HyeSook Chung

54, President, Baltimore Civic Fund

Behind the scenes, HyeSook Chung is the woman at the center of the fight against some of Baltimore’s biggest challenges. At the helm of the Baltimore Civic Fund — the city’s nonprofit arm — Chung has led fundraising efforts to combat the coronavirus pandemic and uplift victims’ families and port workers in the wake of the Key Bridge collapse.

Since she got the call from Mayor Catherine Pugh some five years ago, Chung has grown the nonprofit’s staff and its impact, working with several mayors to supplement city projects with donor dollars. The list of projects includes workforce readiness programs for young adults, the city’s African American festival AFRAM, and those large blue recycling carts distributed to residents citywide.

One of the highlights of her job? Brainstorming creative solutions to fund deserving city projects that might otherwise fall by the wayside.

“I never say no. I want to figure it out, and in government, often, it’s a ‘no.’ And I don’t want government to be that way,” she said.

But her work happens decidedly in the background. As she puts it, “I’m the little secret that no one’s supposed to know about.”

— Christine Condon