John Chase

Director of investigations at the Better Government Association, John Chase will participate in the Outreach and Engagement Workshop of Summit Session 2 on October 9, at 10:45am central time.

John Chase is director of investigations at the Better Government Association, a nonprofit, nonpartisan news organization based in Chicago. John has been with the BGA since 2017 and has overseen a number of award-winning investigative journalism projects.

Prior to joining the BGA, John worked as a reporter at Chicago Tribune for 18 years, where he was a member of the reporting team that won a Pulitzer Prize. At the Tribune, John covered dozens of elections, including for Chicago mayor, Illinois governor and U.S. Senate, as well as daily and in-depth coverage of local and state government. His investigative work focused on Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel and Illinois Speaker of the House Michael Madigan. Prior to that, he covered the political and governmental life of disgraced Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich, which served as the basis for “Golden,” a highly acclaimed book about the scandal-scarred former governor.

Prior to the Tribune, John worked for the Daily Herald in suburban Chicago, the City News Bureau of Chicago and the Logansport Pharos-Tribune in Indiana. Born on Chicago’s Northwest Side, John received a bachelor’s degree in journalism and political science from Indiana University.