As President and CEO of The Chicago Network, Maria Doughty is a passionate ambassador for the advancement of women in leadership. Under her stewardship, The Chicago Network champions a powerful mission: empowering women to lead, facilitating meaningful connections for personal and professional growth, and inspiring the next generation through intentional mentorship and advocacy. Maria is committed to elevating women to senior executive roles and board service, ensuring that organizations benefit from their exceptional leadership. Maria brings a wealth of experience from highly regulated industries, spanning insurance and financial services. She is recognized for her expertise in regulatory compliance, governance, enterprise risk management, litigation strategy, public policy, and government affairs. With a robust background in board governance, Maria has served in director roles for leading nonprofit organizations and industry associations. She currently serves on the boards of The Chicago Council on Global Affairs and Roosevelt University and is a Special Advisor to the American Bar Association’s Commission on Women in the Profession. Appointed by the Governor of Illinois, Maria is a Commissioner with Serve Illinois, a body dedicated to expanding volunteerism and fostering community engagement across the state. Maria spent over two decades at Allstate Insurance Company in a variety of senior legal, public policy, and governmental affairs roles. As Director of Public Policy and Regulatory Examinations and Corporate Counsel, she led and revitalized the public policy team, transforming it from a reactive to a proactive division fully aligned with organizational objectives. Maria advised the CEO and Senior Executive Leadership Team on critical issues at local, state, and national levels, and regularly engaged with legislators, regulators, and other key stakeholders. Her keen negotiation skills and strategic oversight helped the company avoid millions of dollars in potential regulatory fines. She managed highly complex legal and regulatory crises following major events such as hurricanes and wildfires, supervised challenging class-action litigations, and successfully resolved investigations by state attorneys general and federal agencies, including FEMA. Additionally, she oversaw legal and compliance aspects of regulatory reporting, played a pivotal role in maintaining public trust during high-stakes situations, and directed national regulatory examination teams, ensuring robust compliance during market conduct investigations. Maria also championed employee engagement as global leader of Allstate’s women’s employee resource group, significantly expanding membership and mentoring initiatives to elevate women across the company. Maria earned her B.A. in Political Science and Psychology and her J.D. from Emory University. She also completed postgraduate studies as a Robert T. Jones Scholar at the University of St. Andrews in Scotland.