Rodrigo Garcia

Rodrigo Garcia is the chief investment officer and chief financial officer for the Illinois State Treasury under State Treasurer Michael Frerichs. In this executive post, Garcia directs the treasury’s combined $25 billion fixed income, equity, and venture capital portfolios; all investment and financial professionals; multiple asset classes; and $300 billion in related banking and financial services in order to maximize portfolio returns and bolster the Illinois macro and micro-economy. He holds two post-graduate degrees, one in finance from the University of Illinois and one in public policy from Northwestern University, and recently completed a senior executives program at Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government. Garcia was previously the director of the Illinois Department of Veterans’ Affairs and a member of the Illinois Cabinet and has also worked for Morgan Stanley & Co., Inc. and the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago. Garcia serves as the chairman emeritus of Student Veterans of America, as chairman of the National Hispanic Life Sciences Society, as board vice president for Teatro Vista Theatre Company, and as a trustee for the Northeastern Illinois University Foundation Board. He is also a Marshall Memorial Fellow, an ACPYL Fellow, a Truman Partner, and an Aspen Institute Scholar. Garcia has also been named one of the "Top 100 under 50" Executive Leaders by Diversity MBA magazine and was recognized as a "Rising Star" by the National Society of Hispanic MBA's. He is an avid entrepreneur, a successful financier, and an angel investor.