Speaker

James Clayborne

Former Illinois State Senator and Founding Partner, Clayborne & Wagner, LLP

James Clayborne is the founding partner of the only African American certified minority owned law firm between Chicago and Kansas City. Clayborne serves on numerous boards with extensive leadership experience in business and politics, having served in the Illinois State Senate from 1995 to 2018. As a champion of systemic change, his communication skills have played a key role in cultivating relationships and building consensus among diverse individuals. His experience includes representing public utilities in negotiations for real estate, overseeing environment cleanup of old industrial sites, and broad-based litigation in commercial development and P3 development projects.