Elmhurst — Emily Bastedo has been named the Chief of Staff to Illinois First Lady Diana Rauner. She brings a unique background to the role with experience as an attorney at the corporate and state level, as well as a local school board official in the Chicago suburbs. Bastedo’s thorough understanding of the law and policy will be an asset as she assists with agency transformation and acting as a liaison for the First Lady across the state. She will also active role in the restoration of the Executive Mansion.
An experienced public finance attorney, Bastedo is currently an associate counsel in the Office of the Governor where she is the legal liaison for ten state agencies, boards and commissions including the Governor’s Office of Management and Budget, the Capital Development Board and the Illinois Finance Authority. Prior to her work with the Governor’s Office, she was an associate at Chapman and Cutler LLP where she served as bond counsel and disclosure counsel for state agencies and local governmental units.
Similar to the First Lady, Bastedo is passionate about the education of our state’s future generation. She is currently is a member of the Elmhurst Community Unit School District 205 School Board where she sits on the Finance & Operations and Policy Committees. On the Finance Committee she was able to save taxpayers more than $11 million in savings through restructuring debt.
Bastedo is a graduate of the University of Notre Dame and earned her law degree from DePaul University. She and her husband, Brian, along with sons Charlie and Elliott, live in Elmhurst, where she serves on the District 205 Board of Education.
