We inherit something valuable, and we are responsible for what we leave behind.

How I Will Lead

Listening, then acting

  1. 1Gather reliable information
  2. 2Listen to those most affected
  3. 3Convene residents and knowledgeable partners
  4. 4State my positions clearly
  5. 5Move from conversation to action

Restorative leadership

Acknowledging harm honestly, repairing strained relationships, rebuilding trust, and moving people toward shared responsibility and practical solutions.

A convening partner on education

The mayor doesn't govern Districts 65 or 202, but public education is integral to Evanston's future. I'll be a strong partner with students, families, and school leaders.

Defending our community

A mayor cannot control Washington, but must be prepared to defend residents, protect the City's interests, and speak clearly when our community — including Evanston's reparations program — is threatened.

I am prepared

I do not claim to have all the answers. I offer a lifetime of preparation and demonstrated experience in helping people and organizations clarify values, navigate conflict, strengthen relationships, make difficult decisions, and create meaningful change together.

Always constant: effective government, public safety, and community connection.

“Evanston is personal to me long before it became political.
— Gilo Logan
Bio

The Evanston I know

Dr. Gilo Kwesi Logan · Fifth-generation Evanstonian

I know Evanston through the people who shape and sustain life in this city: elders who carry our history; families working to stay here; educators who keep showing up for children; young people searching for their place; and organizers, coaches, and block leaders who serve without waiting for a title.

I was born here, raised here, educated here, and shaped here. I grew up in what I affectionately call my E-Town village — in the love, culture, and standard of excellence of Ms. Marshall's Nursery School; in District 65 and at ETHS; at Robert Crown; and through teachers, coaches, neighbors, institutions, and elders who saw possibility in me and expected something of me.

Evanston invested in me. I returned that investment as an educator in Districts 65 and 202; as a F.A.A.M. coach for more than 15 years; as a Chessman; and as a board member, consultant, facilitator, artist, advocate, and community builder.

Then the world became my classroom. I spent seven years living and working in 24 countries. Those experiences taught me to enter unfamiliar places with humility, to listen before assuming I understand, and to see difference as a source of knowledge and strength rather than a barrier.

I am proud to be a fifth-generation Evanstonian, but I do not believe that makes me more Evanstonian than someone who moved here recently. Being an Evanstonian means being in community.

Miah, Salif and Gilo together outdoors
Miah, Salif & GiloTogether with our youngest son
Olu, Gilo, Ulai and Miah
Olu, Gilo, Ulai & MiahTogether with our oldest two sons
Underground Railroad

According to our family history, my ancestors on my mother's side traveled north via the Underground Railroad in search of freedom and a better future.

1899

My great-great-grandmother, Lizzie Osborne Smith, later came from St. Catharines, Canada, to Evanston with her daughter, Helen “Jinky” Cornell. I still have the diploma Jinky earned when she graduated from Evanston School District 65 in 1899.

Born into slavery

On my father's side, my great-great-grandfather, Forrest E. White, was born into slavery and later moved from Missouri to Evanston.

Chief Logan

Only a few generations separate my great-great-grandfather’s life from my father becoming Evanston's first Black police chief — and now from my decision to work to become mayor of Evanston.

Responsibility

My family helped found, establish, serve, or strengthen institutions integral to Evanston's civic life, including Community Hospital, the Fellowship of African American Men (F.A.A.M.), the Chessmen Club, Hecky's Barbecue, UNITY Scholarships, our schools, the McGaw YMCA, Evanston Community Foundation, Evanston Hospital, the Evanston North Shore Branch NAACP, and Rotary. I am not running on my family's accomplishments. My family story did not give me entitlement. It gave me responsibility.

Partnerships in ActionPartial List

Experience across Evanston and the country

Northwestern University

McDonald's Corporation

Illinois Holocaust Museum & Education Center

National Geographic Learning

Rotary International

Lions Clubs International

American Bar Association

Lake County Government

Evanston Police Department

DePaul University

Loyola University Chicago

MacArthur Foundation

Evanston/Skokie School District 65

Wilmette School District 39

Round Lake School District 116

Skokie-Morton Grove School District 69

Burr Ridge School District 180

Cass School District 63

Connections for the Homeless

Bridge Communities

Evanston Public Library

Chicago Metropolitan Agency for Planning

Chicago Stars FC

Advocate Condell Medical Center

Respiratory Health Association

S&C Electric Company

CCC Intelligent Solutions

Sales Assembly

Mark Vend

Global Youth Leadership Institute

“My roots do not give me greater ownership of Evanston; they give me a deeper responsibility to it.
— Gilo Logan
Platform

The three pillars of my platform

Evanston has long aspired to be among America's most livable cities. To me, livability matters when people can answer three basic questions with confidence.

Can I afford to live here?

Affordable Living

Making it possible for the people who make Evanston Evanston to remain here. Affordable living is broader than affordable housing. I want elders to age with dignity, working families to stay, young adults to return, and new residents to put down roots.

  • Housing
  • Property taxes
  • Rent
  • Utilities
  • Transportation
  • Childcare
  • Aging in place
The question I will keep before us

“Can the people who make Evanston Evanston afford to remain part of its future?”

Can I build a life and prosper here?

Economic Opportunity

I care about more than economic development. I care about who gets the opportunities that development creates. A thriving Evanston should support local businesses, attract responsible investment, strengthen commercial districts, and encourage entrepreneurship.

  • Local businesses
  • Entrepreneurship
  • Jobs & careers
  • Financial knowledge
  • Wealth-building
Cross-sector collaboration

Business and financial community, educational and workforce-development institutions, arts community, labor, nonprofits, and City government — working more intentionally together to create broader opportunity and deliver public value.

Can I live in a healthy, sustainable community here?

Environmental Justice

Clean air and water, healthy homes, resilient infrastructure, access to parks and the lakefront, protection from flooding and extreme heat, and a fair distribution of environmental benefits and burdens.

  • Clean air & water
  • Healthy homes
  • Parks & the lakefront
  • Flood & heat protection
Who decides

Residents most affected by environmental decisions have meaningful opportunities to help shape those decisions.

Let's talk about Evanston.

Questions, invitations, or ideas for the campaign. Tell us what matters most to you.

gilologan@giloforevanston.com

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