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Tom Samuels

Tom works as an assistant to City of Chicago Alderman Mary Ann Smith in the 48th Ward. The Ward includes over 80,000 residents living within 2.5 square miles along Chicago’s north lakefront. He serves as the Alderman’s representative for a variety of local and regional projects and programs related to Transportation, Planning, the Environment, Land Use Development and Social Services. Much of his work involves the training of local community leaders to develop and implement effective land use and transportation solutions for their neighborhoods. Tom’s interest in pedestrian issues spans the past decade as both an advocate and a designer. Originally from Toronto, Canada, he launched a national Safe Routes to School (SR2S) program as part of the Canadian Ministry of Health’s Active Living Campaign. In 1997, Tom relocated to Chicago to work for the Commissioner of the City’s Department of Transportation. His role included managing the City’s Traffic Calming Program, as well as developing and implementing Chicago’s SR2S/Walking School Bus for the City’s 600 Public Schools and over 450,000 school children. He currently is working with the Children’s Memorial Hospital: Consortium to Lower Obesity in Chicago Children (CLOCC) on a SR2S initiative for the Chicago region.